An away game at the sixth-placed team in the table is not a rewarding start to the season. Nevertheless, the SG Flensburg-Handewitt had hoped for much more than a 26:33 defeat in Gummersbach. The sound bites.
Johannes Golla, SG captain: "We didn't find our game either in attack or in defense. There were too many technical mistakes and we lacked pace and good tackling. We also took fewer good shots too often. We can thank Kevin for keeping us in the game until half-time. Gummersbach have a strong team, as many of their players proved at the European Championships. But if we put in a performance like today, it will be difficult against any opponent. You need 100 percent to survive in Gummersbach. But we haven't even managed 80 percent yet."
Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson, Head Coach VfL Gummersbach: "I can't complain much. Like the SG, we didn't know where we stood before the game. We were the luckier team because we were playing at home and were able to use the energy in the arena. We covered superbly from the outset and tried to rotate. Even though we made too many mistakes in the first half, we were able to develop enough pressure overall. I'm proud of the way the boys did that. That's why they deserve a day off."
Aleš Pajović, SG Coach: "The defeat hurts. You can lose in Gummersbach, but not like that. You could see from the start that we weren't completely there. We had good preparation, but we have to do better in this game. That wasn't the SG. Of course we can look for excuses with the European Championship, but we have to concentrate on ourselves. We have enough quality to play better in games like this. We have to analyze it all now and concentrate on the next game."