The Füchse Berlin are again in the Final Four of the European League. The defending champion won surprisingly clearly on Tuesday evening at the French HC Nantes with 37:30 (18:16). The first leg a week earlier had ended 33:33. The Final Four will take place on May 25th and 26th in Hamburg. The semi-finals will be drawn on Friday. Other participants are Dinamo Bucharest and SG Flensburg-Handewitt. The best Berlin throwers were Lasse Andersson and Hans Lindberg with nine goals each.
Not only was national player Nils Lichtlein injured from the Bundesliga club, but center player Mijajlo Marsenic also had to miss the game due to a hand injury he suffered in the defeat in Melsungen on Saturday. Nevertheless, the Berliners started confidently and focused. Right from the start they were able to rely on keeper Dejan Milosavljev, who made seven saves in the first half.
The Foxes were mostly ahead, and after around 27 minutes they even scored five goals (17:12). In the fast-paced game, Nantes countered with a lot of aggression, sometimes with a tendency to be unsportsmanlike. However, the Berliners gave up a bigger lead at the break because they made a few technical errors shortly before half-time, which the French punished coldly.
But the Foxes remained calm, held the lead even after the break and even extended it to six goals with just under 13 minutes to go (28:22). In the 54th minute, Nantes Odriozola was shown a red card. The Bundesliga team didn’t let their lead be taken away with a confident final spurt. (dpa)