Marcin Lijewski: playing against friends

It will be a special game for Marcin Lijewski. Not only because he will play his 250th game for Flensburg on Thursday at 19.15, but also because he will play against a Polish side. In the Zaglebie Lubin – apart from the Moldavian goalkeeper, Vitalij Covtun – all the players are Polish. Marcin Lijewski is happy to meet the old team mates again from the senior and junior national team.

Lijewski already fixed a meeting for Wednesday evening. The 30-year old player, however, does not forget about the most important objectives:

“This is not an exceptional team; we must not lose against them.”

Zaglebie Lubin will arrive on Wednesday afternoon in Flensburg after an 11-hour long bus trip.

“We could not choose flying,” said Zaglebie’s manager, Marcin Mizera. “Though the journey was an hour shorter, it was more exhausting.”

The Polish team will travel in a good mood after winning 35:27 against Vive Kielce at the weekend in the championship. The Polish coach, Jerzy Szafraniec, faces the match in the Campushalle of Flensburg with realism:

“Everything can happen in sports, but the last matches showed us that we still have plenty to do to have a chance against the best teams of Europe.”

In the SG team Dan Beutler had to rest in the last days. His nose is not broken, but swollen. As the Germans do not want to risk, Dane Sijan will start in the goal on Thursday, while legendary goalkeeper, Jan Holpert, will sit on the bench once again.