Matchday 18: Cup semi-finalists face off at the start of the second half of the season, East derby for the league leaders

Saturday, 20th December

• SG Flensburg-Handewitt’s cup dreams came to an end on Thursday evening with a 29:35 quarter-final defeat away at SC Magdeburg, meaning they missed out on the Lidl Final4 for the second year running.
• League results have recently been better for the currently second ranked team: after their big win over Füchse Berlin, they also beat Rhein-Neckar Löwen 33:29 and defended second place with 27:7 points, one point ahead of Lemgo.
• FRISCH AUF! Göppingen have lost their last three matches; on Matchday 17 they went down 27:31 in Eisenach, dropping the Swabians to 11th place with 15:19 points.
• Göppingen have won eight of the 55 matches between the sides, while Flensburg have recorded 38 victories, including a 32:26 win in the reverse fixture. Göppingen’s last win came in 2023.

• Erlangen’s 30:26 win over Leipzig on the last matchday was a welcome breakthrough after five consecutive games without a victory. The Franconians are currently 12th with 13:21 points.
• MT Melsungen, cup finalists in each of the past two seasons, were surprisingly knocked out 23:30 by Bergischer HC in the quarter-finals and thus missed out on a third straight Lidl Final4 appearance.
• In the league, however, they responded with a 33:28 win over BHC on the previous matchday, climbing to seventh place with 19:15 points.
• Erlangen have not beaten Melsungen since a 32:31 win in April 2022. MT have won four times since then, with three draws, including the 32:32 in the first leg. Overall, Melsungen lead the head-to-head 14:3.

• Two participants in the Lidl Final4 2026 lock horns in Wuppertal, although they will avoid each other in Cologne as they are on opposite sides of the semi-final draw. Bergischer HC beat MT Melsungen 30:23 in Thursday’s quarter-final and will now face SC Magdeburg, while TBV Lemgo Lippe won 35:27 in Leipzig and will clash with Füchse Berlin in the semi-finals.
• After a run of 5:1 points, BHC suffered a defeat last weekend with a 28:33 loss in Melsungen. With 10:24 points, the promoted side sit 15th in the table but still five points clear of the relegation zone.
• TBV Lemgo Lippe are unbeaten in six matches, including wins in Berlin and against Flensburg, most recently drawing 23:23 with THW Kiel. With 26:8 points, Florian Kehrmann’s team are third in the table and also boast the league’s fifth-highest scorer in Tim Suton (106 goals).
• Lemgo have won three of the last four meetings, with one draw; TBV also won the reverse fixture 28:25. BHC’s last win dates back to September 2022. Overall, Lemgo lead the head-to-head 12:8.

• As reigning cup holders, THW Kiel missed out on qualification for the Lidl Final4 2026 after losing 30:32 away to Füchse Berlin in the quarter-finals.
• In the DAIKIN HBL, THW are unbeaten in four matches with two wins and two draws, most recently the 23:23 against Lemgo. With 24:8 points, Kiel are fourth ranked.
• TSV Hannover-Burgdorf have moved up to 10th place after wins against Wetzlar and, most recently, a 28:22 victory over TVB Stuttgart, and now have 16:18 points.
• THW rank third in both key HBL statistics: Elias Ellefsen á Skipagøtu is the third-best scorer with 127 goals, while Andreas Wolff is the third-best goalkeeper with 152 saves.
• Hannover have managed just three wins in 23 HBL matches against Kiel, most recently in November 2023. This was followed by four THW wins – including a 40:34 victory in the first leg – and one draw. Overall, the Zebras have won 28 times.

Sunday, 21st December

• Two teams almost level in the table face at the start of the second half of the season in Mannheim: Rhein-Neckar Löwen are eighth with 18:16 points, one point ahead of HSV Hamburg (17:17).
• The recent form of both clubs is also identical, with three wins and two defeats from the last five matches. The Löwen most recently lost 29:33 in Flensburg, while Hamburg beat promoted side Minden 32:26.
• David Späth continues to top his national team colleague Andreas Wolff in the HBL goalkeeper rankings and is the league’s second-best shot-stopper with 167 saves.
• Hamburg won the first leg 33:30; last season produced one draw and one Löwen victory. In 31 duels, HSV have won 18 times and the Löwen 11.

• A somewhat fortunate 32:31 win in Gummersbach was Magdeburg’s 15th victory in 16 league matches, leaving them clear at the top with 31:1 points.
• In the DHB Cup quarter-final top clash on Thursday, Bennet Wiegert’s side also produced an assured 35:29 win over second-placed SG Flensburg-Handewitt to qualify once again for the Lidl Final4 in Cologne, where they will face Bergischer HC in the semi-finals.
• Leipzig remain bottom of the HBL after a 26:30 defeat in Erlangen last weekend, level on 5:29 points with HSG Wetzlar. They also lost their cup quarter-final on Wednesday, going down 27:35 to Lemgo.
• With 173 saves, Sergey Hernández is the league’s best goalkeeper, while his Magdeburg team-mate Omar Ingi Magnússon is the fourth-highest scorer with 123 goals.
• After a draw in September 2023, Magdeburg have won the next four matches against Leipzig. The 36:23 away win in the first leg was Magdeburg’s biggest-ever victory in Leipzig. Overall, the Champions League winners lead this eastern derby 13:5.

• Both teams have lost their last two matches: Stuttgart against Kiel and Hannover-Burgdorf, Gummersbach against Rhein-Neckar Löwen and Magdeburg.
• TVB are 14th with 11:23 points, while VfL sit sixth on 21:13.
• Kai Häfner continues to hold his own among the league’s top scorers; with 139 goals, the Stuttgart veteran is second overall.
• Gummersbach have won each of the last five matches against Stuttgart, including a 33:26 victory in the first leg. Overall, the record is a clear 10:4 in favour of VfL.

• For Rúnar Sigtryggsson, successor to the resigned Momir Ilić, this is his first home match as head coach of HSG Wetzlar. The Icelander was coaching in Leipzig until the end of last season and made his debut on the Wetzlar bench in last weekend’s 28:35 defeat at Füchse Berlin.
• Wetzlar have managed just two wins and one draw from 17 matches and, level on points with Leipzig, are second from bottom with 5:29 points. However, Anadin Suljaković is the league’s fifth-best goalkeeper with 134 saves.
• ThSV Eisenach ended a run of four winless games with a 31:27 victory over Göppingen and are 13th with 13:21 points.
• The narrow 29:28 win in the first leg was Eisenach’s third consecutive victory over Wetzlar, after the HSG had previously won six in a row. Overall, Wetzlar lead the head-to-head 12:7.

• Promoted side GWD Minden are third from bottom with 9:25 points, four points clear of the relegation places, most recently losing 32:26 in Hamburg.
• Füchse Berlin travel to Lübbecke full of confidence after their 32:30 win over THW Kiel in the cup quarter-finals. In Cologne, the Berliners will be aiming for their first cup triumph since 2014, with Lemgo awaiting them in the semi-finals.
• In the HBL, Nicolej Krickau’s team are fifth with 24:10 points, already nine points behind leaders SC Magdeburg, and most recently recorded a 35:28 win over HSG Wetzlar.
• Minden’s Malte Semisch, the league’s fourth-best goalkeeper with 135 saves, comes up against the top scorer, Mathias Gidsel of Berlin (154 goals).
• The 42:27 win in the first leg was Füchse Berlin’s biggest-ever HBL victory over Minden. Overall, Berlin have won 23 of the 39 encounters, with Minden victorious 15 times.