After just six days, the two sides will meet again: last Sunday, the Borussia Dortmund handball ladies won the bronze medal in the European League by defeating the Thüringer HC. Now the two top teams meet again on Saturday in Bad Langensalza, this time in the Bundesliga.

BVB are looking to secure third place in the table and thus secure their spot in the European League again next season. They need just one point to do so. Head coach Henk Groener is expecting to encounter very motivated opposition: “It will be the last home game for Thuringia, and they will want to get revenge for Sunday’s defeat. I expect it will be a real cauldron in Bad Langensalza. We will need another very good performance to be able to take any points home with us.”

Once again, it will be important to pay particular attention to Annika Lott. The back-court player was the top scorer in the European League and was also THC’s biggest threat against Borussia in the third-place play-off. However, for her seven goals, she needed 13 shots and, like the rest of her team, was often denied by the sensational Yara ten Holte in goal, who frequently drove the opposition to despair.

“With Yara making 24 saves, it is absolutely clear where the difficulties lay for Thuringia. They will certainly want to do better. In any case, we will try to ensure that our defence is good again. It’s a top game – second against third – and I’m sure it will be a very interesting match,” said Groener.

One factor is the physical condition after three incredibly intense games in just five days. “I think everyone has recovered well from the Final Four weekend. We saw that on Wednesday against Blomberg. The girls played superbly. It was clear, however, that we could not keep going like that in the second half. But we will be ready for the match in Thuringia again,” stresses the BVB coach.

You can watch the game free of charge on Sportdeutschland.tv [Germany]. Throw-off will be at 18:00 CET.