Matchday 32: Will the title be decided in Thursday’s top-of-the-table clash?

Thursday, 21 May:

• Füchse Berlin could benefit from the top-of-the-table clash between Flensburg and Magdeburg – if SG lose and the reigning champions beat TSV Hannover-Burgdorf, the capital club would be second at least until Sunday.
• Berlin recently cemented their third place in the table with a commanding 35:28 win at THW Kiel; they have won their last four HBL matches and sit on 48:12 points, eight points behind SC Magdeburg.
• For the Recken from Hannover-Burgdorf, there is no longer any chance of moving up or down the table; with 27:35 points, they are tenth, having won 36:33 against SC DHfK Leipzig before the national team break.
• With 269 goals after 30 matches, Füchse star Mathias Gidsel – currently the league’s top scorer – could become the third player in HBL history to reach more than 300 goals in a season. With 189 goals, Recken winger August Pedersen is in fifth place. Dejan Milosavljev (Berlin) is the fifth-best goalkeeper in the HBL with 249 saves.
• The Füchse won the first leg 32:28; last season, both teams won their home games, and Berlin leads the all-time head-to-head record comfortably with 22 wins to 7.

• Following a brief resurgence with 3:1 points, SC DHfK Leipzig remained bottom of the table on 13:49 points after their defeat in Hanover, though they are just two points behind the safety of third-from-bottom.
• MT Melsungen recently won 37:34 against ThSV Eisenach and, in seventh place (36:26 points), can still dream of European competition; they trail fifth place by four points.
• MT have won the last three encounters against Leipzig; the reverse fixture ended 34:25. In 20 HBL matches to date, Melsungen have won 13 times, the Saxons six.

• Will the champagne be flowing after the final whistle of this rescheduled match? If league leaders SC Magdeburg celebrate their tenth league win in a row or draw, the title race will be decided. Currently, SCM have a seven-point lead over second-placed Flensburg and an eight-point lead over Berlin, with 54 points to their name. A draw would therefore be enough to secure their fourth HBL title.
• An away win, however, would see SG Flensburg-Handewitt inject some excitement back into the title race, though they would still trail SCM by five points. Flensburg have won their last four matches, most recently 38:30 against TBV Lemgo Lippe.
• Omar Ingi Magnusson (SCM) is third in the HBL with 214 goals this season, whilst Emil Jakobsen (Flensburg) has 179 to his name. Magdeburg’s Sergey Hernadez is the second-best goalkeeper with 285 saves.
• Magdeburg have won the last six encounters against SG, most recently the reverse fixture 35:31. Overall, Flensburg lead the head-to-head record with 34 wins to 29.

Friday, 22 May:

• ThSV Eisenach have played one game fewer than their rivals, but still face champions Füchse Berlin in the rescheduled match from matchday 30. Currently 13th, the Thuringians have 21 points from 39 games. A draw against Lemgo would dispel any remaining mathematical doubts about Eisenach’s survival. ThSV’s last outing saw them lose 34:37 in Melsungen.
• TBV Lemgo Lippe have squandered their excellent position in the race for European qualification with eight winless matches (six defeats, two draws), most recently suffering a heavy 30:38 defeat to Flensburg. With 36:26 points, Florian Kehrmann’s team are sixth, level on points with seventh-placed Melsungen and four points behind THW Kiel.
• Lemgo’s Niels Versteijnen is currently the eighth-best scorer in the HBL with 186 goals, whilst Eisenach’s Matija Spikic is the sixth-best goalkeeper with 244 saves.
• Last season’s 34:31 victory was Eisenach’s first win over Lemgo since 2001; TBV won the first leg 28:19 – and overall, the statistics includes 16 wins for Lemgo and three for Eisenach.

Saturday, 23 May:

• The next crucial clash in the relegation battle: four points and two places separate the two sides.
• HSG Wetzlar are third from bottom with 15:47 points, but level on points with second-bottom GWD Minden; HC Erlangen sit 14th with 19:43 points following four consecutive defeats.
• After two consecutive wins against Bergischer HC and THW Kiel, HSG suffered an unfortunate 30:31 defeat in Göppingen. If Erlangen win, the Franconians look quite safe; a defeat would see the bottom of the table become even tighter.
• The overall record is perfectly even, with nine wins apiece for Wetzlar and Erlangen, plus two draws. In the first leg, HCE won 33:26.

• Whilst VfL Gummersbach can still dream of a Champions League spot, every point counts for GWD Minden in their battle against relegation.
• Gummersbach, who recently won 26:22 in Erlangen, are fourth in the table with 46:16 points, two points behind third-placed Berlin, who have, however, played one game fewer.
• Minden recently picked up three points from a derby win against Lemgo and a draw against relegation rivals Bergischer HC (28:28). With 15:47 points, GWD are level on points with the third-bottom side from Wetzlar, i.e. the safety zone.
• This marks the 84th edition of the NRW derby; VfL have won 50 times (as in the 31:23 first-leg), GWD 22 times, and 11 matches have ended in a draw.

Sunday, 24 May:

• If SC Magdeburg miss out on the title on Thursday against Flensburg, their next chance awaits on Sunday in Mannheim – because a win against Rhein-Neckar Löwen would secure the trophy, regardless of how Flensburg fare later in Stuttgart.
• Following two wins against Melsungen and, most recently, TVB Stuttgart (32:26), the Löwen, currently eighth in the table, are just one point behind the duo of Lemgo and Melsungen.
• The two best HBL goalkeepers at present face off in this clash: David Späth (Löwen) leads the rankings with 295 saves, ahead of Sergey Hernandez.
• Two Löwen players are almost level in the top scorers’ list in fourth and sixth place: Haukur Thrastarson with 190 goals, one more than Jannik Kohlbacher.
• In the last ten encounters, SCM have remained unbeaten with nine wins and one draw; Magdeburg won the first leg 28:24. The Lions’ last victory came in November 2020, but: in the overall head-to-head record, the Baden side still lead 24-15.

• With 3 points from their last two matches against Hannover-Burgdorf (30:29) and Minden (28:28), Bergischer HC have pulled slightly clear of the bottom three teams and sit 15th on 18 points, three points ahead of the duo from Wetzlar and Minden, who are level on points. With a win, the cup finalists could even move ahead of HC Erlangen.
• THW Kiel have won just one of their last six league matches, most recently losing 28:35 at home to Füchse Berlin; they sit fifth on 40:22 points – and could still finish fourth in the best-case scenario.
• The league’s third- and fourth-best goalkeepers face off in Kiel: Christopher Rudeck (BHC) has saved 270 shots so far, while Andreas Wolff (THW) has made 254 saves.
• You can’t get a cleaner record than this: THW Kiel have won all 26 HBL matches against BHC; the record champions won the first leg 43:35. 

• TVB Stuttgart have already secured their place in the league; they lost their last match 26:32 to Rhein-Neckar Löwen and sit in 12th place with 22:40 points.
• Regardless of the outcome of the rescheduled match against Magdeburg, SG are still in contention for a Champions League spot until the end of the season – their final match on 7 June will see them face Füchse Berlin.
• With 239 goals this season, Kai Häfner (Stuttgart) is currently the second-highest scorer in the HBL, having scored exactly 60 more goals than Emil Jakobsen (SG/179 before the match against Magdeburg).
• In October 2023, TVB secured their only victory to date against Flensburg; in the first leg, the Swabians held the North Germans to a 29:29 draw. After 20 encounters, the SG leads 17:1 in terms of wins.

Monday, 25 May:

• Both teams are mid-table; Handball Sport Verein Hamburg (27:35 points) are eleventh, two places and four points behind FRISCH AUF! Göppingen (31:31).
• Göppingen are unbeaten in their last four matches, having recently secured a narrow 31–30 victory over Wetzlar; Hamburg, meanwhile, suffered a 28–41 defeat to Magdeburg on the last matchday following two previous wins.
• Hamburg’s Danish player Nicolaj Jørgensen has scored 187 goals this season and is seventh in the scoring charts; Marcel Schiller, who recently scored the 2,500th HBL goal of his career, has found the net 163 times so far this season.
• The 34:30 win in the first leg was Göppingen’s first victory against HSVH since September 2021; since then, there have been two draws and five wins for the Hamburg side, who lead the all-time head-to-head record with 22 wins to 9.