All-German duel enters its final round

It will be an 'all-or-nothing' encounter when HSV Hamburg, the defending champions of the VELUX EHF Champions League, take on Füchse Berlin on Friday night (23 August, 19:00 hrs local time) in the second leg of the wild card qualification knockout match.

As the first leg on Wednesday ended in 30-all draw, it means that whoever wins this match enters the group phase of Europe's premier club handball competition, while the losing team has to settle for a spot at the EHF Cup.

Handball fans from all over the world can follow the match on ehftv.com which broadcasts live with German commentary.

Tensions ran high in Wednesday's encounter with HSV Hamburg taking an 12:6 early lead, before Füchse powered away 25:21 midway through the second half, only allowing HSV to level the match in its dying seconds.

"We missed several chances and now know that it will be really tough to proceed, but we will give all we can in Hamburg," said Füchse coach Dagur Sigurdsson after the match.

With the first dust having settled, his counterpart on the HSV's sideline, Martin Schwalb, is confident that his team will be the one that enters the group phase.

"The position we are in is good. We have 60 tough minutes ahead of us, but backed by our fans I'm confident that we as the defending champions will qualify for the group phase," he was quoted on the HSV Hamburg's website.

But a cautious confidence also reigns in the Füchse camp.

"Everything is possible," said Pavel Horák, who joined Füchse in summer, to the Berliner Zeitung. "It'll be difficult, but it's possible."

The statistical advantage is with the team from the German capital.

When Füchse met Hamburg in the Last 16 of the 2011/12 EHF Champions League, they won the first leg at home 32:30 and then beat Hamburg on their home court 24:23 just one week later.

Photos: Eberhard Thonfeld / Fotoagentur Camera 4