Handball: To Leipzig is before Barcelona: Lions master part one of their “double strike”.

The Rhine-Neckar lions have mastered part one of their “double strike” with confidence and scored the tenth consecutive compulsory game victory. The reigning champion won the eleventh game of the Bundesliga season at SC DHfK Leipzig 29:23 (15:13).

With a score of 20:2 points, the Mannheim team is in second place – only one advantage behind the Füchsen Berlin, which, however, have played two more games.

Less than 24 hours after the success, the lions are challenged again on Sunday at 7 p. m. in the Champions League at FC Barcelona:”This deadline exceeded a limit,”said Jennifer Kettemann, Managing Director of Löwen, to the Mannheimer Morgen and pleaded for the second team to be sent to Barcelona. However, coach Nikolaj Jacobsen and the players opposed the proposal.

To postpone the match in Leipzig was not an option,”also because of the live broadcast on ARD,”Kettenmann told the FAZ. For the first time in the history of the Bundesliga, the first match was broadcast live, with Löwen’s victory having been confirmed at an early stage, with Löwen-Keeper Mikael Appelgren, his team-mate Alexander Petersson’s nine times the most outstanding man of the evening, standing out. Best goal scorers in Leipzig were Maximilian Janke and Niclas Pieczkowski (4 each).

Unlike expected, Jacobsen did not spare his stars even in the final phase. National coach Christian Prokop, who was on duty as an expert for ARD, believes that the Dane will “rotate a lot” in Barcelona on Sunday. Prokop sees the lions in the Bundesliga already on their way to the third title in succession,”They are currently playing most consistently. They have the greatest calmness and the strongest goalkeeper duo. If no major injuries happen, they will go their way,”he said.