Final goalkeeper duel

“This will also be a little battle of friends”

Möstl celebrates the title in team kit - even with Hard?

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Clear the stage! Wednesday evening (20:20, live ORF Sport +, krone.tv) is the crowning match in the domestic handball league, as Hard and Linz battle for the title in the third and deciding game of the best-of-3 final series. This also brings another duel between the Viennese team goalies Möstl and Kaiper.

Grand final in a sold-out home arena! "Over 2200 spectators. That's a lot for the league and gives you a mental boost," says Hard's Constantin Möstl, who will face Florian Kaiper in the duel between the Vienna team goalkeepers against Linz. In other words, the buddy with whom he became champions at Westwien last season! "We get on very well. It's going to be a little battle of friends!" And that in the last game for Hard, as Consti is leaving for Lemgo and ÖHB colleague Lukas Hutecek for the German Bundesliga in the summer.

The second team keeper Kaiper wants to play with Linz.

(Bild: GEPA)

Kaiper is also looking forward to the duel with Möstl: "We've known each other for a long time, we're often in contact. It's only at the end of the season that it gets a little less," smiles the Viennese, who is eager for the showdown in the best-of-3 series. "It's going to be an incredible fight! If we manage to show the kind of team spirit we did in the home win, we'll be a very dangerous team. The first championship title would be incredible for Linz and the fans!"

Like Möstl, Kaiper knows how to win titles: Last season, he became HLA champion with Westwien, just like Nicolas Paulnsteiner and Elias Derdak - after beating Linz in the final! Their successful coach Milan Vunjak, who recently "eliminated" the Fivers in the semi-finals, knows the recipe before the game of games: "We have to be able to deal with our emotions. The form of the day and many small things can make the difference. But we have self-confidence and a great team that stands together!" That's what they'll need in the sold-out Teufelsarena with over 2200 fans.