The German handball players want to take a big step towards the main round in Herning, Denmark: Everything about the second preliminary round game against Serbia in the live blog.
07:25 am
Things will be rough against Serbia
The Serbs received five time penalties against Spain, which is the highest in the tournament so far. It seems quite possible that this will be exceeded on Saturday if you listened to Berlin’s Mijajlo Marsenic on Friday: “We have to play even stronger against Germany, they play very physically. Every backcourt player in Germany is an incredible machine.” There will probably be a few rattles in Herning’s “engine room” at the weekend.
Jan 16, 2026 • 10:03 p.m
Serbia needs its goalkeeper duo
In order for the surprise against Germany to work, the Serbian handball players will need top performances from one of their two goalkeepers. Both can act at a world-class level, Dejan Milosavljev (Füchse Berlin) and Vladimir Cupara (Dinamo Bucharest) both play in the Champions League. Both had little luck in the first group game against Spain (27:29). Milosavljev stopped six of the 28 shots on goal (21%), Cupara one of six (17%). If one of the two achieves a catch rate of over 35%, the Serbs may have even more in their pockets than on Thursday.
Jan 16, 2026 • 8:58 p.m
The pressure is on the German opponent
The Serbs need a win on Saturday against Germany (8.30 p.m., live on Erste and in the full audio report on sportschau.de) in order to maintain their chances of progressing. “It will be like a final for us,” said Dragan Pechmalbec after the 27:29 opening defeat against Spain.
“There will be a lot of emotions and energy in the game,” believes Germany defense specialist Matthes Langhoff. “We have to resist and bring our quality to the table.”
Jan 16, 2026 • 8:32 p.m
Tournament mode -> On
Think from game to game, nowhere is this more true than in a handball tournament. The games usually take place every two days. “Everything is happening in quick succession,” said Marko Grgic on Friday. “Today we’re dealing with Serbia, tomorrow we’ll play against them. Nobody thinks about Austria anymore.”
Jan 16, 2026 • 8:02 p.m
7 against 6 again – but different?
What Andreas Wolff thinks about the 7-on-6 power play, in which the goalkeeper is taken out in favor of a seventh field player, should be known by now. Look it up under “Anti-Handball, the”. Against Serbia, Germany could have to regularly play outnumbered again. However, coach Raul Gonzalez had the 7 against 6 played differently than, for example, Iker Romero, Austria’s national coach, tried it against Germany. Instead of two pivots, Serbia played with four backcourt players, which repeatedly caused assignment problems for the otherwise strong Spanish defense.
Jan 16, 2026 • 7:41 p.m
Handball players lend a hand
The handball world is small these days, as is often the case, the opponents in a European Championship group share the team hotel, the breakfast room – and the laundromat in the town of Silkeborg. That’s exactly where sports show reporters met the Serbian handball players today, who were getting their training clothes out of the drum.
The jerseys from the games are washed by the European Handball Federation (EHF), free of charge. However, the EHF charges 20 euros for training clothes. Money that is better saved with the national teams. In Austria a supervisor takes care of it, in the Serbs the players lend a hand. Today Füchse goalkeeper Milosavljev, among others, was on “laundry duty”…
Jan 16, 2026 • 7:02 p.m
Is Lichtlein returning?
Speaking of Lichtlein: The U21 world champion missed the opening game against Austria due to an injury to his left forefoot. He is “well on the way to getting back,” said national team manager Benjamin Chatton at the press conference on Friday at the German team headquarters in Silkeborg. He “personally still has a little hope for Saturday and a little more hope for Monday. But it’s not me who decides, it’s the doctors and Nils above all. He has to feel safe. And then we’ll see him on the field because he can give our game something that we otherwise might not have in that form or can’t replace so well.”
Jan 16, 2026 • 6:27 p.m
Two German champions in Serbia
With goalkeeper Dejan Milosavljev and pivot Mijajlo Marsenic, two long-time Füchse Berlin professionals are in the Serbs’ squad. Together with DHB national players Matthes Langhoff and Nils Lichtlein, the two Serbs became German champions last season.
Jan 16, 2026 • 5:55 p.m
Is Germany already clear of the main round?
After the 30:27 opening win against Austria, the German team can take a big step towards the main round with another success. The Serbs lost their first match 27:29 against Spain. If the Spaniards also win against Austria on Saturday (6 p.m., live on sportschau.de) and Germany beat Serbia, entry into the main round would be perfect for Spain and Germany. In the last group game on Monday (8.30 p.m., live on ZDF and in the full audio report on sportschau.de) it would then be about taking the points from the direct duel into the second round.
Jan 16, 2026 • 4:49 p.m
Serbia against Germany
The German handball players will play the second group A preliminary round game at the 2026 European Handball Championships in Denmark, Norway and Sweden on Saturday (8:30 p.m., live on Erste and on sportschau.de). The DHB team plays all of its possible games in Herning, Denmark. In addition to two preliminary round groups, a main round group as well as the semi-finals and final take place here.
