MT Melsungen suffered a narrow 33-31 defeat against Füchse Berlin in their opening match of the Handball-Bundesliga season in Berlin on Thursday evening.
The match at the Max-Schmeling-Halle marked the return of Germany national team captain Johannes Golla to Melsungen. The 28-year-old line player was making his first official appearance for the club since returning to his former home town of Melsungen.
Speaking in an interview with hr-sport ahead of the fixture, Golla said confidently that his new team had the ambition to give Berlin a difficult evening. However, the visitors from northern Hesse struggled early as Berlin established control during the first half.
Melsungen trailed 17-9 at the half-time break after falling behind early in the match. Early timeouts called by Melsungen head coach Roberto Garcia Parrondo failed to stem the momentum of Füchse Berlin, who were led by outstanding performances from Matthes Langhoff and Mathias Gidsel.
First half struggle and scoring leaders
Langhoff scored nine goals and Gidsel, the reigning World Handball Player of the Year and last season's league top scorer, added seven as the pair combined for 16 of Berlin's goals. Tim Freihöfer contributed seven goals for the hosts, including five seven-meter penalties, while Lasse Gröndahl scored five. Mijajlo Marsenic and Hakun West av Teigum each scored two goals, and goalkeeper Tomas Palicka added one.
Melsungen rallied significantly after the interval as Golla exerted a greater influence on the game, but their strong late comeback was not enough to overturn the deficit in front of 8,132 spectators.
Aaron Mensing led the scoring for Melsungen with six goals, while Dimitri Ignatow scored five. Florian Drosten and Hakon Stefansson each scored four goals, with three of Drosten's coming from seven-meter penalties. Golla scored three goals, while Erik Balenciaga, Alex Dujshebaev, Ruben Garcia and Dainis Kristopans scored two each, and Olle Schefvert added one.
League context and upcoming fixtures
The Handball-Bundesliga is Germany's top professional handball competition. Füchse Berlin, based in the capital, play their home matches at the Max-Schmeling-Halle, while MT Melsungen represent northern Hesse in the 18-team top flight.
Melsungen will have an opportunity to bounce back from the opening loss when they host Frisch Auf Göppingen on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The match at the Rothenbach-Halle will be Melsungen's first home game of the new league season.
