Tobias Reichmann: “2016 was the year of my life”

There is one player who is best-placed to talk about the clash, as he has played for both clubs: Tobias Reichmann. Born in Berlin, Reichmann never played for any handball club in the capital until he joined Füchse at the age of 36 last summer, the last step in his career. For private reasons, he had to quit in January 2025.

But despite winning the EHF Champions League twice with his first big club, THW Kiel, in 2010 and 2012, Reichmann spent his biggest year at Kielce. In 2016, he was the only male player to become EHF EURO champion and EHF Champions League winner.

“2016 was the year of my life. I won all three trophies in Poland and the Champions League with Kielce, I became EHF EURO champion and was second best scorer of the tournament and finally I won the bronze medal at the Rio Olympic Games. There is not much more to win within seven months. It was simply one highlight chasing the next,” Reichmann says.

And of course there is one match which Reichmann remembers best: the 2016 EHF Champions League final against Veszprém, a thriller which has gone down in handball history.

“I remember every second of this match, as if it was yesterday,” Reichmann says.

“We were down 19:28 with 14 minutes left. Never ever on this level you can turn around a match with this result. We simply wanted to enjoy the atmosphere and thank our loyal fans and the club. And we ran. When you are down by nine goals, you do not care if you lose by 10 or 15, you just try. Personally, I had already hoped this match would end after 35 minutes, when it was obvious that we had no chance anymore.”

But then the miracle started to materialise. Kielce scored goal after goal, “and maybe Veszprém were too sure that they had already won”, says Reichmann. He had some prior experience of such a game, having been part of the Kiel squad which turned a six-goal deficit in the 2010 final against Barcelona around.

“This was our psychological advantage. We even had the chance to win the match after regular time, but I caused a mistake which Veszprém used to level the result. Finally, the winding roads carried us through overtime to the penalty shootout; I’m sure it was destined that this match would not end after 60 minutes.”

After his teammate Ivan Cupic missed, Kielce’s goalkeepers Marin Sego and Slawomir Szmal saved two penalties.

“Our coach Talant Dujshebaev had his exact list for the penalty shoot-out. I was the penultimate, and hit the net. From the start, Talant chose Julien Aguinagalde to be the last — he scored, and I remember every second before and until he had converted it.”

By winning this final, Reichmann became the third German player ever with three EHF Champions League trophies – after his former THW teammates Dominik Klein and Christian Zeitz.

In 2015, when Reichmann moved from HSG Wetzlar to Kielce, many people wondered how a German player could leave the Bundesliga to play abroad.

“If they called me today again and I was young, I would exactly do the same thing again,” insists Reichmann. “In the last years, when I was the oldest among many young players, I always told them: try it, dare it, go abroad, get your playing time and experience in different leagues, if you sit on the bench most of the time at a German club.”

When he signed for Kielce, Bogdan Wenta was head coach, later to be replaced by Talant Dujshebaev.

“I knew Bogdan and many of the Kielce players had been playing Bundesliga before, so I could speak German to them — this helped me a lot. I wanted to play in the Champions League, I dared to take this step, and today I can say I enjoyed every day in Poland. Although there were some difficulties in the club, I still have a perfect relationship with them and with Talant,” Reichmann says.

In three years at Kielce, Reichmann became both Polish champion and cup winner three times and made it twice to the EHF FINAL4 in Cologne.

“When I arrived there, I could not dream of how successful we were at this time. And I got to know so many players that I am still sometimes in contact with, or even played with, like Manuel Strlek in Berlin.

“I really had a great time at Kielce. The only disadvantage was that my family had to leave one year earlier than me. And I really missed them.”

In 2017, Reichmann followed his family back to Germany. He first played for MT Melsungen, then for third division team Emsdetten. It looked like his great career was coming to an end. But in January 2024, he received a phone call from Rhein-Neckar Löwen. Regular right wing Patrick Groetzki was ruled out by an injury, and they needed urgent help. Reichmann jumped in — and even wanted to extend his contract, as Mannheim is only two hours away from his family home in Kassel. But they did not agree.

When one gate closes, another opens. And finally Reichmann got the chance to play for Füchse, the club from his birthplace, Berlin.

“I was constantly in talks with Füchse director Bob Hanning, and sometimes, a transfer seemed to be in reach. But either I was contracted or they had enough right wings.”

When he was a boy, Reichmann’s family moved south of Berlin, and he started playing handball at Cottbus. “I always played against Berlin-based clubs in my youth, but never for any team in Berlin,” he adds.

In summer 2024, Reichmann succeeded legendary Hans Lindberg, the all-time top scorer in the Bundesliga, who returned to Hoj in Denmark. Reichmann fit in well and scored 28 goals for Berlin in eight Champions League matches, but then had to quit playing handball for private reasons in January.

“Of course, I want to continue working in handball. I am just exploring the market. What I know is that I will never become coach of a senior professional team. It is more about coaching young players,” Reichmann says about his mid-term future.

In the short term, he is eager to see his two former clubs facing in the EHF Champions League play-offs, with the first leg taking place in Kielce on Wednesday (live on EHFTV at 20:45 CET).

“It will be a fifty-fifty duel. Kielce have more experience in playing knock-out matches on this level, Berlin have the advantage of playing the second leg at home. I really would like to go back to Kielce to experience this outstanding atmosphere again,” he says before this week’s MOTW. “I am sure Berlin will have respect for this great audience.”

Overall, Reichmann is crossing his fingers for Füchse: “This was my last club, and already eight years have passed since I left Kielce.”

Photos © Sporting CP, Kolektiff Images, Jan Guenther / TSV Hannover-Burgdorf, Heiko Voigt / Foto Lächler