Handball: Skirmish before cracker:”They pretend to be dead.”

The THW Kiel started the season miserably with three defeats from six HBL matches and two defeats from three Champions League games.The zebras are practicing their understatement before the bang at the Rhine-Neckar Lions (Sun, 3 p. m. in the LIVETICKER).

“We’re playing for the champion, the top favorite for the title.That’s why the pressure on my team isn’t too high.A lot of things have to happen in Mannheim to be able to score points there,”said THW coach Alfred Gislason.

The Icelander exaggerates a bit with his statements.After all, Kiel still has a world-class team together despite the crisis.However, the statistics clearly speak for the lions, who won eight of the last twelve games against THW in three defeats and one draw.

Nevertheless, the people of Baden do not allow themselves to be lulled.On its homepage the club called the Kiel comments “psycho games”.And captain Andy Schmid added:”The Kielers are now lying on their backs a little bit and are playing dead.But we won’t let that fool us.They’ll come with everything they have.”

While Kiel occupies ninth place in the table, the lions are currently in sixth place with four victories and one bankruptcy.The only team that has yet to score a single point is the Foxes Berlin.