Here is the Power Rankings Bundesliga with Ola Selby of GoHandball, where the performances, not the points, are at the base of the rankings.
Power Rankings is our ranking of the teams during the month that has passed. In other words, it’s a table reflecting how the teams have performed only during March.
Here are the Bundesliga Power Rankings for April!
1: SC Magdeburg
Current Bundesliga standing: 1
Power rankings in February: 1
Only 2 matches were played in the Bundesliga in April so in that sense only a little to go on regarding the Power rankings. But we all know that Magdeburg is the best team in the Bundesliga, and they were also that in April.
They started the month by defeating Stuttgart, 40–31. Tim Hornke, Lukas Mertens, and Felix Claar combined for 25 goals on 27 attempts and that sealed the win for Magdeburg.
With respect for Stuttgart, the challenge this month was the away game against SG Flensburg-Handewitt. But Magdeburg did what they have done all season long, they took the challenge and they delivered. Omar Ingi Magnusson scored 9 goals and Magdeburg won it, 32–29.
No team will stop Magdeburg from winning the Bundesliga this season. I am sure of it.
2: SG Flensburg-Handewitt
Current Bundesliga standing: 3
Power rankings in February: 3
Sure, only 1 win in 3 games in April but they played Melsungen away and also Magdeburg and Leipzig. 3 tough opponents so 4 points is not that bad considering it all.
However, it’s not enough for Flensburg. Before April started there still was a small chance left for the team to win the league this year. After April? Not so much.
One player in the team deserves flowers after April and that’s Emil Jakobsen. The Danish left winger is not at a level among the top wing players in the world, week in and week out.
3: Füchse Berlin
Current Bundesliga standing: 2
Power rankings in February: 2
Speaking of missing out on the league title, that is what happened to Füchse Berlin in April. All hops are not last for the team from the capital, but it looks a lot worse now than it did in March.
Why? I am not sure. 32–27 against Göppingen after 20 goals from Danish stars Mathias Gidsel (11 goals) and Lasse Andersson (9 goals) is what we all expected. But 32–32 against THW Kiel after not scoring any goals in the last 3 minutes, that’s not good enough (even though it came against Kiel).
And then they lost against Melsungen away. And once again it was a meltdown at the end of the game that did it. Berlin had the lead, 24–23, with 11 minutes left but managed to lose the game 28–30 after going almost 10 minutes without scoring a goal.
Conclusion? Mathias Gidsel needs better help from his teammates for Berlin to succeed.
4: THW Kiel
Current Bundesliga standing: 4
Power rankings in February: 5
I am trying not to think about Kiel’s performance against Montpellier in the Champions League in this column. But let me be honest: I can’t NOT think about it. But I am trying to keep my eyes on the price here…
31–27 against HC Erlangen. Not a great performance, but at least a great second half where Kiel turned the game around and won the game, much thanks to 7 goals on 10 attempts by Eric Johansson.
Then followed 2 straight games without wins for Kiel. 28–28 against Hamburg, a point loss that is hard to understand considering had a 2-goal lead with 1 minute left. And then a great comeback against Berlin and one point after domination by fellow Swedes Johansson and Niclas Ekberg. The duo combined for 14 goals.
And hey, at least Kiel didn’t lose in April.
5: MT Melsungen
Current Bundesliga standing: 5
Power rankings in February: 7
2 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss. That was the month of April for Melsungen. Not bad, but not great either. The game that saved it for them was, of course, the win against Berlin in the last game of the month.
Melsungen at least got better during the month. They started the month by losing against Hamburg away. They followed it up by getting one point against Flensburg away after Ivan Martinovic scored a last-second equalizer. And let’s not forget their phantom Nebojsa Simic in goal.
In the 28–23 win against Rhein-Neckar Löwen, it was Simic colleague Adam Morawski who impressed with 20 saves.
And to end on a positive note: Elvar Örn Jonsson has never been better than he is right now. No wonder Magdeburg has contracted him for next season.
6: VfL Gummersbach
Current Bundesliga standing: 6
Power rankings in February: 4
I don’t want to call them my favorite team in the Bundesliga this season, but it’s not far off. Gummersbach is the biggest positive surprise in the Bundesliga for me. No question about it. They win a lot thanks to their offensive play – 33, 33, and 35 goals in April.
And they win in different ways as well. Against Balingen Milos Vujovic scored 10 from the wing and Ellidi Vidarsson 8 from the line. Against Hamburg, Julian Köster scored 7 and equalized the game in the last second. And against Wetzlar 6 Gummersbach players scored 4 goals or more.
Never change, Gummersbach!
7: HSV Hamburg
Current Bundesliga standing: 9
Power rankings in February: 2
Hamburg played 5 Bundesliga games in April, more than any other Bundesliga team. They won 2, lost 1, and got a draw in 2. They defeated Melsungen and Hannover-Burgdorf to start the month, got a draw against Kiel and Gummersbach, and then surprisingly enough (maybe due to fatigue) lost against Stuttgart.
Casper Mortensen was the MVP of Hamburg in April, like so many other months. They were involved in 2 games that were decided in the final seconds: Frederik Bo Andersen equalized against Kiel, and in the next game it was heartbreak for Hamburg instead when Gummersbach did the same thing to Hamburg as Hamburg did to Kiel.
But still a great month for Hamburg considering their tough schedule.
8: SC DHfK Leipzig
Current Bundesliga standing: 8
Power rankings in February: 6
Leipzig won 2 and lost 2 games in April. They did not win by more than 3 goals and did not lose by more than 3 goals. So it’s quite an understatement to say that Leipzig was involved in tight games in April.
Let me summarize:
Leipzig–Lemgo 29–28: Simon Ernst scored the winner with 23 seconds remaining.
Leipzig-Hannover 26–27: Luca Witzke scored 7 goals and assisted to 6.
Erlangen–Leipzig 26–29: A ”big” win against a team that is struggling.
Leipzig–Flensburg 32–35: Great performance against a stronge team.
9: TBV Lemgo Lippe
Current Bundesliga standing: 10
Power rankings in February: 8
Steady old Lemgo continues to be pretty level in their performances and no wonder they are placed at just about the center of the standings.
In April they won 2 matches (surprisingly against Hannover and unsurprisingly against Eisenach) and lost 1 match (expected against a hot Leipzig). Just like it’s been all season – Lemgo do what is expected of them, sometimes a little bit more, sometimes a little bit less.
10: TSV Hannover-Burgdorf
Current Bundesliga standing: 7
Power rankings in February: 9
As with Leipzig, Hannover-Burgdorf was involved in some tight games. A one-goal loss against Hamburg and a one-goal win against Leipzig to start the month. Then, tight games: 5 goal loss against Lemgo and 7 goal wins against Göppingen.
Hannover has not had the best month. Maybe something happened with the confidence in the team after the tough loss in the European League against IK Sävehof, but maybe not. But this is not the same team as we saw at the start of the season, that’s for sure.
Hannover looks shaky and they need to turn it around.
11: FRISCH AUF! Göppingen
Current Bundesliga standing: 12
Power rankings in February: 10
It looked like Göppingen had a huge shock on the way to start the month, leading 15–14 against Berlin at the break. But Göppingen lost the second half 12–18 and ultimately lost the game by a 5-goal deficit.
Sebastian Heymann had a great game against Wetzlar and his 8 goals from 10 attempts helped seal the deal then Göppingen defeated Wetzlar, 32–27. But then they lost against Hannover and that’s why this month needs to be considered as a disappointment for Göppingen.
12: Rhein-Neckar Löwen
Current Bundesliga standing: 11
Power rankings in February: 11
Mikael Appelgren can still perform at the highest level, even though the last few years have been horrible for the Swedish goalkeeper. Löwen needed to win against Bergischer and they did just that after 19 saves from Appelgren.
Besides that, April was quite bad for Löwen. They lost against Wetzlar and that’s not good. And they lost at home against Melsungen after only scoring 23 goals. Definitely not good.
Maybe the fact that Juri Knorr is rumored to leave the club for Aalborg after the season was the straw that broke the camel’s back for Rhein-Neckar Löwen this season.
13: HSG Wetzlar
Current Bundesliga standing: 13
Power rankings in February: 15
As mentioned before, Wetzlar defeated Löwen in April and that has to be considered a success for the team. But that was just about all the fun Wetzlar had in April.
Domen Novak had some fun against Göppingen when he scored 11 goals. But they lost, 27–32. And it’s hard to win games when you concede 35 goals, which Wetzlar did against Gummersbach.
As it looks right now Wetzlar will not end in the upper half of the Bundesliga this season. I would guess that their hopes were a lot higher than that.
14: ThSV Eisenach
Current Bundesliga standing: 15
Power rankings in February: 13
What Eisenach has done this season in the Bundesliga is nothing short of incredible. They have outperformed a lot of teams for huge parts of the season and the person that says that they saw that coming is lying.
Away game against a desperate Bergischer? No problem. Manuel Zehnder scored 12 goals and Eisenach won the game. A home game against Stuttgart? Sure, why not? Eisenach won again.
Well, they lost against Lemgo at home but 4 out of 6 points in April is, and I will repeat myself here, incredible.
15: TVB Stuttgart
Current Bundesliga standing: 14
Power rankings in February: 14
Stuttgart’s problem in April, and during most of the season, is their pore defensive play. They can’t even stop a nosebleed.
40 conceaded against Magdeburg (no shame in that though), 33 against Eisenach, and 26 against Hamburg (Stuttgart’s only win in April) is not good enough.
16: Bergischer HC
Current Bundesliga standing: 17
Power rankings in February: 16
Bergischer started the month being the worst team in the league after 2 more losses (against Eisenach at home and Löwen away). Then they fired their coach and after that, they have turned this around.
I don’t know enough to say that the coach was the problem, most often when a team is underperforming there are a lot of factors, but the fact is that Bergischer got the effect they wanted after the change on the coaching side.
After that, they won the massive game against Balingen and then against Erlangen as well. Are Bergischer back in business and ready to do a late-season push to stay in the Bundesliga?
17: HC Erlangen
Current Bundesliga standing: 16
Power rankings in February: 12
3 games – 3 losses. Erlangen is in danger of being relegated this season, that’s for sure. Losing against Kiel away is fine, but 0 points against Leipzig at home and Bergischer away, is horrible, especially considering they were already mildly involved in the battle to avoid relegation.
There seems to be no belief left in this team, no power, and no ideas. This could end badly for them.
18: HBW Balingen-Weilstetten
Current Bundesliga standing: 18
Power rankings in February: 17
Balingen is not going to play in the Bundesliga next season. Nothing is done as a fact, but in theory, it’s done. And April looked bad as well, they lost both games in April against Gummersbach and Bergischer.
Especially the loss against Bergischer had to feel horrible for Balingen. They can start to plan for 2.Bundesliga next season already.