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Bundesliga: “It will be a great fight to the end”

Domagoj Duvnjak has been playing in the Bundesliga for what seems like forever. He won the German championship and the Champions League with HSV, after moving to THW Kiel nine years ago he became national title holder three more times and repeated the coup in the premier handball class in 2020. The word of the Croatian and captain not only has a lot of weight because of his routine, but mostly because he doesn’t pronounce platitudes.

On Sunday evening, Duvnjak, 34, had to declare a home defeat, which was actually inexplicable for him and his family and was even more difficult to accept. “We don’t have any self-confidence, that’s the problem,” said the man from Kiel after the completely surprising 31:34 (11:16) against Leipzig. “Unfortunately we screwed up, if I may say so myself. We’ll play against Melsungen next, and then comes Berlin,” said the 422-time Bundesliga player on Sky. “I think it will be very close until the last game. We have to accept the defeat now, but of course it really hurts. Also for our fans. The league is tight and it will be a great fight to the end.”

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No getting through: Kiel’s line runner Hendrik Pekeler (M.) loses with THW against Leipzig

Source: picture alliance / Eibner press photo

So Duvnjak presented the motto in the final sprint for this year’s championship quite aptly. Rarely has it been so tight at the top of the handball Bundesliga before the last third of the season as it was in March 2023. Four teams can still have legitimate hopes of winning the championship trophy after the 34th matchday on June 11th stretch.

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The quartet is led by the Rhein-Neckar Löwen, who are first in the table with 37:7 points and a goal difference of +113. Füchse Berlin follow on equal points (+93 goals) and behind them THW Kiel, which failed to be the team with the fewest minus points due to the home defeat against Leipzig and is now third with 34:8 points. Defending champions SC Magdeburg have two games less due to their participation and winning the Club World Cup in October and with 33:7 points they can have legitimate hopes of another coup.

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Especially since the shape of the Bördeländer is currently impressive. At 34:29 (15:11) against the foxes on Sunday afternoon, coach Bennet Wiegert’s team literally dismantled the previous table leader. In between, Magdeburg was ahead with ten goals – an absolute demonstration of power in their own hall in front of 6600 happy spectators.

ARCHIVE - December 11, 2022, Berlin: Handball: Bundesliga, Füchse Berlin - SC Magdeburg, 16th matchday, Max-Schmeling-Halle.  Coach Bennet Wiegert from SC Magdeburg cheers.  (to dpa:

Magdeburg coach Bennet Wiegert (M.)

Source: dpa

“I think we’ve laid the groundwork in our defence. In the first half we managed to keep the foxes at zero pace game goals. It’s phenomenal,” said Wiegert. “Maybe we can even go two or three goals higher at the break. In the second half we then played ourselves into a frenzy. In fact, I think the score could have been even higher if we didn’t start managing.”

Smits makes Magnusson forget

The clear victory came as a bit of a surprise because Omar Ingi Magnusson, a very important player in the champions’ ensemble, has been out for a month after heel surgery. In the top game against the Berliners, Kay Smits was the sole burden in the right backcourt, who was the top scorer of his team with ten goals and was a guarantee of victory alongside the outstanding goalkeeper Nikola Portner. “When you play at home in front of such a backdrop, it’s a great feeling,” said the SCM keeper. “We set out to do that and we knew that there would be a lot of one-on-one throws. I have to thank the boys. Everyone is responsible if I come to a parade. I hope it continues like this.”

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While Magdeburg savored their series of seven wins in the past seven duels with the foxes extensively in front of their euphoric fans in their own arena, the ousted leader had to deal with the frustrating defeat, especially at altitude. “Everything is in the deep red for me at the moment,” admitted coach Jaron Siewert. “We have to think a lot. That requires a lot of construction work. But nothing is lost, today’s game doesn’t decide the championship. The level and the way the second half went deep sits deep. We have to shake that off now, preferably at home against Gummersbach, even if there’s still some time to go. At the moment, however, I don’t see anything in the green area.”

World Champion Gidsel off the roll

In particular, the unusually high number of technical errors in the game of Berlin surprised. Even the Dane Mathias Gidsel, who was voted the most valuable player of the tournament at the World Cup in January, was not free from bad passes in the game structure. And so the seven goals of the world champion were only enough to correct the result from the point of view of the capital city club.

Berlin, Germany February 26, 2023: 1st HBL - 2022/2023 - Füchse Berlin vs. MT Melsungen In the picture: Goal throw Mathias Gidsel (Füchse Berlin)

Not in top form: Mathias Gidsel

Quelle: picture alliance / Fotostand

At least the club coaches have some time to work through the latest events in the usual tight schedule. There is no play in the Bundesliga until March 16 due to an international break – the bosses on the bench have some time to catch their breath.

The players, meanwhile, are with their national teams. Berlin’s captain Paul Drux meets Germany on Thursday (8.45 p.m.) in Aalborg on Denmark, Sunday (2.15 p.m.) the duel with the world champion is repeated in Hamburg. Kiel’s captain Duvnjak makes two appearances with Croatia against the Netherlands. He went into the international break with “a bad feeling”, he said. “It’s good that we then have seven days until the next game and we have to regain our self-confidence.” Such an approach also applies to the dethroned leaders from Berlin. “We,” said sports director Stefan Kretzschmar. “We now have twelve finals left.”

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