Tkaczyk: Our fans always invent something great

The Tuesday draw paired KS Vive Targi Kielce with Rhein Neckar Löwen, the team where five of the present Kielce players used to play before. One of them is Grzegorz Tkaczyk, who spent in Mannheim three and half years of his career in Bundesliga.

The captain of the Polish champions shares with ehfCL.com his opinion about the upcoming rival and his memories from the thrilling last time both teams met.

ehfCL.com: Do you remember your last match against Löwen? It was a real thriller, when you beat them 32:30 to qualify for the Champions League two years ago ...

Grzegorz Tkaczyk: Of course, it was my first game in Kielce after transferring from Rhein Neckar. Neither me, the rest of the players nor the fans will forget it soon as it was a match won after an extra time played for high stake – promotion to the Champions League. I hope this time it won’t be so dramatic.

I remember also the setting prepared by our fans, it was one of the best ever (banner with the Joker and the inscription “These are we, who deal the cards here” – ed.), but actually I am accustomed to this, our fans always invent something great!

ehfCL.com: So how are you satisfied with the draw?

Grzegorz Tkaczyk: This is my former team, where I spent three and half years. Some of my former teammates are still playing there, so I am happy that we will have an opportunity to meet again. Nevertheless, the hard task lies ahead of us. We have to play two perfect matches if we want to think about going further.

But any of the potential opponents would be a difficult one. PSG are a big unknown, they play quite inconsistent so far. They are able to reach the highest peak of handball in one game only to fall to the ground in the next one.

Löwen however, seem to be very well rehearsed and this is why it will be really difficult to beat them.

ehfCL.com: What are their biggest strengths in your opinion?

Grzegorz Tkaczyk: First of all, the goalkeeper Niklas Landin, then Uwe Gensheimer, who came back after the treatment of his Achilles tendon injury and looks great now, also the Icelander Alexander Petersson and the Swede Ekdahl Du Rietz remain always very dangerous.

But you know, I could mention any player, all of them are important for their team. Our task will be to eliminate their strongest links, our coach will prepare us very well and we will try to do this.

ehfCL.com: They also frighten their opponents with fast resumptions after conceding a goal. This advantage combined with the speed and the effectiveness of Gensheimer, who scores about 7-9 goals per game, might cause considerable damages in your defence.

Grzegorz Tkaczyk: Well, yes, but Uwe also executes the penalties and this is why his goals achievements are so high. Anyway, yes, he is very dangerous offensive player with an incredible wrist. He uses almost every situation and doesn’t need a lot of space to score. It is very difficult to stop him.

ehfCL.com: You, however, seem to have an unique advantage over your opponents, which is freshness. The new coach has completely changed your playing style and this is why the analysis of your past matches became rather useless for the other teams.

Grzegorz Tkaczyk: Yes, for sure the solutions of our new coach are surprising, but first of all it is important to us, because each player knows he will receive some time on the court, each player feels important and needed.

What is more, it can be a significant obstacle on the way of our rivals, because they might have some difficulties with decoding our tactics, so I think we are going in right direction and every match we are strengthening our self-confidence.