THW Kiel and Füchse Berlin vie for a place in Sunday's EHF Champions League final this afternoon.
Kiel come into the match as favourites having beaten their compatriots on three occasions already this season, although that may count for little today as Füchse have by far exceeded expectations this campaign, and they have nothing to lose in Cologne when this one gets under way at 1415.
THW have looked like Final Four contenders all season and they took top spot in their group thanks to a draw with fellow semi-finalists Kobenhavn in their last Group A game.
Berlin on the other hand, went down to the wire in Group B before securing their place in the Last 16, finishing fourth and only a point above Medvedi.
Both sides made straight forward progress to the quarter finals in their first knock-out games with Berlin eliminating HSV Hamburg with two victories, while THW registered two wins against Wisla Plock.
However, it was in the quarter-finals that Füchse grabbed all the headlines. They looked dead and buried after the first leg of their fixture with Leon, going down 34:23 only to defeat the Spaniards 30:19 in the second leg and secure Final Four qualification on away goals.
Kiel had little difficulty in overcoming the challenge of RK Zagreb in their quarter-final meanwhile.
Both teams have experienced squads to utilise and with the likes of THW's Thierry Omeyer and Filip Jicha and Füchse's Silvio Heinevetter and Iker Romero set to feature, we should be treated to some top class handball this afternoon.
