Things haven’t been going well for the Rhein-Neckar Löwen recently in the Bundesliga. Now they are in the cup final round as outsiders – and still want to land a big coup.
At the moment the worm is in there with the Rhein-Neckar Löwen. The Mannheimers lost their last four games in the Bundesliga. Most recently there was a bitter 37:42 home defeat against VfL Gummersbach. “Four defeats in a row – that doesn’t just feel like a crisis, that’s one,” said coach Sebastian Hinze of “Bild”.
Self-confidence and self-image have not only suffered, they have been lost. In the table, the lions, who had made a brilliant start to the season and were still the front runners at the beginning of March, passed on in fifth place.
Hoping for liberation
Despite the recent setbacks in the league, the two-time German champions are hoping for a big break at the weekend. In the semifinals of the cup final tournament in Cologne, they meet SG Flensburg-Handewitt on Saturday (4:10 p.m., live on ARD). Even if managing director Jennifer Kettemann makes it clear that they are “not the big favourite”, Löwen coach Hinze trusts his team to win the cup: “Maybe we can manage to act with a clear head in Cologne. We can win a title, that’s it a different situation for us,” says the 43-year-old, who took over as coach for the lions before this season.
The Dane Jon Lindenchrone Andersen will not play a role in the Final Four. The 1.95 meter tall backcourt player (FA Göppingen) signed a contract until 2026, as announced by Baden on Thursday. The 26-year-old moves to Mannheim in the summer.
Memories of the 2018 cup coup
In 2018, the Mannheimers won the DHB Cup for the first and only time so far. At that time, the North Baden team won their eleventh final round and ended their cup curse. “It was really very emotional, very intense for all of us,” says Kettemann, recalling a time when her club was considered the national ultimate after two championships. But those times are long gone. This time, the lions travel to the cup finals with more doubts than confidence, even if the manager does not want to overestimate the current low performance of her team. “We can assess that just as well as we did when we were first in the standings. We belong where we are now,” she says.
Final Four for the first time in Cologne
For the first time since 1994, the Final Four will not be held in Hamburg but in Cologne. The clubs can look forward to almost 20,000 spectators on Saturday and Sunday, the Lanxess Arena is sold out. The fans, on the other hand, can expect top-level handball: After the Rhein-Neckar Löwen semi-final game, the German champions SC Magdeburg and TBV Lemgo Lippe (7:00 p.m.) will fight for the coveted final tickets. The cup winner will then be chosen on Sunday (3.40 p.m. on ARD).
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