Preview of the Match of the Week Round 6

It is the fight for the top position in group A of the VELUX EHF Champions League – and it will be an emotional duel of two German rivals within a distance less than 200 kilometres: SG Flensburg-Handewitt will face HSV Hamburg on Sunday (17:30 hrs local time) in the ehfTV.com Match of the Week, live streamed free of charge and with English live commentary by Tom Ó Brannagáin.

HSV were the lucky winners of the first leg last Sunday, as they took both points by a 31:28 win after being bellow by seven goals initially. Hamburg are the unbeaten co-leader of this group with nine points on their account together with Chekhovskie Medvedi, as Flensburg are bellow by three points after their first defeat in this VELUX EHF Champions League season.

And Sunday’s host were not only shocked by the final result, as they gave at least one point from their hands, but even more by the severe injury of their Icelandic newcomer Arnór Atlason.

After only ten minutes he had to be carried from the court on a stretcher – and the diagnosis was a real strike for him and his club: rupture of the Achilles tendon.

The Icelandic, who had transferred from bankrupted Danish side AG København in the beginning of this season to replace Petar Đorđić (rupture of the crucial ligament in the first match), will be out for several months and will miss the world championship in January, too.

“This injury makes me really feel said,” said Flensburg team captain Tobias Karlsson.

His club had to react quickly, as they now miss three left back due to injuries – aside Đorđić and Atlason, German international Lars Kaufmann is out.

On Wednesday they signed another Icelandic, Ólafur Gústafsson (23), arriving from Hafnarfjörður. Due to the EHF regulations, he is not eligible to play in the VELUX EHF Champions League before the Round 8.

Despite this injury series Flensburg’s domestic dress rehearsal was highly successful, beating VfL Gummersbach in the re-match of last season’s Cup Winners’ Cup final 31:21 and climbing on fifth rank of German Bundesliga.

In contrast, HSV failed in their league match between both all-German VELUX EHF Champions League duels: The former German champion lost at EHF Cup winner Frisch Auf Göppingen clearly by 26:34 and were overtaken by Flensburg in the ranking.

Flensburg top scorer Anders Eggert hopes that the psychological advantage is on their side: “We miss a lot of injured key players, but those, who are on the field, will fight to win and take revenge for the defeat in Hamburg.”

And Sunday’s VELUX EHF Champions League duel – the re-match of the 2009 quarter-finals, in aggregate won by HSV - is something like a little jubilee, as both teams face for the 30th time in all competitions.

The statistic is on HSV side: Hamburg won 14 times, Flensburg eleven times, four matches ended with a draw. Former Flensburg goalkeeper Dan Beutler hopes to continue this series with his new club: “We have to improve compared with the first match, but we have the chance to win.”