International

1. FC Saarbrücken TT successfully defended its title at the Champions League finals in its own arena after another thriller in a rematch of last year's final against champions and cup winners Borussia Düsseldorf. FCS captain Patrick Franziska reviews the tournament in an interview and talks about the reasons for Saarbrücken's success in the top flight.

Patrick Franziska, you were able to repeat your Champions League title from last season with 1 FC Saarbrücken. How significant is this success compared to last year?

Both successes have their own history. We won the Champions League for the first time in 2023, in Düsseldorf, when we had even more match points against us, especially me. For these reasons, last year's title was a very special moment for us on the one hand. On the other hand, we had match points against us again this time in Saarbrücken, so both are a bit unreal from that point of view, also because it really didn't deserve a loser again. All in all, both are outstanding, but to celebrate this time with this atmosphere and with our own fans - it really doesn't get any better than this.

In the 2023 final and now in both final round matches, your team won 3:2 in the deciding game, reminding us of some of your final opponents' successes. Is Saarbrücken the new Düsseldorf in its successful manner?

No, I wouldn't compare us to Düsseldorf, also because I think that every club has its own DNA, which is also very important. We've now won two very, very close matches in the Champions League, so nobody could have complained if we'd finished second twice. We're really looking at ourselves and our successful title defense, which is actually incredible and for which I still have no words.

What was the deciding factor in the semi-final and the final?

I think it was the cohesive team performance in both games. We have such a huge squad that I always jokingly compare it to an almost complete soccer team in the dressing room and box. But that's also great because we all get on really well with each other and everyone fights for each other. Particularly in the semi-final, when Eduard Ionescu scored what was in hindsight the decisive point on three, everyone played their part, regardless of whether they won, lost or were on the bench.

How would you rate your personal performance in both matches?

Overall, I'm very satisfied with my performance against four world-class players. Against Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Anton Källberg, they were actually two super matches in which I played very aggressively in my opinion, put everything into it straight away and played through to the end. Against Truls Moregardh and Dang Qiu, however, I wasn't as aggressive as I need to be to win against them, but they were still close matches. I also knew that I still had Darko at 2:2, so I knew after my defeats that we still had a very, very good chance of winning each game.

You've already mentioned it: Darko Jorgic was the decisive man for your team in both games. What do you think of his performance?

We had discussed beforehand that Darko should be the man we can count on, just like last year in the Champions League final in Düsseldorf. He has incredibly strong nerves when he gets into his flow. He also did that incredibly well when he shook off the defeat against Truls Moregardh in the semi-final and was then fully there against Dimitrij Ovtcharov and even more so in the final. Against Anton Källberg, it was important for Darko that he kept going, even though his opponent played incredibly well at times until he was 2:1 and 10:8 up and there was little Darko could do at first. Overall, it was a great performance from Darko, he was very concentrated and focused.

Saarbrücken could face Düsseldorf again in the TTBL final. Would your team now be the favorite after winning the Champions League?

No, we certainly wouldn't be favorites. It's always 50:50 against Düsseldorf. The TTBL also plays a different system with a doubles match in the fifth match at the end. Our advantage in the Champions League is that five singles matches are played and we usually always get two chances at the top. It's completely different in the TTBL and we've been waiting a bit longer for our second title. So I wouldn't see us as favorites in a TTBL final. But of course we'll try everything we can to maybe do the double this season.

Thank you very much for the interview, Patrick Franziska.

Interview: Florian Manzke

Featured image above: Patrick Franziska from 1. FC Saarbrücken TT (Photo: Ulrich Höfer Fotografie)