For the 50th time since 1984, SG Flensburg-Handewitt and Füchse Berlin will face each other on Thursday. Two points against the reigning German champions would of course be worth their weight in gold. Kick-off in the GP JOULE Arena is at 7 pm.
June 8 marked the crowning moment in the club's history: Füchse Berlin secured the German championship for the first time ever with an away win in Mannheim. A wild cabin party was followed by a blissful boat trip on the Spree. The downer: a repeat of such scenes by defending the title seems doubtful next spring. While the handball team from the German capital are still in the running in the EHF Champions League and the DHB Cup, they say that a second championship is now a distant prospect after three home defeats. The last few weeks have been turbulent in Berlin in general: after just two match days, the Foxes dismissed their former sporting director Stefan Kretzschmar and coach Jaron Siewert. The shareholders cited mainly strategic reasons for this unusual personnel decision. "I have to make the decisions that are supposedly the right ones for the club," explained managing director Bob Hanning. Nicolej Krickau is now coach and head of sport. The Dane was in charge of the SG's training sessions from July 2023 to the beginning of December 2024.
The squad, including a new signing
Nicolej Krickau had a number of personnel matters on the table in addition to the sporting operations. Lasse Andersson announced that he will move to HØJ Håndbold after this season, where former Füchse colleague and HBL record goalscorer Hans Lindberg is pulling the strings. The Berlin club initially presented Frederik Simak (Lemgo) as a replacement for the gap in the backcourt from next summer and then signed SG ace Simon Pytlick from 2027. Fabian Wiede suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in November. Nejc Cehte was brought in to replace him. The Slovenian left-handed player joined a team that was already full of top-class players. First and foremost, of course, world handball player Mathias Gidsel. The Dane combines virtues such as speed, tactical finesse, body control and accuracy like no other handball player. Alongside him this season is the equally nimble Norwegian Tobias Grøndahl. German international Nils Lichtlein has been suffering from shoulder problems. On the wings, Hákun West av Teigum and Tim Freihöfer are currently the main players. The defence is organized by circle runners Mijajlo Marsenic and Max Darj. Behind them are keepers Dejan Milosavljev and Lasse Ludwig.
