Thursday, 28 March:

TVB Stuttgart vs. Bergischer HC (19:00 CET, live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)

• The matchday's bottom line duel takes place in Stuttgart, where the fourth from bottom hosts the second to last.
• The TVB have only had one win in the last five games, most recently losing 27:35 in Gummersbach – but is still five points clear of a relegation spot.
• After Eisenach's victory in Leipzig, the gap between the second-to-last Bergischer HC and the third-from-last is already three points. BHC have lost the last nine games, but recently showed a strong performance in the 27:30 defeat against SC Magdeburg.
• The 33:28 in the reverse fixture on 10 December was the Bergische Löwen's last win.
• Before that, the TVB had won the last three duels, overall after 14 matches it is almost a draw with seven Stuttgart wins and six for the BHC.
• Thanks to his 143 goals this season, Kai Häfner (TVB) is the best German thrower in the HBL.

Saturday, 30 March:

HBW Balingen-Weilstetten vs SC DHfK Leipzig (19:00 CET, live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)

• HBW Balingen-Weilstetten have lost their last five games and are bottom of the table, five points behind the first non-relegation spot.
• Leipzig's successful streak of three wins in a row ended last matchday with the surprising 29:31 home defeat against promoted team Eisenach. With 21:27 points, SC DHfK are eighth, but only five points ahead of third-from-last.
• The Saxons narrowly won the reverse fixture 26:25 after leading 14:8 at the break. Balingen’s last victory dates back to 2019. In total, Leipzig won seven of the eleven duels, Balingen won three.
• Leipzig's Icelander Viggo Kristjansson is the HBL's fifth best thrower with 155 goals.

SG Flensburg-Handewitt vs. TSV Hannover-Burgdorf (20:30 CET, live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)  

• SG Flensburg-Handewitt are unbeaten in the last six games (five wins and one draw).
• Thanks to the clearest derby win of all time in Kiel (33:26), SG are now the only pursuer of the top duo Berlin and Magdeburg - but are already five and six points behind.
• The Recken have exactly the same record as Flensburg, with five wins and one draw in their last six games. Most recently it was 35:26 against Balingen - with 30:20 points Hannover-Burgdorf are sixth ranked.
• The 26:26 in the reverse fixture in Hanover was one of Flensburg's three draws this season; the warriors drew four times.
• In the previous season, both teams won their away games; in the overall statistics, Flensburg are clearly in the lead with 19:5 wins in 28 HBL games.
• On the last match day, Johannes Golla (Flensburg) and Marius Steinhauser (Hannover) each scored nine times. Steinhauser is also his team's top scorer overall with 109 goals, while Emil Jakobsen scored 145 times for Flensburg.
• In the European League, Flensburg were the only German team to qualify directly for the quarter-finals; the Recken won the first leg of the round of 16 on Tuesday 34:30 against Sävehof.

Easter Sunday, 31 March:

HC Erlangen vs. VfL Gummersbach (15:00 CEST, live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)

• After just one win in the last five games, HC Erlangen fell to 14th place (19:33 points).
• At VfL Gummersbach, however, things are going well with five wins from the last six games, most recently the confident 35:27 against Stuttgart. VfL also made headlines with the signing of French world champion, European champion and Olympic champion Kentin Mahe.
• VfL won the reverse fixture at home 33:28; It was Gummersbach's third success in a row and the eighth in eleven games overall. Erlangen last won against VfL in 2019.
• Ole Pregler (9) and Kristian Horzen (8) contributed almost half of all VfL goals against Stuttgart.

ThSV Eisenach vs. SC Magdeburg (16:00 CEST, live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)

• ThSV Eisenach made the best advertisement for the second Eastern derby in a row – with the 31:29 away victory in Leipzig. Thanks to this success, the third-to-last team's advance to the relegation zone is now three points.
• SC Magdeburg have won the last four games and are still second with 44:6 points behind the Füchse, who have played one more game.
• With 13 goals in the 30:27 win against Bergischer HC, Omar Ingi Magnusson was the best shooter of the last matchday.
• Overall, Eisenach's Manuel Zehnder continues to lead the ranking with 207 goals this season, 45 goals ahead of fifth ft placed Magnusson.
• Magdeburg won the reverse fixture 38:31, now the 20th duel between the two teams awaits. The SCM has been successful 14 times, Eisenach's last success was in 2003.

Füchse Berlin vs. HSG Wetzlar (16:30 CEST, live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)

• After the 36:28 gala against the Lions, Füchse faltered enormously against newly promoted HBW Balingen-Weilstetten on Sunday, but in the end they achieved a happy 35:34 win, which means they remain in the lead in the table with 45:7 points.
• HSG Wetzlar have lost the last three games against Flensburg, Lemgo and most recently 25:27 against Hamburg and are currently in eleventh place with 21:31 points.
• The capital city team won the reverse fixture in Wetzlar 36:31, it was their fifth win in a row over HSG and their 24th in 32 games. Wetzlar's last away win in Berlin was in 2019.
• The Füchse duo Mathias Gidsel (203) and Lasse Andersson (174) are second and third in the HBL top scorers list, Wetzlar's Domen Novak is seventh with 147 goals.
• In the European League, defending champions Füchse Berlin have the best chance of reaching the quarter-finals after their 32:28 away win in the first leg in Schaffhausen.

Rhein-Neckar Lions vs. FRISCH AUF! Göppingen (16:30 CEST, live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)

• The Rhein-Neckar Löwen have only won one of the last eleven Bundesliga games - most recently there was a 28:36 defeat against the Füchse Berlin. With now 20:30 points, the cup winner has fallen back to 13th place.
• FRISCH AUF! won 32:29 against Erlangenand ended their series of three defeats in a row. With one game and one point more than the Lions (21:31), Markus Baur's team is tenth in the table.
• The reverse fixture on the very first match day ended with a 27:27, it was the first draw between the two since 2013. In the overall balance, the Baden team leads against the Swabians with 25:9 victories.
• The most successful scorers of both teams are neighbors in the table: Göppingen's Marcel Schiller in eleventh place with 139 goals ahead of Niclas Kirkelökke (Löwen) with 133 strikes.
• In contrast to the slump in the league, the Lions are internationally successful: With the 24:19 away win at the Croatian side RK Nexe, Sebastian Hinze's team have a perfect starting position for a place in the quarter-finals.

TBV Lemgo Lippe vs. THW Kiel (18:00 CEST, live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)

• • How did the Kiel team recover from the 26:33 home defeat against Flensburg and the end to their title dreams? That is the crucial question before the game in Lemgo.
  • In fifth place, Kiel even fell behind MT Melsungen with 34:14 points and are nine points behind league leaders Berlin.
  • After the two wins against Wetzlar and Göppingen, TBV Lemgo Lippe recently lost 25:26 in Melsungen and are ninth with 21:31 points.
  • In the reverse fixture, THW celebrated a 33:29 victory, but Lemgo had won in Kiel the previous season. The Lipperländer's last home win in the league against Kiel was a 34:30 in April 2019. In a total of 79 league games, Lemgo won 21 times and Kiel 51 times.
  • The best scorers of both clubs are Samuel Zehnder (Lemgo/131 goals) and Niclas Ekberg (Kiel/109).

Easter Monday, 1 April:

Handball Sport Verein Hamburg vs. MT Melsungen (16:30 CEST, live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)

• • Thanks to three wins in a row - against Göppingen, Rhein-Neckar Löwen and most recently the 27:25 in Wetzlar - Handball Sport Club Hamburg have been able to banish fears of relegation and are in twelfth place with 20:28 points.
  • MT Melsungen have won three of the last four games - against Lemgo (26:25) and Eisenach (27:26) but each with just one goal difference. Roberto Parrondo Garcia's team is fourth with 35:17 points.
  • Hamburg lost the reverse fixture 26:33, it was the third MT win in the last four duels. Overall, Hamburg is ahead with 18:5 wins.
  • Hamburg's Dane Casper Mortensen is fourth of the top scorer list with 173 goals, the best MT shooter is Timo Kastening with 118 goals.

Photo: Fischer