Magdeburg against Füchse: A handball final full of emotions!

Magdeburg against Füchse: A handball final full of emotions!

It's a big day for German handball. The eagerly awaited third Bundesliga final of the Champions League will take place in Cologne on June 15, 2025. The coach of SC Magdeburg, Bennet Wiegert, describes the occasion as a “holiday for German handball” and at the same time calls for an increase in the number of German starting places in the Champions League, as qualifying through the Bundesliga is too challenging. In the competition's 32-year history, it is only the third time that two German teams have reached the final, following meetings in 2007 and 2014.

Today SC Magdeburg and Füchse Berlin meet in the final. The latter won the Bundesliga title a week ago and are going into the game with a certain amount of momentum. SC Magdeburg, on the other hand, is aiming for a third Champions League title, having already won in 2002 and 2023. Both teams played against each other in the Supercup at the beginning of the season, where the Füchse emerged victorious.

Strong performances in the semi-finals

The Füchse Berlin qualified for the semi-finals with an impressive 34:24 win against HBC Nantes, which was impressively demonstrated in a sold-out Lanxess Arena in front of 20,074 spectators. The Füchse's main star, Mathias Gidsel, had to leave the field in the ninth minute because of a red card, but the team was still able to put in a strong performance. Tim Freihöfer was the best thrower with ten goals and goalkeeper Dejan Milosavljev saved around 40 percent of the shots on goal.

“We did really well,” said coach Jaron Siewert in his analysis of the game. Nevertheless, Gidsel, who will be eligible to play again in the final, will be crucial in bringing the title to Berlin. Siewert could also become the youngest coach to win the Champions League.

My prediction for the final

The anticipation is palpable and Lukas Mertens from SC Magdeburg has already expressed his opinion. He expects a close duel between the two teams and sees a small advantage for Magdeburg due to their experience in finals. If the duel is as exciting as the previous encounters, the spectators can look forward to a handball festival in a class of its own.

With almost 90,000 sports clubs and around 28 million members, handball is one of the most popular sports in Germany. The Bundesliga attracts an average of over 5,000 fans per game and also attracted over 1.6 million spectators to the halls last season. Germany has achieved a lot not only in the Bundesliga, but also on the international stage, with a total of 21 Champions League titles in handball. In this sense, today's finale will represent another exciting episode in this success story.

Let's hope that handball brings a breath of fresh air into the game - with gripping scenes, strong emotions and perhaps one or two surprise moments. Cologne will be dominated by handball today.