Füchse veteran Lindberg eyes repeat of 2015 triumph

Finishing fourth at the Men’s EHF EURO 2018 in Croatia was not exactly what Hans Lindberg and his Danish teammates were hoping for last month.

But the 36-year-old right wing has put the disappointment behind him and is looking forward to new challenges this season with his club, Füchse Berlin.

The current No. 2 in the German Bundesliga will open the EHF Cup Group Phase 2017/18 on Wednesday night when French side Saint-Raphael Var Handball are visiting the MBS Arena in Potsdam.

It will be a rematch of last season’s semi-final, which Füchse won 35:24 - before losing the final to Frisch Auf Göppingen.

Opportunity to win a title

“The EHF Cup is an opportunity for us to win a title,” Lindberg tells eurohandball.com. “Our goal is to reach the EHF Cup Finals. Those international games are always something special.”

Helvetia Anaitasuna from Spain and Lugi HF from Sweden are Füchse’s other opponents in Group B, and those teams will meet for their first game in Spain on Saturday.

“I think it is a tough group without any weak opponents,” Lindberg says. “This obviously means that we will have to approach every game with the highest level of concentration.”

Lindberg is pleased that his team are starting their group phase campaign on their own court.

“I think we have a particularly good chance in our first game against Saint-Raphael as we are playing at home,” he says. “We know them very well from last season when we met them no less than three times. This obviously means that they know us very well, too.”

If Füchse were to make it all the way to the EHF Cup Finals again, they will not have to travel far for the event in May.

For the second year in succession, the finals tournament will be in Germany. After Göppingen in 2017, Magdeburg will be the hosts this season.

“If that will be an advantage to us, or will feel like playing away, depends on the fact whether Magdeburg also qualify,” Lindberg says. “If they do, which I expect them to, playing against them will obviously be an away game.”

"Winning again would mean a lot to us"

According to Lindberg, “Magdeburg have a beautiful arena, where the atmosphere is always great. So I really hope for us to be part of the event.”

Lindberg was also part of the Füchse team that won the EHF Cup three years ago. So far, it is the only European title for the team from Berlin.

“Winning the EHF Cup again would mean a lot to us,” Lindberg says. “The EHF Cup is a chance for us to win a title. We will certainly invest all we have got in our attempt to take the trophy.”