The SG BBM Bietigheim welcomes the Budapest district club Ferencváros in the top game of the Champions League. For once, the women from Bietigheim are not favorites.
Markus Gaugisch, the coach of the women’s handball team at SG BBM Bietigheim, chose 25 scenes from Emily Bölk to show his team. Bölk is a backcourt player at Ferencváros Torna Club from Budapest. In 2018 and 2019 she was voted Germany’s handball player of the year. Last season she won the league title with the Budapest team and was subsequently named player of the season by Hungarian fans. It is important to take the 24-year-old out of the game on Sunday (2 p.m., MHP Arena Ludwigsburg). “I know what she likes, what she’s good at,” says Gaugisch.
And that’s not just because he studies videos diligently, but also because DHB captain Bölk, alongside Alicia Stolle, is one of two national players who play in Budapest – and Gaugisch has also been working as a German national coach since April. So he meets his players from the national team with his players from Bietigheim. And if he should even win, he would annoy his national players Bölk and Stolle. “That’s their problem,” Gaugisch says jokingly and laughs. “Better that way than the other way around.”
58th competitive win in a row for SG BBM Bietigheim?
Winning against Ferencváros would mean their 58th straight win in all competitions. But Gaugisch doesn’t care about this number: “Nobody runs more or less or fights more or less just to keep this series.” It is important to him that his team develops, that they improve small things. “Do I throw a ball at the empty goal from my own circle and throw it past or do I just run the ten meters to the halfway line to be sure. We’re working on things like that.”
Markus Gaugisch in front of Budapest: “We’ll see how good we are now”
Bietigheim has the first game of this Champions League season at Czech champion Banik Most 46:23 (23:12) won. But Gaugisch says: “It wasn’t a Champions League game.” The opponent wasn’t physically good enough for that. Ferencváros is another team that has two strong players in each position, that is experienced, that has set itself the goal of reaching the Final Four tournament. Against such a team, it’s all about centimetres, says Gaugisch. “We’re not favorites after a long time. The Champions League is starting now. We’ll see how good we are now.”
Bietigheim coach Gaugisch hopes for a “cauldron”
Last season, the Bietigheimers proved that they are also particularly concentrated in particularly difficult games. The fact that the game against Ferencváros takes place at home is an advantage for the preparation. After all, the long journey is no longer necessary. Gaugisch also hopes that the spectators will encourage the team. “For everyone who comes into the hall, the task is to beat this top opponent together. There really has to be a fire under the roof.”
