AUDIO: Record champions in crisis: THW Kiel expects Nasice (3 min)
European League quarterfinals
As of: May 4, 2026 2:34 p.m
THW Kiel is facing an extremely important game. The struggling “Zebras” will host Nexe Nasice from Croatia on Tuesday for the quarter-final second leg of the Handball European League. Kiel has to make up for a 30:33 defeat. If this is successful, we will go to the Final Four in Hamburg. Otherwise the season would be ruined.
There were different names back then. A few years ago, THW Kiel fought fantastic duels with FC Barcelona at the highest level in European club handball, in the Champions League. It was also against Paris Saint-Germain or MKB Veszprem from Hungary. Now, in May 2026, even a club like RK Nexe Nasice appears to be such a high hurdle that solidarity must be invoked before the quarter-final second leg of the European League.
After the 30:33 defeat at the Croatian long-time runner-up on Tuesday evening (8.45 p.m., in the NDR Livecenter), three goals have to be made up in the second leg in the home arena. And unlike in the past, when such a deficit after the first leg was no reason to worry, even against the absolute top clubs in Europe, after Kiel’s performances in recent weeks it actually seems questionable whether they will actually be able to beat the pride of the 14,000-inhabitant city from the east of Croatia.
Zerbe hopes for help from THW fans
“You have to get up once more than you fall down. Straighten your crown, keep going!” THW right winger Lukas Zerbe told NDR after the 25:33 defeat in the Bundesliga game at HSG Wetzlar. “Maybe it’s a good thing that we’re playing again on Tuesday. We can’t think about it for long now. Full focus on Nexe! Even if it’s a late game, I hope that many fans come into the hall and support us so that we can continue to live the dream of the Final Four.”
A win against Nasice with a difference of at least four goals will ensure the “Zebras” take part in the decisive phase of the competition in Hamburg on May 30th and 31st. A win with a three-goal difference leads directly to a seven-meter throw. And an outcome with a win with only a two-goal difference, as well as any worse performance, means that the 2025/2026 season will go down in the glorious history of the 23-time German champions as a completely messed up one.
“We want to create another magical night in Kiel.”
THW coach Filip Jicha
“I’m really looking forward to seeing Nexe again. I’m really looking forward to competing with them with our fans behind us. We want to use our emotions in our hall to take our fans with us and create another magical night in Kiel. That’s our goal,” said THW coach Filip Jicha. The 44-year-old Czech will have long been aware that if he fails against Nexe Nasice, things could get tough for him too – despite the fact that the club only extended his contract early last October until June 30, 2028.
After a poor season, make it to the Champions League?
The sporting performance so far this season is too poor. In the Bundesliga, not only were the chances of winning the championship quickly lost, but qualifying for the Champions League via the league is no longer possible. After the 30th matchday, the THW is in fifth place with only 40:20 points.
In the DHB Cup, that came about in the quarter-finals with a 30:32 defeat at Füchse Berlin. The Jicha team will also play their next Bundesliga game against the capital city team on Sunday (3 p.m., NDR broadcasts live).
That leaves the European League, which could offer the “Zebras” a winding path to save the season after all. As the winner of the competition, THW could take part in the Champions League next season. However, this would not happen if the Füchse Berlin won the premier class and remained third in the league at the same time, in which case a title win in the European League would not be enough for Kiel to qualify for the Champions League.
THW Kiel hit by bad luck with injuries
After the defeat in Wetzlar, Jicha stood in front of his injury-hit team, which had previously failed to get beyond a draw in the home games against Eisenach and Leipzig and which clearly lost at TVB Stuttgart. “This is one of the most difficult phases that I have experienced in the club. But it is also the case that better times will come again, this club has always shown that. And that is the most important thing to me personally,” he said in an interview with DYN.
In Emil Madsen, the playmaker Elias Ellefsen a Skipagötu, who was so furious in the first half of the season, as well as Eric Johansson and Nikola Bilyk, Jicha was missing four backcourt players in Wetzlar.
Ankermann is a beacon of hope for the second leg
This bad luck with injuries will certainly find its way into the sporting analysis of the season. A big plus point for Jicha in terms of continued employment is undoubtedly how he has become a supporter of Rasmus Ankermann. The 18-year-old backcourt player is an outstanding talent who performs with an incredible self-image for his age and who might even have a chance of taking part in the 2027 World Cup in Germany. However, Jicha also set it up carefully, initially only using it selectively and not oversteering anything.
The A-youth Ankermann has long been a great hope for the THW fans for the second leg against Nasice. Managing director Viktor Szilagyi also sees a “positive question mark” that at least the Swede Johansson will return to the squad after his knee injury.
