Handball - Defeat in Nantes: Lions second in European League
The Rhein-Neckar Löwen have suffered their first defeat in the European League. The German handball team lost 25:32 (11:14) at HBC Nantes on Tuesday and finished the preliminary round in second place, level on points with the French side. Nantes won the head-to-head tie after Mannheim had won the first leg 36:32. In the main round, the Lions will face Bundesliga rivals TSV Hannover-Burgdorf and Polish first-division club Górnik Zabrze from February.
Juri Knorr and Gustav Davidsson were the top scorers in Nantes with five goals each for Sebastian Hinze's team, which revealed major problems in attack. Thanks to goalkeeper Joel Birlehm, the deficit was still limited in the first half and Mannheim even reduced it to 14:15 after the break (34'). After that, however, they again lacked bright ideas in offense.
Rhine-Neckar Lions squad Table
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Source: www.stern.de