AUDIO: THW Kiel suffers defeat in Stuttgart (1 min)
As of: March 5, 2026 10:30 p.m
THW Kiel has suffered the next bitter setback in the handball Bundesliga. After the home defeat against Gummersbach, the record champions suffered a 27:32 (16:14) defeat at TVB Stuttgart.
For the North Germans, there are historic defeats on a weekly basis: The 26:34 against Gummersbach was the worst Bundesliga home defeat in almost 50 years. The weakened “Zebras” lost against Stuttgart on Thursday for the first time ever – after 22 competitive game wins in a row. The chances of second place and qualifying for the Champions League have become a little smaller again.
“We knew that we couldn’t afford another defeat, now it’s two in a row. We have to keep going and get back on track somehow,” said Kiel’s pivot Hendrik Pekeler.
This won’t be easy. The record champions are increasingly paying tribute to the extremely tight schedule. Elias Ellefsen á Skipagötu and Emil Madsen have been out for a long time. Eric Johansson and Lukas Laube were absent from Stuttgart for a short time due to illness, while keeper Andreas Wolff was also in poor health and initially sat on the bench.
THW at the beginning with a perfect throwing rate
Although THW had only played against Irun (27:20) in the European League 48 hours earlier, there was no sign of fatigue among the active professionals at the beginning. The TVB tried to impress the guests with offensive coverage. This didn’t work at all. The “Zebras” consistently took advantage of Stuttgart’s numerous technical errors and hit every throw in the first 14 minutes. The result: a clear 9:4 lead.
The Swabians reacted and defended deeper – the offensive game was now more consistent. Stuttgart came within one goal at times. The game could have been overturned now. But because THW had the better keeper in Gonzalo Pérez de Varga, they went into the break with a narrow 16:14 lead.
Kiel collapses after the break
However, the lead didn’t last long. Marco Mengon made it 18:18 (39th) with a fast counterattack. The game was competitive and marked by many technical errors. The THW lost control and was behind 21:23 with a quarter of an hour to go.
Would the badly decimated record champions be able to turn things around? No, the pattern from last weekend against Gummersbach was repeated. Kiel had little to counter and fell further and further behind. TVB led 27:21 after 50 minutes. The THW was completely out of steam as they suffered another clear defeat in the Bundesliga, which left the players somewhat perplexed.
“Unfortunately, the fact that we once again lost the thread in the second half cannot be explained. We only scored eleven goals after the break, so you can’t win against Stuttgart,” said Pekeler.
