Matchday 1: A classic and the clash of the promoted teams at the start of the season

Thursday, September 5:

• TBV finished last season in tenth place, while Melsungen qualified for the European Cup in fifth place.
• In the qualifying first leg for the European League group stage, MT won 28:23 against the Norwegian runners-up Elverum on Saturday.
• Among others, Lemgo signed Austria's national goalkeeper Constantin Möstl from Hard, while national player Lukas Zerbe (to Kiel) is among the departures.
• The best-known new faces in Melsungen are Mohamed Amine Darmoul (GWD Minden), Aaron Mensing (GOG Håndbold) and Alexandre Cavalcanti (HBC Nantes), while the Croatian Ivan Martinovic (to the Lions) and Julius Kühn (Bietigheim) are among the departures.
• Last season, Melsungen won both games against Lemgo (28:25 away, 26:25 at home).
• As cup finalists in 2024, Melsungen will skip the second round of the cup, while Lemgo will face second-division side Ludwigshafen.

• VfL Gummersbach finished sixth in the 2023/24 season, four points ahead of the seventh-placed team from the state capital.
• TSV Hannover-Burgdorf competed in the European League in the previous season, but VfL is playing internationally again in the new season and is about to enter the group stage after winning the first leg 35:22 at Danish representative Mors-Thy.
• The Recken won the home game 32:29 in the previous season and it ended 33:33 in Gummersbach.
• National player Joel Birlehm (from Mannheim) will replace Dario Quenstedt, who has retired, in goal for the new season.
• VfL also scored a goalkeeping coup: Croatian “Germany terror” Dominik Kuzmanovic came to Gummersbach from Nexe and is the most important new addition to Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson's team alongside Frenchman Kentin Mahe (Olympic, World and European champion, from Veszprem).
• In the cup, Hannover face a short trip to second-division side Lübeck-Schwartau in the second round, while Gummersbach have to travel to Erlangen for the HBL clash.

• Both teams fell short of expectations in the 2023/24 season: the Lions finished twelfth and clearly missed out on the European Cup places, while Kiel remained untitled and, in fourth place, failed to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 2018 and will compete in the European League.
• However, THW made the most significant transfer of the summer with the signing of Andreas Wolff (back from Kielce). In addition, the right wing line-up has changed following the departures of Niklas Ekberg and Steffen Weinhold, with new additions Lukas Zerbe (from Lemgo) and Bence Imre (from Budapest) as well as right-back Emil Madsen (from GOG/DEN).
• This will be the first competitive match for club legend Uwe Gensheimer in his new role as sporting director of the Lions.  The most important new signings are Olympic players Ivan Martinovic (MT Melsungen) and Sebastian Heymann (Frisch Auf Göppingen). A total of nine players - including Niclas Kirkeløkke (SG Flensburg-Handewitt), the best scorer of the previous season - have left the Lions.
• Last season, the Lions lost their home game against the Zebras 25:31, but then won 30:26 in Kiel.
• In the cup, the draw for the second round could not have been more different: the Lions play at second-division club Hagen, while Kiel face the former cup winners in Hamburg.

Friday, September 6:

• With new coach Benjamin Matschke, FRISCH AUF! Göppingen are looking to improve significantly on their 15th place in the previous season, while HSVH finished the 2023/24 season in ninth place.
• Göppingen have seven new signings compared to nine departures, including two Croatians and two Slovenians. In return, a lot of new blood from Scandinavia came to Swabia.
• Dutchman Dani Baijens has left Hamburg for Champions League side Paris Saint-Germain, while the best-known new arrival is Egyptian international goalkeeper Mohamed El-Tayar (HBW Balingen-Weilstetten).
• HSVH won both games against FRISCH AUF! in the 2023/24 season (32:27 in Göppingen, 33:31 in Hamburg).
• Hammer draws await both teams in the second round of the cup: Hamburg welcomes Kiel, Göppingen has to travel to Berlin.

• After finishing third last year, European League winners SG Flensburg-Handewitt are aiming for the very top this year; Erlangen just managed to save themselves in 16th place in the previous season and are now relying on a fresh start with coach Johannes Sellin, who replaced Hartmut Mayrhoffer towards the end of the previous season.
• There have been no major changes to the Flensburg squad - the only new players are Niclas Kirkeløkke (Rhein-Neckar Löwen) and assistant coach Anders Eggert (KIF Kolding/DEN). Jim Gottfridsson has announced his departure for 2025.
• However, two important players have left Erlangen: top scorer in the Bundesliga Manuel Zehnder, who is on loan to Eisenach, and international Tim Zechel, who is now both playing for champions and cup winners SC Magdeburg.
• The SG squad includes five Danish Olympic champions in Kirkeløkke, Simon Pytlick, Lukas Jprgensen, Emil Jakobsen and stand-in goalkeeper Kevin Möller, as well as silver medallist Johannes Golla.
• The SG beat Erlangen in both pre-season matches (32:25, 27:22).
• Erlangen will host European Cup participants Gummersbach in the second round of the cup, while Flensburg has a bye as the third-placed team in the REWE Final4 2024.

Saturday, September 7:

• The champions and cup winners from Magdeburg enter the HBL against last season's 13th-placed team.
• The SCM lost their first competitive game on Saturday - in the Super Cup in Düsseldorf they lost 30:32 to the Füchse from Berlin in front of over 9000 fans.
• Magdeburg won the complete set of medals at the Olympic Games in Paris and Lille with Magnus Saugstrup (gold with Denmark), the German silver medallists Lukas Mertens and Tim Hornke as well as the Spanish bronze medallist Sergey Hernandez.
• Due to a number of injuries at the Olympic Games, SCM signed a few more players at short notice, including the HBL's top scorer Manuel Zehnder (Eisenach/Erlangen) and Isak Persson (Bergischer HC).
• In Wetzlar, on the other hand, there was a shake-up with ten new signings and eight departures, the best-known newcomer being Dominik Mappes (VfL Gummersbach).
• In the previous season, SCM celebrated a 31:15 victory in Wetzlar, while the result in the GETEC Arena was tighter at 37:34.
• While SCM will skip the second round of the cup as defending champions, Wetzlar will travel to relegated Balingen-Weilstetten.

• Eisenach played an outstanding 2023/24 season as a newly promoted team, secured its place in the league early on and finished the season in 14th place. The Füchse were top of the table for many weeks, but were then overtaken by Magdeburg, but qualified for the Champions League in second place for the first time in eleven years.
• Füchse star Mathias Gidsel (second-best scorer in the previous HBL season) became Olympic champion together with his Berlin teammate Lasse Andersson, and was also top scorer and MVP of the Olympic tournament.
• While the U21 world champions Lasse Ludwig and Max Beneke now play for Berlin in their entirety, the real newcomers are European champion Tobias Reichmann and Austrian defensive specialist Lukas Herburger, who is set to replace Marko Kopljar.
• After playing a major part in Eisenach's relegation in the previous season with 277 goals, top scorer Manuel Zehnder, who was on loan from Erlangen, moved to Magdeburg, but now a handball legend is playing for ThSV: Former national goalkeeper Silvio Heinevetter.
• Eisenach held their own for a long time in the 27:31 home game against the Foxes in the previous season, but lost 29:37 in Berlin.

Sunday, September 8:

• SC DHfK Leipzig finished eighth in the 2023-24 season, its second-best result in the HBL after sixth in 2020-21. TVB Stuttgart ended the season in eleventh place and thus the best club from Baden-Württemberg.
• Only Luka Rogan (RK Vojvodina/SRB) has joined Leipzig as a genuine newcomer, while six players have left the club.
• Stuttgart, on the other hand, have eight new signings and eight departures, including Wetzlar's best shooter of the previous season, the Swiss Lenny Rubin.
• In the 2023/24 season, both matches went to Leipzig by 36:30 and 27:25.
• Both teams will travel to second-division teams in the 2nd round of the DHB Cup: Leipzig will host TuS N-Lübbecke at the start of October, while Stuttgart will visit Coburg.

• The two promoted teams meet on the very first matchday; at the end of the 2023/24 second division season, Potsdam were six points ahead of runners-up Bietigheim.
• Potsdam won both duels against Bietigheim in the 2023/24 season by 31:27 and 34:31.
• Both teams have already played their first competitive game in the DHB Cup - with varying degrees of success: Bietigheim qualified for round two with a 24:19 win at third-division club Rodgau and will now face Eisenach, while Potsdam lost 25:28 in Rostock.
• The new Potsdam coach - and successor to Bob Hanning - is Emir Kurtagic, who finished fifth with the German U18 national team at the European Championships in Montenegro in August.
• Max Beneke, who has now moved to the Foxes full-time, was by far the best scorer in the last second division season with 291 goals - and was also named the best young player of the season. The best Bietigheim scorer in the promotion season was Christian Schäfer with 186 goals - he has ended his career and was awarded the title of “best second division player of the season” as a farewell present.
• In addition to Beneke, goalkeeper Lasse Ludwig is now also playing for Berlin, replaced by Polish international goalkeeper Martin Tomowski.
• The best-known newcomer in Bietigheim is European champion Julius Kühn, who came from Melsungen.