After having control for 40 minutes, things started to go awry for Berlin as Nantes toughened up in the defence and levelled with only five minutes to go. The goalkeepers shaped the result as both Ignacio Biosca and Dejan Milosavljev saved in pivotal moments of the game.
Füchse are up for a difficult task in the second leg in France next week, also taking into account they were eliminated by Nantes when the teams met in the Last 16 of the 2021/22 season.
QUARTER-FINALS, LEG 1
Füchse Berlin (GER) vs HBC Nantes (FRA) 33:33 (17:15)
- Füchse line player Mijajlo Marsenic had an outstanding start to the game - from his good defensive effort came fast goals and a first two-goal lead after falling behind
- even though Nantes had a goalless span of seven minutes, the Foxes did not exploit the given chance to the fullest as they widened the gap to only four, 12:8
- a change between the posts came good for the French side as Ignacio Biosca took over in the second half and helped his team close the gap from five goals to one
- Nantes centre back Aymeric Minne netted 10 times, including two crucial goals in the 57th minute which marked the first lead of the French side since being up 6:5 up early in the match
- Berlin had to sweat as they went from an almost assured win to possible defeat in a matter of minutes, but they fought through the tough defence and found Tim Freihöfer on the left wing who scored on the final buzzer
- apart from Minne, Jorge Maqueda also was important for Nantes with seven goals; on the other side Mathias Gidsel netted nine times and Lasse Andersson seven
A night of the goalkeepers
While we have seen incredible power shots from the back court line on both sides, pushing Berlin's Mathias Gidsel and Nantes' Aymeric Minne into the spotlight, saves determined the result in the last moments. Ignacio Biosca stepped onto the court in the 20th minute and by half-time had two saves. But he exploded in the second half, mainly in the last 15 minutes and ended the day with 12 saves at a 38 per cent efficiency. His good reaction and reading of Füchse's players brought Nantes a chance of winning a match they had aready nearly lost. The same goes for Dejan Milosavljev. You could hear many times the speaker calling his name in Max-Schmeling-Halle as the Serbian goalkeeper was making life hard for Nantes with 16 saves, including Minne' one shot 40 seconds before the buzzer, a shot that would have sealed the win for the French side.
It's a result we are not entirely satisfied with when you see that we led 26:21 at one point. It looked good for us there and we played well; that's why I have the feeling that there was potential for more. But nothing is lost yet. A little cushion would certainly have done us good, but the game now starts all over again in Nantes.
We knew it was going to be a hard match, it is always difficult to win here in Berlin. Even though we maybe played our best game, it is a good result for us to go back to Nantes with a draw. We now need to fight even more and play better to reach the EHF Finals.
