The cup rematch between DHfK Leipzig and ThSV Eisenach will be a battle of wills and mentality in the German Handball League. "Whoever wants to win the game more will win it," ThSV coach Misha Kaufmann told the "Thüringer Allgemeine" ahead of the game in the trade fair city on Thursday (19:00/Dyn). Two weeks after the cup defeat (24:30) against the Thuringians, Leipzig's coach Runar Sigtryggsson demanded in the "Leipziger Volkszeitung" that his team face Eisenach at the same level "in terms of fighting spirit and intensity".
Both teams want to be very self-confident. Eisenach surprised leaders MT Melsungen 32:31 at the weekend, while Leipzig recorded its first away win of the season with a 29:28 victory in Bietigheim. The fact that the departure of Leipzig's international Luca Witzke was announced on Tuesday is only a side note ahead of the Central German clash.
Sigtryggson heats up the atmosphere
Kaufmann wants to take the momentum from the surprise win back to Leipzig and is relying on another strong defensive display, which was a guarantee for success in the second half: "The question for us is how we can manage to be there from the start."
The former Eisenach coach Sigtryggson prescribes a certain calmness for his players despite all the emotions. The Eisenach defense is unorthodox, aggressive and intense. What's more, the Eisenachers "are likely to pull more shirts and push more than other teams", says the 52-year-old, "we have to be better prepared for that - and deal less with the officials."
For Kaufmann, these statements play into his hands, he ignores the cup success: "It doesn't matter if we won against Leipzig once. We have to go into the game as if we had lost three times. That's the right approach."
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