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This weekend marks the beginning of HC Alkaloid’s third straight season on the European stage, as the team kicks off its playoff tie for a place in the EHF European League group stage. HC Alkaloid is set to face TSV Hannover-Burgdorf, widely known as Die Recken (The Warriors), one of Germany’s strongest clubs in recent years and the highest-ranked team in the qualification round.

The first leg will be played on Sunday, August 31st, at 17:00 in Hannover, with the return scheduled for September 6 in Skopje, at the Avtokomanda Arena, starting at 19:30.

TSV Hannover-Burgdorf traces its history back to 1922, when it was founded as FT Burgdorf. Over 80 years later and after several transformations, the club officially became TSV Hannover-Burgdorf in 2005, and since then has been based in Hannover.

Their debut in the strongest German competition came in the 2009/2010 season, and in the past four to five years they have enjoyed their most successful spell, establishing themselves as a financially stable club with a squad capable of competing at the very top of the world’s strongest league.

Last season was the most successful in Hannover’s history. For the first time, they were genuine contenders for the Bundesliga crown, leading the table after 20 rounds. But the grueling pace of the league eventually caught up with them, and in the final 10 games they picked up only two wins and one draw, suffering more defeats than in the rest of the season combined. Even so, they finished in sixth place, just three points shy of giants SG Flensburg-Handewitt.

The team’s revival started under Christian Prokop, former head coach of the German national team, who took over in 2021. He stabilized the roster, added key signings, and reshaped the club’s long-term direction and has already been showing results. Hannover’s style of play has become instantly recognizable, a compact 6-0 defense with strong isolation and anticipation, combined with a lightning-fast transition that keeps going for 60 minutes, regardless of the score.

Their major Bundesliga clashes are staged at the ZAG Arena in Hannover, regularly filled with 11,000 fans. But the upcoming European fixture with HC Alkaloid will be played in the smaller Swiss Life Hall, which holds 4,500 spectators.

TSV HANNOVER-BURGDORF

Goalkeepers: Simon Gade (Denmark), Joel Birlehm (Germany)

Left Wings: August Pedersen (Norway), Hannes Feise (Germany)

Left Backs: Maxim Orlov (Germany), Lukas Stutzke (Germany)

Centre Backs: Marian Michalczik (Germany), Jonathan Edvardsson (Sweden), Leif Tissier (Germany), Sindre Aho (Norway)

Right Backs: Vilhelm Poulsen (Faroe Islands), Renārs Uščins (Germany)

Right Wings: Marius Steinhauser (Germany), Daniel Weber (Germany)

Pivots: Justus Fischer (Germany), Thomas Solstad (Norway), Luis Rodriguez (Germany)

Head Coach: Christian Prokop

New arrivals: Leif Tissier (Hamburg), August Pedersen (Flensburg), Maxim Orlov (Potsdam), Sindre Aho (Montpellier)

Departures: Tilen Strmljan (GRK Ohrid), Martin Hanne (Göppingen), Uladzislau Kulesh (Melsungen), Adam Nyfjall (Lemgo), Koray Ayar (Besiktas), Vincent Büchner (Eisenach), Maximilian Gerbl (retired)