Matchday 25: East duel in Leipzig, twice top vs. bottom and the team of the hour in Mannheim

Thursday, 3 April:

• Handball Sport Verein Hamburg proved to be a real scoring machine in its last two games against the top teams from Melsungen and Berlin: Torsten Jansen's side celebrated a 42:32 win against MT and lost 35:40 to the Foxes. HSVH is currently tenth in the table with 23:25 points.
• Potsdam recently lost the two duels against direct relegation rivals Erlangen (23:26) and Bietigheim (28:30) and are still bottom of the table with 2:42 points.
• Frederik Bo Andersen, who has just extended his contract at HSVH, is the best scorer of his side with 120 goals, while Josip Simic scored 73 times for Potsdam.
• Hamburg won the first leg by the narrow margin of 31:30 in Potsdam, the first ever encounter between the two clubs.

Friday, 4 April:

• HSG recently lost 24:33 in Gummersbach and are currently twelfth in the table with 18:30 points. Six of their nine wins have come at home.
• After seven defeats in a row, TVB won 31:30 against Eisenach on the last matchday and thus ended the drought - with 12:34 points, Stuttgart are in 15th place, four points ahead of the first relegation place.
• Dominik Mappes is Wetzlar's top scorer with 112 goals, while Kai Häfner has netted 92 times for Stuttgart.
• HSG have won the first leg 26:23 - and have only lost one of their last nine games against Stuttgart, the away game in the previous season. Otherwise, HSG have won six and drew two since 2020, giving Wetzlar a 13:3 record overall.

Saturday, 5 April:

• The penultimate team and the league leaders face each other in Franconia. Erlangen celebrated their third win of the season with a 26:23 at bottom-of-the-table Potsdam and are now just two points behind third-bottom Bietigheim with 8:38 points.
• Johannes Sellin, who is back as HCE coach after the era of Martin Schwalb, was trained in the Füchse youth academy and played for the capital city club in the HBL for several years.
• The Foxes are unbeaten in nine consecutive league games (eight wins, one draw against Lemgo) and recently celebrated two victories in Magdeburg (33:30) and against Hamburg (40:35). Jaron Siewert's team is level on points with the Recken from Hannover-Burgdorf at the top of the table.
• The three best Füchse scorers Mathias Gidsel (184), Tim Freihöfer (158) and Lasse Andersson (121) have all scored more goals than Christopher Bissel, who has scored 90 times for Erlangen so far.
• The Foxes have won their last eight games against HCE, including the 30:27 victory in the reverse fixture. The last of two victories for the club from Franconia came in February 2021, with the Foxes winning 15 of the previous 19 encounters.

• The third-placed team visits the third-last club - and the statistics so far speak for themselves: MT have a spotless record of five wins from five games against Bietigheim, although Melsungen narrowly won the first leg 26:24.
• The 30:28 win against bottom-placed Potsdam on the penultimate matchday ended Bietigheim's run of nine defeats, with Iker Romero's team most recently losing 18:32 at second-placed Hannover-Burgdorf. They are two points clear of the first relegation spot, although second-last Erlangen have played one game less.
• After defeats in Magdeburg, Flensburg and Hamburg, MT Melsungen made a statement last matchday with a 27:22 win in the top-of-the-table game against THW Kiel. The gap to the top duo from Berlin and Hannover-Burgdorf is therefore still only one point.
• Two Spaniards are currently the most successful scorers for both clubs: Ian Barrufet scored 89 times for MT and Gonzalo Arce 86 for SG.

• Neighbors with the same number of points in a direct duel: The eighth and ninth-placed teams, which each have 27:19 points to their name, lock horns in Mannheim.
• After the unfortunate home defeat against the Recken (35:36), Rhein-Neckar Löwen celebrated a convincing 35:30 victory at their fearsome opponents ThSV Eisenach on the previous matchday.
• TBV Lemgo Lippe have been unbeaten in six league games, with the draw against the Foxes followed by five wins, most recently 34:29 against SG Flensburg-Handewitt.
• Two of the league's currently best goalkeepers are in the spotlight in this duel: David Späth (Lions) has saved 212 shots so far, while Lemgo's Constantin Möstl has 188 saves to his name.
• The Lions have only won once in their last nine encounters against Lemgo - a 37:28 in November 2022. The last four duels ended in three TBV victories (including the 34:31 in the first leg) and a draw. However, the overall record is 21:12 in favour of the Lions.

• At the end of December, THW Kiel celebrated their first qualification for the Lidl Final4 in the DHB-Pokal after moving from Hamburg to Cologne with a 36:33 win over VfL Gummersbach. Their semi-final opponents on 12 April will be the Rhein-Neckar Löwen.
• The two defeats in Flensburg (33:36) and Melsungen (22:27) have left Kiel in fourth place, five points behind the leading duo from Berlin and Hannover-Burgdorf.
• Gummersbach, on the other hand, have won their last five DAIKIN HBL games and have now worked their way up to seventh place with 28:18 points. Most recently, VfL won 33:24 against Wetzlar.
• As in Mannheim, two outstanding goalkeepers are also in the spotlight in Kiel: Andreas Wolff, who was recently unable to play for THW in Melsungen due to illness, is at the top of the goalkeeper rankings with 230 saves, while Gummersbach’s World Championship runner-up Dominik Kuzmanovic is in fourth place with 207 saves.
• This is the 106th time the two traditional teams duel in the DAIKIN HBL, with THW having won 59 times and VfL 42. Kiel won the first leg 30:24. In the previous season, Gummersbach celebrated their first victory after six defeats.

Sunday, 6 April:

• The stage is set for the next East derby: The 35:29 win in the first leg was Magdeburg's eleventh victory in the 19th clash with the Saxons, who last won the derby in 2023.
• The 32:19 win over bottom-placed Potsdam at the end of February was Leipzig's only victory in the last eight games, with four defeats in a row against Berlin, Melsungen, Lemgo and Göppingen being the most recent. As a result, they have slipped to 13th place (17:31 points).
• SC Magdeburg were without a game last week due to the GETEC Arena being occupied and therefore still has four catch-up games to play. SCM are fourth in terms of minus points (29:11), but are currently in sixth place. After four wins in a row, Magdeburg lost 30:33 to the Füchse on the penultimate matchday.

• Seven wins, one draw - the Recken are unbeaten in eight league games and have established themselves at the top of the table. After a number of close results, Christian Prokop's team recently celebrated a clear 32:18 victory against newly promoted side Bietigheim. Hannover-Burgdorf are equal second in the table with the Foxes (39:9). The two top teams will duel in Berlin on 20 April.
• Göppingen recently recorded their first victory after four games without a win with a 29:27 over Leipzig, but had also put down a marker in the meantime with a 27:27 win over Flensburg.
• With 160 goals, Renars Uscins - recently named Germany's Handball Player of the Year and IHF Young Player of the Year 2024 - is the fourth-best DAIKIN HBL scorer, while the Swede Ludvig Hallbäck scored 124 times for Göppingen.
• The balance of the duels is almost even: the Recken have won 15 times, the Göppingen team 14 times and two games ended in draws. Hannover-Burgdorf celebrated a 33:31 away win in the first leg.