"Fulfil our dreams of Cologne"

For the fourth time HSV Hamburg participates in the VELUX EHF Champions League – and for the fourth time they qualified for the Quarterfinals.

After having failed three times against Ciudad Real in past semi- and quarterfinals, the Germans will this year face last year’s participants Chekhovskie Medvedi.

Pascal Hens, German World Champion and captain of the German national team, hopes to take the final step to Cologne in order to meet the "best teams of the world in the VELUX EHF FINAL4", but is aware of the strength of the Russian Champions.

Hamburg is full of handball euphoria – as the first ever German Bundesliga title is very close. HSV rank first, seven points ahead of THW Kiel. Before playing against Chekhov on home ground, Hens & Co. have the important domestic league match in Kiel on Wednesday.

Pascal Hens: You could never call a Quarterfinal match in the VELUX EHF Champions League an easy task. Chekhov seems to be the lowest hurdle, but only as the other alternatives would have been Renovalia Ciudad Real or THW Kiel. It will definitely not be an easy task for us – we expect a hard fight ahead.

Pascal Hens: It would have been a bit boring – especially for the fans – if we would have met Ciudad Real again. We as players like to have some alternation in our opponents, too. But in case we would have met Ciudad Real again, it would have been another big challenge. Of course we have some unpaid bills with them.

Pascal Hens: It would be nice if we could decide our Quarterfinal duel in the first match already. We will opt for full speed in Hamburg as every goal counts in the end. With the help of our supporters we hope to defeat Chekhov and to take a small cushion to Russia to be more secure in the second leg.

Pascal Hens: They are – more or less – the Russian national team. The team is absolutely balanced and plays on highest level. For eleven years they have been dominating the Russian league – those facts speak for themselves.

Pascal Hens: It is thrilling to have come so far in both competitions. So we do not need any extra motivation. We have high hopes and have still all possibilities to reach them. This is enough motivation.

Pascal Hens: I watched it together with my team mates.

Pascal Hens: This would be gigantic. To face the best teams in the world in the LANXESS-Arena attended by 20,000 spectators is the dream of every handball player. Maybe we can fulfil our dream this season.

Pascal Hens: Mathematically nothing is decided yet. We still have six matches ahead and still need some points to rank on top at the end. But we do have good chances as the distance to the runners-up is seven points.

Pascal Hens:　It’s hard to find a reason. Bundesliga does not forgive any defeats, as every point is important in the end. In the Group Phase of the VELUX EHF Champions League you can drop some points and still go through to the knock-out stage. Maybe that is the reason. We are in the Quarterfinals now, so the lost points in the Group Phase were not so important.

Pascal Hens: I don’t know. In case we would win the VELUX EHF Champions League, I don’t mind at all where we would celebrate our victory.