Reigning champions and powerhouses collide for quarter-finals berths
The play-offs of the EHF European League Men start with a bang on Tuesday, as reigning champions Füchse Berlin collide with Kadetten Schaffhausen, in a battle between two of the three most experienced teams in the competition's history.
We are in front of one of the most important games of the season. We play against Silkeborg, they have amazing players and they play great handball, with different types of defence. It will be difficult for us, but for them also and I hope that on Tuesday we will have a full house, because that is very important for us.
We expect a hard, physical game, an intense atmosphere and fast handball. We need to play at the same level as Bucharest. We need a concentrated game for 60 minutes."
This game is worth all the efforts we are taking trough the year. The BBC Arena is fully booked, we are well prepared, so everything is ready to enjoy this game. To play against such a good team like Füchse Berlin is a highlight for us.
No team in Europe can say with certainty that they will beat the Rhein-Neckar Löwen team, so we welcome their visit to Našice with great respect. But at the same time, we have a huge desire and we hope that we are able to take a step further and show that we can play against the strongest European teams. We want to achieve our first goal, which is to win the first game in Našice, and then we will prepare for the return match in Germany.
It will be a very tough game. I've heard from Halil Jaganjac that it's a very loud, atmospheric arena. We have to be ready, give everything and dig in to win the duel.
It's a very fast team that wants to score easy goals through a compact defence. They have a lot of interesting players and a good goalkeeping duo who want to challenge us for 60 minutes. We are really looking forward to this duel and want to work with our fans to create a good starting position for the second leg.
Photos © Sylvia Goeres, Ivan Cosic
