Preview Matchday 3: Champions versus runners-up – early top match under special circumstances

Saturday, 6 September:

• With 4:0 points, both teams have made an optimal start – Berlin prevailed against Bergischer HC and in Göppingen, while Magdeburg won in Lemgo and against Eisenach.
• With a one-point lead over SCM, Berlin became champions last season, while Magdeburg struck back in the victorious Champions League final in Cologne.
• Berlin's new coach Nicolej Krickau returns to the HBL after around ten months, following SG Flensburg-Handewitt's decision to part ways with the Dane in December 2024. Krickau had already coached Füchse star Mathias Gidsel at GOG – and is also new sporting director in Berlin.
• The Max-Schmeling-Halle will see a clash between the top scorer of the first two match days – Magdeburg's Omar Ingi Magnusson (23 goals) – and Gidsel, the third-best scorer (17 goals), while Füchse winger Tim Freihöfer has netted 16 times so far.
• In the previous championship season, Füchse remained unbeaten against the 2024 title holders – with a 31:31 draw at home, and an 33:30 away victory in Magdeburg. In December 2022, SCM secured the last of four away wins at the Max-Schmeling-Halle, with the capital club leading 20:11 in terms of overall wins.

• HC Erlangen picked up their first points with a 33:29 away win at Bergischer HC on the second matchday, after coming close to causing a sensation with a 29:31 defeat to THW Kiel.
• FRISCH AUF! Göppingen let a victory slip away on the first match day with a 28:28 draw against GWD Minden, then lost 26:32 at home to champions Berlin on Wednesday.
• The top scorers for both teams after two games are Ludvig Hallbäck (13 for Göppingen) and Viggo Kristjansson (10 for Erlangen).
• The 28:24 win against Göppingen was one of seven Erlangen victories in the 2024/25 season, with the HCE losing the return match 24:25. FRISCH AUF! has won eleven of the 19 matches to date, Erlangen seven.

• With a 29:29 draw at SG Flensburg-Handewitt, Stuttgart celebrated a rather unexpected point. The match winner was goalkeeper Miljan Vujovic with 16 saves, while Italian Simone Mengon scored the final goal to secure the draw. After a 33:36 home defeat against Hamburg, this was the first point of the season for TVB.
• Newcomers Bergischer HC are one of three teams still without points. The ‘Bergischen Löwen’ lost to champions Berlin and at home to Erlangen.
• With 19 goals, TVB veteran Kai Häfner is currently the second-best scorer in the HBL, while Noah Beyer is the BHC's top scorer with 13 goals.
• In the last encounters in the 2023/24 season, both teams won their home games, with Stuttgart recording eight wins and BHC six.

Sunday, 7 September:

• Two new coaches will face in Leipzig: Raul Alonso (for the hosts) and Momir Ilic (for HSG) have already worked together in Kiel, where Alonso was assistant coach, when Ilic was a player.
• Both teams are still waiting for their first win of the season: SC DHfK Leipzig lost in Eisenach and at home to Lemgo, while HSG Wetzlar lost 30:34 in Kiel after a surprising opening draw against Flensburg, but managed to keep up with THW for a long time.
• At both clubs, new signings are the top scorers after two games: Philipp Ahouansou scored 15 times for Wetzlar, Blær Hinriksson 14 times for Leipzig.
• In the 2024/25 season, both matches went to the respective home teams, from 2021 to 2023 there were five Leipzig victories in a row, and overall, the Saxons have 11:7 wins against the Wetzlar.

• A narrow 29:33 home defeat against runners-up SC Magdeburg and a confident 34:29 away win at SC DHfK Leipzig are TBV Lemgo Lippe's results so far in what is still a short season. The match winners in Leipzig were goalkeeper Constantin Möstl with 14 saves and nine-goal scorer Nils Verstejnen, who is also Lemgo's top scorer with 15 goals after two games.
• Meanwhile, VfL Gummersbach has made a dream start, beating two teams that finished ahead of them last season and are now playing in the European League. Their victory in Hanover was followed by a hard-fought 29:28 win against cup finalists MT Melsungen, with Ellidi Snaer Vidarsson being the top scorer with nine goals.
• This is the 77th time this North Rhine-Westphalia derby will be played in the HBL. TBV won both games last season and leads the overall head-to-head record 37:32, having won 22 of their 38 home games against Gummersbach.

• After two eastern derbies (31:27 in Leipzig and 28:34 in Magdeburg), ThSV Eisenach have 2:2 points on their tally.
• Last year's third-placed team and cup finalist MT Melsungen, on the other hand, is still waiting for its first point of the season – due to numerous absences, coach Roberto Parrondo's team lost both of their previous matches against Rhein-Neckar Löwen and in Gummersbach.
• New signing Max Beneke (who came from Berlin) has made a magnificent impact at Eisenach and is his club's top scorer with 13 goals, while Fabian Drosten has scored nine times for MT so far.
• The 32:31 home win last season was Eisenach's first ever victory against Melsungen, including the 25:26 defeat in the return match, there have been seven defeats.

• After their 36:33 opening win in Stuttgart, Handball Sport Verein Hamburg lost 29:33 at home to Hannover on Wednesday.
• Rhein-Neckar Löwen, on the other hand, are one of the surprises of the first few match days – they are at the top of the table with 4:0 points, despite a major shake-up in the squad. After a 29:27 win in Melsungen, the Baden team won 28:24 at home against Minden thanks to 18 saves by David Späth.
• New signing Nicolaj Jørgensen has scored 15 times for HSVH so far, while German U21 international David Móré has scored nine times for the Lions.
• Last season, the teams drew 30:30 in Hamburg, while the Lions won their home game 30:27. After 30 HBL duels, HSHV leads the statistics with 17:11 victories.

Monday, 8 September:

• Newcomers against European League winners – and surprisingly, SG Flensburg-Handewitt are still without a win as they travel to East Westphalia.
• GWD Minden fought hard to secure a 28:28 draw against Göppingen on the first match day, then lost 24:28 to Rhein-Neckar Löwen.
• SG has proven to be the draw king of the DAIKIN HBL so far: the 33:33 in Wetzlar was followed by a 29:29 at home against Stuttgart. Eleven goals from new signing Marko Grgic were not enough against his father (assistant coach at TVB).
• Grgic is also the SG's top scorer with 16 goals, while Ian Weber scored 13 times for GWD Minden.
• The record speaks for itself: in 54 encounters, there have been 45 wins for the SG and five for GWD. Minden's last victory was a 29:28 win in May 2008 in Flensburg, while their last home win dates back to March 2002, with a 30:25 victory.