For the third time in history and for the third time in the past eight years, Füchse Berlin sealed the title in the EHF European League Men, the second-tier European competition, delivering a pitch-perfect season with a 36:31 win in the final against Spanish side Fraikin BM. Granollers.

Füchse were the team that dominated the competition throughout the whole season, sealing 15 wins out of 16 matches they played, dropping a single one, the first leg of the quarter-finals against Kadetten Schaffhausen.

Powered by the MVP of the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship, Danish right back Mathias Gidsel, who scored 10 goals in the away leg against Kadetten and 11 goals in the EHF Finals Men, Füchse looked unstoppable in the EHF Finals Men, which took place on 27 and 28 May in Flensburg.

The German powerhouse went down early in the semi-final against Montpellier, with the French side leading by as many as four goals in the first half, only for Danish pair of veteran Hans Lindberg and Mathias Gidsel, both world champions in January, to lift Füchse to a win.

With 14 goals coming from the two Danish players, the German side sealed a place in the final with a 35:29 win over Montpellier, setting up a tie with Fraikin BM. Granollers in the last act.

The Spanish side was the huge surprise of the competition, being dug from a big hole in the second leg of the Last 16 phase and in the quarter-finals, making it an unlikely underdog in the EHF Finals Men.

The never-say-die attitude also made waves in Flensburg in the EHF Finals Men, with Granollers clawing back into the game against Frisch Auf Göppingen, making another comeback, from 16:18 at the break to a 31:29 win, powered by nine goals from Jan Gurri Aregay and a six-goal outing from Nigerian right back Faruk Yusuf, who made waves recently at the 2023 IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship.

However, Granollers’ underdog story was over in the final, when Füchse delivered an excellent game against the Spanish side, dominating the match from start to finish and taking the title with a 36:31 win.

Danish back Lasse Andersson scored eight times for Füchse, with Fabian Wiede adding six goals, as the German right back was also named the MVP of the EHF Finals Men.

In the bronze medal match, Frisch Auf Göppingen sealed a 33:29 win over Montpellier HB, finishing the competition on the podium for the first time since winning the title in the 2016/17 season.

Füchse extended Germany’s dominance in the second-tier European competition, with teams from the Bundesliga sealing 19 of the last 23 trophies. Füchse are still the fourth-most decorated team, with THW Kiel, SC Magdeburg and Frisch Auf Göppingen winning the title in the EHF European League Men four times each.

Photo: European Handball Federation / Kolektiff Images