Fabian Wiede: Previous results do not mean anything

“It is something special to be part of the club history in this special way, to be part of all trophy winning teams,” says Wiede, who made his debut in the Bundesliga team at the age of 18 and who won four German titles in the youth and junior Bundesliga with the Foxes.

But his career has never been straightforward due to too many severe injuries. In 2016 and 2020 he had to undergo shoulder surgeries and missed major tournaments with the national team. In September 2023, he broke his ankle and missed EHF EURO 2024 on home soil. Due to this injury, he only played four matches in the 2023/24 EHF European League season and scored nine times. “It is getting better and better, but I am still not at 100 per cent. Usually, it takes one year after a surgery likes this to be fully recovered. But I am sure I can help the team in Hamburg.”

The defending champions played a perfect group phase with six wins from six matches, but then stumbled in the main round, losing twice against Sporting. “In general, we can be satisfied with the European League season, except the home defeat against Sporting. We had been ahead for a long time, but gave the match from our hands,” says Wiede, “And after losing at Lisbon, we knew that we had two matches more to play then we wanted to do – and even worse: we had to duel with Nantes for a ticket to Hamburg. We knew we can beat any team in this competition, but definitely this was not the easiest way to the EHF Finals. We had proved our strength already by winning in Bucharest in the group phase. And you see - they also qualified for the final tournament. They have a strong team and they have a huge advantage when they play at home with their great and crazy fans."

Füchse beat Kadetten Schaffhausen in the play-offs – and then tied 33:33 at home against HBC Nantes in the first leg of the quarter-finals. "We were under a certain pressure when we travelled to Nantes, as everybody knows, how hard it is to take the points there. And then we even had to replace our defence boss Mijajlo Marsenic – but we showed an extraordinary team performance, one of the best this season."

Thanks to the 37:30 away win in the lion’s den, Berlin again qualified for the EHF Finals Men, as one of three German teams (besides Rhein-Neckar Löwen and SG Flensburg-Handewitt), along with Dinamo Bucuresti. For Wiede, "there is no favourite this year. All four teams managed to leave great teams behind to make it to Hamburg, all four deserve it, and all want to win.  But of course, it is our aim to defend the trophy."

Wiede & Co. will face their domestic rivals and 2013 EHF Cup winners Rhein-Neckar Löwen in the semi-final on 25 May (18:00 CEST, live on EHFTV) – the same pairing as in the 2021 semis, when Füchse beat Löwen at their arena, but lost the final against SC Magdeburg. "Of course, we know Rhein-Neckar Löwen very well and we had them under control in the previous domestic encounters and in the 2021 semi-final. But those previous results do not mean anything, when it comes to a final tournament. Löwen have eliminated Sporting – a team, which beat us twice – and it is only one match. We all know that everything can happen at such tournaments."

One core player for Füchse is current IHF Player of the Year, Mathias Gidsel, the top scorer at EHF EURO 2024 and the 2023 World Championship. "Everybody knows about the abilities of Mathias, he is an extraordinary player, maybe currently the best in the world. But we have seven players on court, every one contributes his part of the match. But of course, we are extremely happy to have him in our squad."

Before the EHF Finals, Füchse have to accomplish their mission in the German Bundesliga. For a long time, they were leading the table, but then were passed by SC Magdeburg some weeks ago. "I do not think that we can win the Bundesliga trophy, but still, we need to win all matches to remain in the second position and to qualify for the EHF Champions League. In total, we have five matches in two competitions ahead. If we win all of them, we have one trophy and one ticket to the EHF Champions League,” Wiede concludes.

Photos © HBC Nantes, Axel Heimken / kolektiff