Defending champions top power ranking before EHF Finals

While SG Flensburg-Handewitt can become the first team to win five different European cup trophies, Berlin have the chance to be the first team since 2017 to defend the trophy in the second-tier men’s competition. Löwen are out for their second trophy, after 2013, and the newbies from Dinamo Bucuresti will play their first semi-final in 20 years.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of all four teams, and which team seems to be the strongest overall? Here we present the power ranking before the matches throw-off in Hamburg.

4. Rhein-Neckar Löwen

The Lions are the only team that made it all the way from qualification to the EHF Finals. And they showed a completely different face in the EHF European League compared to their performances in Bundesliga, where they dropped to lower mid-table, far from the top teams. On the international stage, Löwen managed to compensate for the long-term injuries of players such as Uwe Gensheimer and Halil Jaganjac.

RNL won 13 of 16 matches, with defeats only at the hands of Nantes in the group matches, Zabrze in the main round and Sporting CP in the second leg of the quarter-final. Two of the three top scorers in the competition are part of their squad: Niclas Kirkeløkke (86 goals) and Juri Knorr (81). Knorr, named in the EHF EURO 2024 All-star Team, had a lot of ups and downs on a club level this season. But when it counted in the EHF European League, Löwen could always rely on him and magic nights from David Späth, who is the best goalkeeper in the EHF European League in terms of save percentage.

Last season, Löwen made a miracle come true at the final weekend of the German cup, raising the trophy as the underdogs. They hope for the same in Hamburg. But their semi-final opponents from Berlin – the team that defeated RNL in the EHF Finals 2021 semi-final on their home court – seem to be too strong.

3. Dinamo Bucuresti

Dinamo were the only team to win all their knockout matches after the main round. They eliminated two strong Danish sides in the process – Bjerringbro-Silkeborg in the last 16 and Skjern in the quarter-finals. Before that, Xavi Pascual’s side were defeated twice each by Berlin (group phase) and Sporting (main round).

Dinamo have a strong goalkeeper (Vladimir Cupara) and a strong back-court axis (Andrii Akimenko, Luka Cindric, Ali Zein, Lazar Kukic and Stanislav Kasparek), but in some matches, when Cupara was not at his highest level, the defence was quite unstable.

Although the Romanian side can count on mastermind Pascual, who steered FC Barcelona to three trophies at the EHF FINAL4, facing Flensburg in the semi seems to be a similar hurdle to the matches against Berlin and Sporting. And they will lack one enormously important factor, which led Dinamo to the EHF Finals - Their outstanding fans in their home arena.

Almost all previous final tournaments in the EHF Champions League and EHF European League have proven that the underdogs sometimes shine the brightest – but for Dinamo, it is the first ever participation, and to win it, you normally need some final tournament experience.

2. SG Flensburg-Handewitt

10 years after winning their last international trophy – the EHF Champions League in Cologne – SG Flensburg-Handewitt had the shortest path to Hamburg, and not only from the geographical point of view. Nicolej Krickau’s team only needed 12 matches to arrive at the EHF Finals.

SG are the only main round group winners to qualify for the final tournament – as Nantes, Sporting and Skjern all failed in the quarter-finals. Flensburg only lost two EHF European League matches – both at a point of the competition when their berth for the next stage had already been clinched; in the group phase against Kadetten Schaffhausen, and in the second leg of the quarter-finals against Sävehof (28:29) after winning the away match, 41:30.

After a shaky start in the Bundesliga, which ultimately cost them all hopes of winning the title, they put the pedal to the metal in the EHF European League – and their biggest asset was the attack, netting 37.33 goals on average per match, and scoring 40 or more goals five times. Even their defence is the most effective, with an average of 27.5 goals conceded. But their path to Hamburg after the group stage was easier compared to the three other EHF Finals Men participants.

One advantage in Hamburg might be the fan factor, as the SG supporters only have a short way to travel. The side’s motivation is to win the trophy one year later than planned, as they were the hosts of the EHF Finals in 2023, but did not qualify.

1. Füchse Berlin

Füchse Berlin play their ninth final tournament since 2012 in three different competitions: The EHF Champions League in 2012; the EHF Cup in in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019; and the EHF European League in 2021, 2023 and 2024. None of their rivals at the final weekend have such experience as the 2015, 2018 and 2023 winners of the second-tier competition.

Füchse have big names in their squad who know what it takes to reach the winners’ podium. First, of course, is Mathias Gidsel, the current IHF Player of the Year, MVP of the last World Championship and Olympic Games, top scorer of the EHF EURO 2024, and top scorer of the 2023/24 EHF European League season in terms of average goals per match. Gidsel has netted 69 times in only 10 matches, for an average of 6.9 – more than Akimenko (6.1), Knorr (5.4) and Kirkelokke (5.3).

The most decorated of all the players on court in Hamburg will be Hans Lindberg, whose list of achievements is endless; a former EHF Champions League, EHF Cup and EHF European League winner; Olympic, world and European champion; and all-time top scorer in the Bundesliga. To complete the Danish super-trio, Füchse count on Lasse Andersson, who is among the top scorers in all competitions.

In defence, Berlin count on Dejan Milosavljev in goal behind the “Balkan bulls” Mijajlo Marsenic and Marko Kopljar. From all four teams at Hamburg, Berlin have the strongest individuals by far – but, beating the German side in the main round, Sporting CP proved that Berlin are not unbeatable. If a few of their key players simultaneously have a weak day, it could be a chance for their opponents.

Photos © HBC Nantes, Max Krause, NM, Ingrid Anderson-Jensen