Handball Magdeburg against Berlin
The hate duel of German handball
Status: 07.03.2024 | Reading time: 4 minutes
By Dirk Schlickmann, Ulrike Krieger, Lisa Siegel
Füchse Berlin confidently defend their lead in the table – the highlights in the video
The Füchse Berlin defended their lead in the table with a confident win against Erlangen and gained self-confidence for the upcoming top game against pursuers Magdeburg. Watch the highlights of the game here in the video.
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On Sunday there will be a showdown for the German handball championship. SC Magdeburg welcomes Füchse Berlin to a game that is one of the biggest hate duels in this country. Someone who played for both clubs explains how this came about.
Silvio Heinevetter (39) has already seen a lot in his career. But that’s what he’s also looking forward to: This Sunday (4 p.m., Dyn) SC Magdeburg welcomes the Füchse Berlin. “A great game! I’m really looking forward to it,” says the ex-national goalkeeper, who played for both clubs and is now under contract in Stuttgart. “The best German teams meet each other. The game can decide the championship.”
Berlin is leader with 41:5 points, Magdeburg is second with 38:6 points. Flensburg (35:11 points) and Kiel (34:12 points) are already behind.
Magdeburg’s Gisli Kristjansson is pinned down by Berlin’s Max Darj (l.) and Marko Kopljar (r.) in the first leg
Quelle: picture alliance/dpa
“There is a great rivalry between the two clubs,” says Heinevetter. “It’s a real eastern derby. The Füchse, although they started in Reinickendorf, feel like they are an Eastern club with a hall in Prenzlauer Berg and a training facility in Hohenschönhausen. This game was already being hyped up when I played in Magdeburg. Over the years, as Berlin has gotten better and better, this has become even more extreme.”
“Not forgiven”
Heinevetter experienced this firsthand. In 2009, after four years in Magdeburg, he moved to Berlin (where he stayed until 2020). “Since then I have been ostracized in Magdeburg and booed for 60 minutes during games there. This went on for ten years. I haven’t been forgiven for moving to my arch-rival.”
Silvio Heinevetter now plays for Stuttgart
Source: picture alliance / press photo Baumann
The dislike escalated when Heinevetter made a huge game with 15 saves in Magdeburg on Boxing Day 2017. The last action of the game is a seven-meter penalty for Magdeburg at 23:23. Right winger Robert Weber is on the line ready to throw when Heinevetter goes to him to unsettle him. “I just told him that it was a pretty important penalty,” says Heinevetter with a smile. The hall whistles – and when Heinevetter holds the ball, there is commotion on the field. “Magdeburg has the hottest hall in the league. The handball temple par excellence is there,” says Heinevetter.
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Further evidence of the hostility was the 2018 EHF Cup final in Magdeburg: Berlin against Saint-Raphaël (France), which defeated the SCM in the semi-finals. Instead of supporting their compatriots in the final, the Magdeburg spectators whistled mercilessly at the Berlin players as they arrived. The Foxes still won and when the trophy was handed over they provocatively wore T-shirts with the slogan “Who rules here?”
“As an athlete, you live for games like this.”
Now the next chapter is upon us. And the rivalry is greater than ever. “As an athlete, you live for games like this,” says Füchse captain Paul Drux (29): “You go beyond the limits with everything. A win against a top team, or especially the team of the moment, is doubly important and doubly nice. This brings confidence and energy.”
Drux is confident: “We will win because we performed well in all the top games this year. Our tempo game can be really dangerous for the SCM.”
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Magdeburg’s Matthias Musche (31) contradicts: “We play at home. The spectators will set the hall on fire. That’s why we win.” Musche also says: “I have great respect for Berlin. What they have built over the past few years is strong. They have gotten better and better little by little. There was always fire in the last few games.” Musche knows: “There are only two points. But for the spectators it’s an extra kick to win against Berlin.”
Confident of victory: Magdeburg’s left winger Matthias Musche
Quelle: picture alliance / CHROMORANGE
How does the big game end? “Both teams are completely on equal terms,” says Heinevetter. “Magdeburg has a wider roster and can bring more from the bench, especially now that Gisli Kristjansson is fit again. At Berlin, a lot depends on Andersson and Gidsel. It could be a classic draw game – and the championship remains open until the last matchday and may even be decided on goal difference. It’s incredibly narrow at the top.”
But Heinevetter is certain: “The duel between Berlin and Magdeburg is already a real classic and will accompany us for the next few years. Berlin hasn’t been at the top for quite that long. But in a few years the rivalry between the two clubs will be just as big as that between Kiel and Flensburg.”
The interview was conducted for the Sports Competence Center (WELT, SPORT BILD, BILD) and first published in SPORT BILD.