On Saturday, Borussia Dortmund’s women’s handball team will begin a packed week of fixtures, with three games in the space of eight days. On Wednesday, they will travel to TuS Metzingen, and on 29 April, champions SG BBM Bietigheim will be the visitors in Hamm. However, the first assignment is on Saturday evening, with a trip to VfL Waiblingen (18:00 CET). The Black & Yellows won the reverse fixture in mid-December by a comfortable scoreline of 41-28.

The South Germans have only managed one win so far and are in last place in the table with two points. At the end of last year, however, they managed a narrow victory away to cup semi-finalists Oldenburg, where BVB lost just a few weeks ago. 

Things are going better in the Bundesliga for the Black & Yellows, who were able to notch up a commanding win over BSV Sachsen Zwickau on Saturday. BVB had previously gone through a long dry spell, not winning a game in the Bundesliga since mid-February. Eight weeks after the home win Sport-Union Neckarsulm, and after three Bundesliga defeats in a row, players and fans finally had something to celebrate again. 

One player who particularly came to the fore was Lena Hausherr. Against her former club from Zwickau, she scored five goals from six attempts and thus made a crucial contribution to the win. The Dortmund native started the match at left wing in the absence of the injured Zoë Sprengers. It is not yet clear whether the Dutchwoman will be able to make her return to action against Waiblingen.

The match against VfL will be no walk in the park, regardless of the team’s differing positions in the table. Coach Henk Groener’s team will have to travel 450 kilometres by bus both before and after the game, which will represent a considerable burden at the beginning of bodes to be a challenging week.

The game will be broadcast free to view on Sportdeutschland.TV.