Title holders under pressure with semi-finals to be booked
The line-up for the Winamax EHF Finals 2026 will be confirmed when the second-leg quarter-finals of the EHF European League Men 2025/26 take place on Tuesday.
Three of the four home sides from the first leg travel to their opponents’ home court with an advantage to protect, while one tie will be decided entirely based on the second-leg result following a draw in the first encounter.
On Tuesday we will play our second match against Flensburg. We know that we must play at the same level that we played there. The key of the match will be our defence and the control of the game in attack. Any detail will be important. Playing at home must give us that extra power that we need after many matches in a row.
In the first leg, we didn’t implement everything we had planned. The draw leaves everything open: in Hanover, it starts again from scratch. We are well prepared and know our strengths. Now it’s about keeping a cool head while playing with maximum passion and embracing every moment of the match. In the end, it comes down to being present in the decisive moments. The team that fights harder will win.
Our plan is simple - we have to put Montpellier under pressure and wait for our moments. When they come, we need to take them and push them out of their comfort zone. Nothing is easy anymore, no team will give up. Even if we lead by 15 goals, Montpellier won’t quit. We have to try to play a perfect match, and both we as a team and the whole arena need to believe for all 60 minutes.
Aside from our many injured key players, I'm really looking forward to seeing Nexe again. I'm incredibly excited to compete against them with our fans behind us. We want to use our emotions in our arena to get our fans involved and create another magical Kiel night. That's our goal.
We know it won’t be easy, because we’re playing against a tough team with good players, but I believe we have the ability to turn the tie around. To do that, we need to defend well and impose a high tempo, because they may struggle with that. And we can’t miss as many shots as we did in Germany, because that could be crucial in deciding the tie.
We're going into the game with a five-goal lead. That's a decent cushion, but no guarantee. There are still 60 minutes until we can potentially qualify for the final four. Only those who approach this game with respect, concentration, and intensity have a chance of reaching the semi-finals.
