Anything short of a semi-final would be an upset for one of the hot favourites for the EHF European League title this season.

Rhein-Neckar Löwen have a new, charismatic face on the bench and brought in some changes to their squad in their quest for domestic and international silverware.

The start of the season won’t come without its own issues though with three big names being sidelined and finding themselves into a tough group D.

• Martin Schwalb took over as head coach in summer
• three new names and one familiar (Baena) have signed with Löwen
• Appelgren, Kohlbacher, Nielsen will sit out start of season with injuries
• 40-year-old Petersson playing his last season in handball

The burning question: Can Schwalb find solutions to get over the injury hump?

The core, quite literally, of the Löwen will miss the start of the season and maybe up until the new year.

Their star goalkeeper Mikael Appelgren injured his left shoulder in training and will be out until at least the beginning of 2021. But luckily, Löwen can still count on yet another world class Swedish goalkeeper in Andreas Palicka.

On the line, they have to do without the in-form line player Jannik Kohlbacher.

The German international injured his elbow during a game back in September and his absence for at least the start of the group phase will be a huge gap to fill in both attack and defence.

With further issues on the line, as Jesper Nielsen is until the start of 2021, Martin Schwalb needed to act quickly.

The 23-year-old Ymir Gislason will now share the workload on the line with Rafael Baena (37) who has (re)signed with the Mannheim club.

The Spanish line player wore the yellow and black of the Löwen from 2015 to 2018 and has put pen to paper in a short-term contract up until January; even netting a goal in his comeback against TTH Holstebro.

It was a deft move by Schwalb, as attempting to reinvent their system of attack at this stage would have made little sense.

By bringing in Baena they have a strong line player who knows how the Löwen tick, familiar with the players and the city, making the transition as seamless as it could be given the circumstances.

Should Löwen be able to weather this storm and avoid more hiccups they will be a real force to be reckoned with once we hit the knock-out stages.

Signature players

Technical wizard: Uwe Gensheimer

This man needs very little introduction; when you think of the wing position, he is normally the name on everyone’s lips.

With one of the best arms to ever pick up a handball, the immense impact he has had on the technical development of shooting from wing positions has been clear to see over the past decade. 

He’s was top scorer of the EHF Champions League three times (2011, 2017 & 2018) and will surely be up there for the first season of the EHF European League, too.

The creator: Andy Schmid

One of the best playmakers in the world. The Swiss international comes into his 10th year with Rhein-Neckar Löwen.

Won player of the season five years in a row in the German Bundesliga (2013/14 - 2017/18).

Schmid, who has scored over 800 goals for the Swiss national team, will return to his homeland for their group D ties against Kadetten Schaffhausen.

New blood: Albin Lagergren

Along with Partrail and Nilsson at left back, Lagergren at right back makes up the reinforcement for the season in the backcourt positions.

Lagergren has been slowly working his way up the handball hierarchy, from his breakthrough performances with Kristianstad in the EHF Champions League to most recently SG Magdeburg.

Now at 28, he is heading into his prime years as he joins a team with real potential to lift trophies.

It will be exciting to see what this dynamic Swedish shooter can bring to the pride.

A night to remember…

We go back to the EHF Cup Final in 2013 in Nantes when the Lions of Mannheim won their first international title.

Current squad members like Uwe Gensheimer, Alexander Petersson, Patrick Groetzki, and Andre Schmid will have fond memories of this of night.

In the final they prevailed against the French host side HBC Nantes with 26:24 (16:12).

The team of coach Gudmundur Gudmundsson overcame their ‘final curse’ with the victory.

Up until then they had left the court as losers in four finals - three times in the German cup final and once in the final of the Cup Winners' Cup.

Departures and arrivals

Newcomers: Mait Patrail (TSV Hannover-Burgdorf), Albin Lagergren (SC Magdeburg), Lukas Nilsson (THW Kiel), Niklas Gierse (RNL 2nd team), Jannis Schneibel (RNL 2nd team), Rafael Baena (Club Balomano Los Dolmenes)       

Left the club: Steffen Fäth (HC Erlangen), Mads Mensah (SG Flensburg-Handewitt), Gedeon Guardiola (TBV Lemgo-Lippe), Tim Ganz (SG Pforzheim-Eutingen)

Past achievements

EHF Champions League:
Semi-final (2): 2008/09, 2010/11
Quarter-final (2): 2009/10, 2013/14
Last 16 (4): 2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19

EHF Cup:
Winners (1): 2012/13
Semi-final (1): 2011/12
Last 16 (1): 2006/07

Cup Winners’ Cup:
Final (1): 2007/08

German league: 2 titles (2015/16, 2016/17)
German cup: 1 title (2017/18)