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 February.
Here are the Bundesliga Power Rankings for March!
1: Füchse Berlin
Current Bundesliga standing: 1
Power rankings in February: 1
The feeling as we approach the end of the season is that the Bundesliga title is Füchse Berlin’s to lose. They have been the best team over the past couple of months, and in my opinion, no other team has come really close.
In March, Berlin achieved four wins in four matches, with the most impressive one coming away against Magdeburg (especially considering Mathias Gidsel wasn’t astronomically good in that match for once).
On the other hand, Gidsel was the best in the other three matches in March. And it helped that Tim Freihöfer has had a bit of a breakthrough at left wing and that Dejan Milosavljev (especially against Magdeburg) has shown his high level.
2: TSV Hannover-Burgdorf
Current Bundesliga standing: 2
Power rankings in February: 3
The experts at winning close matches have done it again. And again. Sure, it started with Hannover only managing a draw against Erlangen after the top team went scoreless for nearly five minutes at the end.
But then they won 33–32 against Hamburg (Lukas Strutzke scored eight goals and provided four assists in that match) and 36–35 against Rhein-Neckar Löwen. There was a bit of a wobble as Löwen closed in at the end, but still, two points in the bag.
March ended with Hannover comfortably defeating Bietigheim by 14 goals. Credit Joel Birlehm for that, as he allowed 18 goals but saved 14 shots.
3: TBV Lemgo
Current Bundesliga standing: 9
Power rankings in February: 11
A really great month for Lemgo, who are incredibly hard to break down. In fact, Lemgo kept their opponents under 30 goals in all matches in March.
24 goals conceded against Erlangen, 26 against Leipzig, and most impressively, 29 against Flensburg. This resulted in six points from six possible for a team that has had their best month so far this season.
On an individual level, Tim Suton was the standout. Class!
4: SC Magdeburg
Current Bundesliga standing: 6
Power rankings in February: 5
That home loss to Berlin really hurt for Magdeburg. Not only because it’s a prestige match, especially given how strong both teams have been in recent years, but even more so because Magdeburg probably needed to win that match to keep their chances of the league title alive.
However, there’s a lot of positivity for Magdeburg in March as well. The most positive aspect is the fact that Felix Claar is back and playing at an incredibly high level. You can’t even tell that the center back has been injured. He scored 24 goals and provided nine assists in three matches.
5: VfL Gummersbach
Current Bundesliga standing: 7
Power rankings in February: 7
Just like in the case of Lemgo, I think March was Gummersbach’s best month so far this season in the Bundesliga. Three matches and three wins is obviously strong. But it’s also the way they won the matches, even though they didn’t face any top teams, that impresses.
37–27 against Bietigheim, 31–23 against Erlangen, and 33–24 against Wetzlar was the record in March. Who stood out among the players? Miro Schluroff, who has broken through in a big way. He scored a total of 22 goals and provided ten assists just in March, for the left back.
6: MT Melsungen
Current Bundesliga standing: 3
Power rankings in February: 2
What has happened to Melsungen? Are they heading toward a “Melsungen” moment, where they completely lose their form in the spring and let the league title slip out of their hands? I was about to write that after the loss to Hamburg (32–42!), but they made a strong comeback by defeating Kiel 27–22.
However, something has changed with Melsungen’s stability. Going from conceding 42 goals against Hamburg to allowing just 22 against Kiel says it all. And I still believe it was in March that Melsungen lost the league title this season.
7: SG Flensburg-Handewitt
Current Bundesliga standing: 5
Power rankings in February: 6
Speaking of stability, or rather the lack of it, Flensburg won two matches, drew one, and lost one in March. The wins came against Melsungen (impressive, although Melsungen isn’t the same team as they were in December) and against Kiel (also impressive).
But dropping points against Göppingen is not acceptable. It took an equalizer from Niclas Kirkelökke with just four seconds remaining to even secure a point. And then the loss to a red hot Lemgo. No, this continues to be something of a transition season for Flensburg, even though the team’s Danish players (especially Lasse Möller, Lukas Jörgensen, and Emil Jakobsen) are playing well.
8: THW Kiel
Current Bundesliga standing: 4
Power rankings in February: 4
Kiel started the month strong with a 29–24 win against Löwen, thanks in part to 18 saves from Andreas Wolff. But then what happened? Not as fun if you support the “Zebras.”
They lost the derby against Flensburg in a match where too few players stepped up. And that pattern was evident again in the March finale against Melsungen, where Kiel only managed to score 22 goals.
Simply not good enough.
9: Hamburg Handball
Current Bundesliga standing: 10
Power rankings in February: 10
Let’s start with the positives: Scoring 42 goals against Melsungen is, no matter what you consider might have contributed, absolutely incredible. Leif Tissier, Jacob Lassen, and Moritz Sauter did whatever they wanted in that match, combining for 20 goals between them.
What about the rest? Close against Hannover and fairly close against Berlin. Still, a strong month for Hamburg, who have really picked up their form in the second half of the season.
10: Rhein-Neckar Löwen
Current Bundesliga standing: 8
Power rankings in February: 9
It’s clear that Löwen miss the injured Ivan Martinovic. After a somewhat lively start to the season, I feel like Löwen has slipped back a bit in terms of quality, even though they still show flashes of brilliance in certain matches.
They weren’t outclassed by Kiel or Hannover – against the latter, they were extremely close to taking point – but in the end, they came away with zero points from those two matches. However, they played a good match against Eisenach and somewhat salvaged the month thanks to that.
11: HSG Wetzlar
Current Bundesliga standing: 4
Power rankings in February: 13
Losing away to Berlin isn’t a disgrace. But Dominik Mappes (seven goals and three assists) was a bit too alone in delivering for the away team in that match.
Then, beating Göppingen is, even though it’s a match Wetzlar should win at home, still a solid achievement. Philipp Ahouansou had a great match with eight goals. And he was even hotter in the following match, against Gummersbach, but his nine goals weren’t enough to secure a victory for the team.
Wetzlar had an okay month overall, and the fact is, they won the match they were expected to win.
12: ThSV Eisenach
Current Bundesliga standing: 11
Power rankings in February: 8
Well, it wasn’t quite a good month for the success story Eisenach. Three matches meant three losses, and aside from the away game against Stuttgart, they weren’t really close either.
The main issues have been in defense. Conceding 36 goals against Magdeburg, 31 against Stuttgart, and 35 against Löwen is far from impressive. What does impress, though? Marko Grgic. The young German’s goal-scoring form is still going strong: he scored 28 goals in March.
13: Frisch auf Göppingen
Current Bundesliga standing: 14
Power rankings in February: 14
Göppingen isn’t really involved in the relegation battle, although they could become part of it if they finish the spring weakly. However, they’re certainly not making things easy for themselves by sometimes losing matches they shouldn’t have.
They were four seconds away from a dream start to March, but Flensburg managed a late equalizer, and Göppingen had to settle for just one point. Then, they struggled defensively against Wetzlar, but at least they bounced back by defeating Leipzig 29–27 (thanks to eleven goals from cult hero Marcel Schiller).
14: Bietigheim
Current Bundesliga standing: 16
Power rankings in February: 17
Bietigheim came close to losing all three of their matches in March. The defeats to Gummersbach (by a ten-goal margin) and Hannover (by a 14-goal margin) were brutal. That’s why the win against Potsdam was especially crucial in their fight for survival.
Bietigheim defeated the bottom team 30–28, with Paco Berthe scoring the decisive goal with less than two minutes left. It was particularly impressive that Bietigheim won that match considering they were trailing at halftime and under pressure.
15: HC Erlangen
Current Bundesliga standing: 17
Power rankings in February: 16
Will Erlangen manage to secure a new contract in the Bundesliga? Not much suggests they will, but at the same time, they grabbed three out of eight possible points in March. It’s not that bad.
The point against Hannover was impressive, and the victory over Potsdam was absolutely necessary to avoid falling further behind the teams above the relegation line. Losing to Lemgo and Gummersbach afterward? Well, it is what it is.
16: SC DHFK Leipzig
Current Bundesliga standing: 13
Power rankings in February: 12
A few seasons ago, Leipzig was a team that was on the verge of European competition. They were that good. What has happened since then? Not much, at least not in a positive direction.
In March, they suffered four consecutive losses. Sure, two of the teams they faced were Berlin and Melsungen, but losing at home to Lemgo (by nine goals, no less) and away to Göppingen is simply not good enough. And it’s these types of performances that have Leipzig sliding significantly in the standings.
17: VfL Potsdam
Current Bundesliga standing: 18
Power rankings in February: 18
The bottom team at least managed a really good win in March when they defeated Stuttgart 28–25. This came as a strong reaction to their incredibly weak performance away at Melsungen (Potsdam only scored 15 goals in that match and lost by a large margin, despite Martin Tomovski saving 18 shots).
An, by their standards, okay month. Especially since they managed to win a match. But at the same time, it’s brutally clear that they aren’t good enough to compete in the Bundesliga.
TVB Stuttgart only played two matches in March.