Hans Lindberg’s eyes were fixed straight ahead. The foxes’ right winger took his seat almost impassively at the press conference, with his coach Jaron Siewert next to him, who buried his face in his left hand in a similarly stunned state. The disappointment of the two was more than clear to see after their team’s 30:33 defeat against HBC Nantes on Tuesday evening and the associated elimination from the European League.
“We didn’t perform as well as we should have. We were punished for that and Nantes are rightly through,” Lindberg had to admit. The veteran, who was once again one of the most successful throwers in his team with five goals, did not gloss over the circumstances in any way. He knew very well that the Berliners had to blame themselves for the defeat after allowing themselves too many mistakes in the final phase of the phased game.
[Wenn Sie aktuelle Nachrichten aus Berlin, Deutschland und der Welt live auf Ihr Handy haben wollen, empfehlen wir Ihnen unsere App, die Sie hier für Apple- und Android-Geräte herunterladen können.]
Things looked good up until the 45th minute, when the team was up three goals. But Nantes took a break, regrouped and managed to turn the game around despite being outnumbered. “We had every opportunity and then lost control,” said Siewert, who couldn’t really grasp the reasons for his team’s failure at this point. Certainly, the defense was not compact enough in the center and was therefore not always sufficient support for the goalkeeper. And yes, too many clear chances were missed. But the 27-year-old couldn’t explain why the performance in the final minutes – contrary to the recent sovereign performances in the Bundesliga – was so characterized by nervousness.
“We also had a phase like this in France. It’s difficult to say why that is. We have to analyze that first”, Lindberg was at a loss for an answer and tried to look ahead. “Of course we are disappointed today because we had planned to do better. But in a few days it will continue and then we will try to achieve our other goals.”
After the end of the DHB Cup and now also in the European League, the foxes only have to position themselves as best as possible in the league. Although SC Magdeburg leads the field with only four minus points, the foxes managed to place just ahead of Kiel and Flensburg and still have good chances in the race for second place in the Champions League next season. “We have to keep our heads up now,” said Siewert.
TBV Lemgo-Lippe was just as disappointed as the Berlin team. At the same time, the German Cup winner also had to retire from international business. After a good initial phase, Florian Kehrmann’s team only managed a 28:28 draw against Orlen Wisla Plock and was therefore unable to make up for the three-goal deficit from the first leg.
It was more successful for the last of the four German representatives – the Rhein-Neckar-Löwen had already failed in the qualification – from Magdeburg. In a game that was as fast-paced as it was physically demanding, the leader of the HBL prevailed against Benfica Lisbon and qualified for the quarter-finals.
According to the latest results, the remaining participants this year are more mixed than they have been for a long time. When the next round is played on April 26th and May 3rd, Nantes meets Magdeburg, Kadetten Schaffhausen meets Plock, RK Nexe meets GOG and SL Benfica meets RK Gorenje Velenje. It is a slump in the competition, which is otherwise dominated by German clubs, in which at least two German representatives have always taken part in the semifinals over the past four years.
The concept of the European Handball Federation (EHF) seems to have worked. The competition is more exciting and a few nations richer. Of course, all this is of little help to the foxes. For the first time since the 2016/17 season, they had to give up their title chances prematurely. That the disappointment is correspondingly large is only understandable.
