Jacob Holm (centre) was Berlin’s second-best scorer with eight goals behind Milos Vujovic (nine goals) Photo: picture alliance / Guido Kirchner
By Nicolas Sowa
Füchse Berlin started the group phase of the European League confidently. On Tuesday evening, the Berliners won their opening game against the top Ukrainian team HC Motor Zaporischschja by 38:27 (19:10).
Due to the war in their homeland, the game took place in Düsseldorf. Best Berlin shooters were Milos Vujovic with nine and Jacob Holm with eight goals.
Coach Jaron Siewert had to do without a quartet with Mathias Gidsel, Fabian Wiede, Paul Drux and Matthes Langhoff. In addition, junior player Maxim Orlov was injured during the game and had to be carried out of the hall.
Berlin’s Max Darj (right) prevails against Zaporizhschja’s Oleksii Tomashevskyi Photo: picture alliance / Guido Kirchner
Despite the many failures, the Berliners played confidently from the start against the Ukrainian team, which is active as a guest team in the second handball Bundesliga. They immediately took the lead and gradually expanded it. After almost 20 minutes, the foxes led by eight goals (14:6).
The defense was solid and the Russian keeper Viktor Kireev, who himself played in Zaporizhia for four years, shone with a few saves. Immediately after the change of sides, the lead was in double digits for the first time (21:11). The foxes then brought the lead to the finish without any problems and were even able to conserve energy.