The Borussia Dortmund handball ladies have four more matches to play before the World Cup break in December – and they are all massively important. First up is the Bundesliga battle with Thüringer HC on Wednesday evening in the Wellinghofen sports hall.

After “handball day” in Munich, where the German women’s team featuring Sarah Wachter and Lisa Antl beat Hungary on Sunday, there is little time for a breather ahead of the final and particularly hectic phase before the World Cup. In the first of four matches in just 11 days, BVB will play host to Thüringer HC – anything but an easy task, considering that the away side finished second in the league last season, ahead of Borussia, who finished third.

Success against THC will come down to more than just classic factors such as a particularly good defence or a lot of patience going forward. Duels with coach Herbert Müller’s team have been more intense in recent years than other games. “It will be another very intense this time, because Thüringen bring a lot of physicality on to the court,” said BVB coach Henk Groener.

That makes it all the more frustrating that the Dutchman is still unable to draw on his full complement of players. Zoë Sprengers will definitely miss out again, The left-winger is aiming to make her return on Sunday for the first leg of the European League group stage qualifier against Braila. There are still question marks surrounding Alicia Stolle – the captain has been missing due to a foot injury in recent weeks.

Despite having already suffered two defeats in the season so far, THC’s quality is undisputed according to the Dortmund coach. “They lost to Bietigheim and Bensheim, so against strong opposition. All the other games, they won convincingly. So we have to be alert from the start,” said Groener.

The trainer spoke of the game as a “big challenge. So we have to give it everything we have on the court and we have to steer the game in our direction early on. The next eleven days are very important for us, and we will tackle them with full focus.” The game, which starts at 19:30 CET, can be seen in the live stream on the platforms Sportdeutschland.TV and Dyn Media. Uwe Kisker and Sascha Staat will be on commentary. Tickets can be purchased in advance in the online shop or at the box office.

Everyone in the hall: After the match against Thüringen, the handball ladies will head into the third and final qualifying round in the EHF European League on Sunday. Throw-off in the first leg against Romanian side HC Dunearea Braila is at 14:00 CET. It is an important game in the Helmut-Körnig-Halle on the Strobelallee, and the team will be relying on full support. Tickets for the game are available in the online ticket shop.