The handball Bundesliga team MT Melsungen spent millions on stars for years – without success. Now the club is first, despite a reduced budget. Although the club from northern Hesse employs the most expensive player in the league, its success is based on a new direction.
The soaring heights of MT Melsungen are closely linked to the names “El Erni” and “Horni”. “El Erni” is a Spanish restaurant in Kassel where the players regularly meet for tapas and crema catalana and spend sociable evenings. “This would have been unthinkable before, everyone went their own way,” says MT captain Timo Kastening.
There is also a new dressing room ritual: after every home game, cult supervisor Matthias Horn, known as “Horni” and with the club for 19 years, chooses the player of the game and gives him a little something. Most recently, after the 32:27 win against Erlangen, left winger David Mandic received a bottle of red wine from the 58-year-old. The chosen one then has to give a short speech, which usually ends in loud cheering from the other players.
For a long time, MT Melsungen was considered a legionnaire's troupe whose players cashed in handsomely but played poorly. Year after year, the local medical technology company “B. Braun invested millions in the club, but it usually didn't result in more than a midfield place. That has changed since ex-player Michael Allendorf took over as sports director two years ago and as sports director in October 2023.
Last season, MT Melsungen reached fifth place in the Daikin HBL and qualified for the European League. This season, the North Hessians from the city of 14,000 inhabitants lead the table with 16:2 points, and also won against record champions Kiel (25:21) and against runner-up Berlin (33:31).
Saturday evening (8:30 p.m., live on Dyn) champions and cup winners SC Magdeburg (14:2 points) come to the summit meeting. The Rothenbach Hall in Kassel, where MT Melsungen plays its home games, is completely sold out with 4,500 spectators. “We could have sold three times as many tickets,” says Allendorf.
The Melsungen team's highlight is its defense
Despite reduced player budgets – the total budget is around 7.5 million euros – the squad has been strengthened and broader. “I wanted to have players who fit us both athletically and personally,” explains Allendorf. New to the team are the backcourt players Aaron Mensing (27/from GOG), Alexandre Cavalcanti (27/Nantes), Mohamed Amine Darmoul (26/Minden/currently injured), Nikolaj Enderleit (27/Holstebro) and left winger Ian Barrufet (20/Barcelona). ). Ex-national players Julius Kühn (31/to Bietigheim) and Ivan Martinovic (26/Rhein-Neckar Löwen), among others, left the club for this.
The team's highlight is its defense. With 231 goals conceded in nine games, Melsungen is the best at the back of all HBL teams. This is primarily thanks to defense chief Adrian Sipos. “He is our rock,” Allendorf praises the 34-year-old defensive player: “The other players are guided by him, and he is also very important in the dressing room.” The Hungarian recently extended his contract early until 2026. Also goalkeeper Nebojsa Simic is having an outstanding season. “He is never satisfied with himself,” says Allendorf. “After the game against Berlin he came to me and apologized for only making six saves – even though we had won.”
An unequal duo shines in the attack: the 1.69 meter tall Spanish playmaker Erik Balenciaga feeds his teammates with passes, the 2.15 meter tall Latvian Dainis Kristopans (HBL top earner with 800,000 euros gross per year) hammers the balls into them with elemental force Box (41 goals in nine games).
“Both have improved again compared to the previous season,” says Allendorf: “Erik is the brains of the team. And Dainis is extremely important with his physicality alone. He is also a real leader who knows exactly when the team needs him most. When things are going well up front, he has no problem concentrating on defensive work.”
Is even the championship title possible? “Our goal is to qualify for European competition again,” says Allendorf. Especially with the club's past, “we should leave the church in the village. “Spitting big noises doesn’t help us.”
The text was designed for the sports competence center (WORLD, SPORT PICTURE, PICTURE) written and first published in SPORT BILD.
