The Füchse Berlin are in the Final Four of the Champions League. On Wednesday, the Berliners won a dramatic quarter-final second leg against Veszprem in a seven-meter throw. Mathias Gidsel makes the decision with the last throw.
The Foxes Berlin are in the Final Four of the Champions League after great drama. The handball players won a dramatic quarter-final second leg against the Hungarian top team KC Veszprem with 35:33 (17:15; 31:30) on Wednesday evening by a close margin and only after a seven-meter throw. Driven by an ecstatic audience in the Max Schmeling Hall, the Berliners made up for their narrow first leg defeat a week ago. Mathias Gidsel made the decision with the last throw from the seven-meter line.
The foxes start furiously
It was of course clear to the Foxes and everyone who supported them before the second leg that they would absolutely need a win on Wednesday. And right from the start, the Berliners in their Prenzlauer Berger Fuchsbau were driven by a particularly loud audience and an even louder hall speaker.
An extra emotional motivation that had an effect: Mijajlo Marsenic, Mathias Gidsel and Hakun West scored at the front and Dejan Milosavljev parried at the back. After three and a half minutes, the previously furious Foxes were leading 5-1.
Milosavljev shines
Above all, it was Milosavljev who brought the fans to sometimes murmuring, sometimes cheering ecstasy – and made Veszprem despair. The Serb in the Berlin goal presented an exemplary goalkeeping game with incredible reaction speed and even more agility and took one ball after the other from the guests from Hungary. After 20 minutes played, Milosvljev already had eight saves to his name with 50 percent parried balls.
The fact that the Berliners were leading 14:8 at this point was because it wasn’t just their goalkeeper who was playing brilliantly. Regardless of whether it was after Milosavljev’s saves, other types of ball wins or even conceded goals: the Berliners kept rolling towards the Hungarian goal at merciless speed. Once there, they appeared ice cold – at least until the flow came to a standstill in the Foxes game after 25 minutes.
Veszprem comes back impressively
A two-minute penalty for Marsenic was the source of the drought. At the back, the Berliners conceded two throws into the empty goal, but they didn’t hit the same goal at the front. Tim Freihöfer showed nerves for the first time with his fifth seven-meter penalty. The Berliners suddenly only led 17:15 at halftime. On their way to the dressing rooms they were accompanied not by a roaring audience, but by their raging managing director Bob Hanning. Dressed in a stylish floral green, of course.
But even after the 15-minute break, the nerves of everyone sitting in the stands around Hanning continued to be strained. In the 32nd minute, Veszprem’s Yanis Lenne crowned Hungary’s 6-0 run with the equalizer at 17:17. The good news: On the field, at least the Berlin players got their nerves under control again at what was supposed to be the first crossroads on the way to victory. The Berlin game didn’t become fast again, but it became more stable again.
The foxes hold their nerve
Compared to the first leg, the Foxes showed a significant improvement, especially in defending the Hungarian power play. Veszprem’s coach Xavi Pascual repeatedly replaced his goalkeeper with a seventh field player, but found his tactical master in the person of Füchse coach Nicolej Krickau. The Dane, who whipped up the audience several times on Wednesday with his arms flailing, had his team prepared excellently for the six-on-seven game. The result: Instead of conceding at the back, the Berliners hit the empty goal several times at the front.
And at the latest when Milosavljev was able to parry a ball again in the 40th minute after almost 20 minutes, the signs were slowly pointing towards Berlin reaching the semi-finals again. A good ten minutes later, Gidsel, who was once again outstanding, increased the Füchse lead to 27:24 (52nd minute). But even this three-point lead didn’t save the Foxes from a dramatic final phase.
The decision is made in Seven meter throw
Milosalvjev saved a seven-meter penalty at the score of 30:29 – and watched in celebration as Tobias Grondahl converted one at the front. But Veszprem also scored again, and because Gidsel slipped away in the last Füchse attack, the regular 60 minutes ended with 31:30 for the Füchse. The deficit from the first leg was equalized, but not overcome.
There were seven-meter throws. Five shooters per team in a duel with the goalkeepers – the ultimate, because extremely rare, excitement in handball. Veszprem set up, but was promptly denied by the crossbar. Unlike Niels Lichtlein, Freihöfer. After two seven meters each, the Füchse led by one goal. Then both goalkeepers made a save. Gröhndal scored, but so did Veszprem. The decisive seven-meter penalty belonged to Mathias Gidsel – and he converted it coldly. Berlin’s entry into the Final Four was perfect.
Broadcast: rbb|24, May 6th, 2026, 8:50 p.m
Audio: rbb|24, May 6th, 2026, Jens-Christian Gußmann
