Team news
Both Ona Vegué and Lena Hausherr were back in coach Kay Rothenpieler’s squad. Emma Olsson (thigh), Mareike Thomaier (appendix) and Pam Korsten, however, did not travel to Budapest.
Match report
BVB started with Lara Egeling and Kelly Vollebregt on the wings. Guro Nestaker, Alina Grijseels and Laetitia Quist formed the backcourt, with Merel Freriks on the line. Sarah Wachter started in goal.
It was Germany international Emily Vogel who scored the opening goal against BVB. Laetitia Quist responded at the other end. An evenly matched contest followed, but the Borussia players missed their chances to take the lead themselves. They repeatedly drew level with FTC up to 5–5. Dortmund then found things increasingly difficult in attack, allowing FTC to establish their first three-goal lead by the 15th minute.
Following a timeout called by coach Kay Rothenpieler, BVB switched to seven outfield players in attack. This allowed Borussia to create good chances time and again, but they were denied by opposition goalkeeper Anna Kristensen. FTC extended their lead and were 16–11 ahead in the 27th minute. BVB refused to give up and became more clinical in attack. Dortmund conceded no further goals before half-time and cut the deficit to 16–13.
After the break, BVB again had chances to close the gap, but repeatedly made technical errors that FTC immediately punished at the other end. In the 36th minute, the hosts extended their lead to 22–16. Dortmund could offer little resistance as FTC pulled further away. Kay Rothenpieler called his second timeout in the 40th minute, urging his players to give everything they had in the remaining 20 minutes.
But the hosts continued to give little away and eventually extended their lead to 26–16. BVB continued to play seven against six in attack but failed to take their chances consistently. Anna Christensen in goal for FTC-Tyotoya Kovács had already made 17 saves by this point. The hosts capitalised on BVB’s lapses in concentration to score quick goals time and again.
They continued to extend their lead through 30–19 and 34–21 before the final whistle. There was still something to celebrate towards the end, however. Lena Hausherr made her comeback after two years and immediately got her name on the scoresheet, making it 37–24. The final whistle followed shortly afterwards. Borussia Dortmund’s handball team had to accept a 39–25 defeat.
Reaction
Coach Kay Rothenpieler: “The first half was actually fine. After the break, we gave up a little too early. There’s no question that we deserved to lose. But overall, I thought the margin was a little too big; we weren’t that bad. Perhaps we need to be a bit more disciplined, too. We have to learn from this, keep working hard and do better next week.”
Looking ahead
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This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.