“We’ll throw everything into it to stop them”

These are challenging days. After the sovereign 39-29 win in the EHF Champions League at HC Kriens-Lucerne on Thursday, SCM made its way back from Switzerland to Magdeburg on Friday, from where it will now continue directly. Next stop: Kassel.

“It’s important to flip the switch as quickly as possible and focus on the next game,” SCM coach Bennet Wiegert explains the challenge before the match in the Opel Handball Bundesliga on Sunday (6 p.m., live on Dyn) in the Rothenbach-Halle. “It’s a super demanding task and the next yardstick for us in the Bundesliga.”

The Hessians had to admit defeat at the start of the new season at the Füchsen with 31:33. This was followed by a clear 31:18 victory against Frisch Auf! Göppingen and a draw in Gummersbach, before the team of coach Roberto Garcia Parrondo scored twice at home against TVB Stuttgart. Aaron Mensing (22 goals) currently stands out as a scorer. But Dainis Kristopans and the captain of the German national handball team, Johannes Golla, who is newly under contract with the MT, also regularly set their accents.

SPANISH DUEL

Like Magdeburg, the Bundesliga sixth was also in action away in the EHF Champions League on Thursday. At Wisla Plock, Melsungen lost the close game 24-25. The first game was won 33-31 against Vardar Skopje.

“We can expect a very difficult game. It’s always tough in Melsungen, and this year they have strengthened their squad again,” said Magdeburg’s Antonio Serradilla. The Spaniard knows the qualities of the next opponent – and of course those of his compatriots on the other side. “With Parrondo, they have a coach who prepares them perfectly for every game, and tactically they have a lot of options to be dangerous to us with their attack, but also in other ways. That also makes them a bit unpredictable.”

Playmaker Erik Balenciaga will play an important role in this. “He is the brain of the team. Erik implements what Parrondo wants – and such cooperation, such trust is very important in a team,” says Serradilla. For SCM, it is now important to make the best possible use of the short regeneration time and to be there from the start: “We have to be well prepared and ready to fight. We will throw everything into it to stop them and take the points.”