Pokal

1. FC Saarbrücken-TT won its first national title in four years with its victory in the Liebherr Cup Final Four. In this interview, team manager Nicolas Barrois talks about the significance of the third cup victory for the Saarland team, the prospects of Olympic champion Fan Zhendong staying on beyond the end of the season, and a possible replacement for Patrick Franziska's broken winner's medal.

Nicolas Barrois, your 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT won the Liebherr Cup Final Four title for the third time. How do you assess this success shortly after the 3:1 victory in the final against TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell?

This is, of course, a huge success for us. After last season, when the cup and Bundesliga did not go as we had hoped, winning the cup is now an absolute highlight for us again – and also the first national title in more than ten years that we have won in front of spectators. Before that, it was the cup victory in 2012, before my time in Saarbrücken, because no spectators were allowed at the 2020 championship and the 2022 cup victory, which was a great pity. That's why this cup victory means so much to us now, and we're delighted that it worked out.

How much of a weight was lifted off your shoulders and those of your team when you won the title?

When it became clear at some point in the final that Zhendong would not lose to Ruwen Filus, a lot of pressure was lifted. It was a very close final, or rather a surprising final. You never know how Darko Jorgic will play when he is ill. So I was really relieved when he won his match and we were leading 2-1, because I knew that we now had two really good chances, not only with Fan against Ruwen, but also afterwards with a strong doubles pairing of Patrick Franziska and Eduard Ionescu, who have lost very, very few matches together so far. From that point on, I felt a huge sense of relief, which meant a great deal to me.

Beyond the pure results, what were the decisive factors for winning the cup?

Two or three factors played a major role. First of all, of course, there were the individual players, because it's no secret that we are the favorites because we have Fan Zhendong, Patrick Franziska, and Darko Jorgic in our lineup.
But the development that the individual players have undergone in recent weeks also played a part. Darko was ill during the Final Four, but he fought his way through both of his matches. In the semifinal against TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen, his match against Shunsuke Togami as the top player was logically difficult, but he did well in the final against Fanbo Meng. Fan was outstanding, and I also believe that he has now finally arrived in Germany. And ‘Franz’ had a confident performance in the semifinal and a somewhat unlucky performance in the final. But everyone fights for each other, there is a good team spirit among us, even from the bench, so all three guys who sat on the bench and of course would have liked to play, clapped, cheered, and were there for each other. That was also an important factor in why we won the title in the end.

Your superstar Fan Zhendong, as you mentioned, delivered as hoped with two points each in the semifinals and finals and was the only player to leave the hall completely undefeated. Can we say that this was “as expected”?

As expected, nothing is certain in sports. We are therefore delighted that he was able to deliver. Many questions in recent weeks and months have focused on whether the start of the season had been planned this way, whether this was expected, and so on and so forth. No, this could not have been expected, even if, on the other hand, no one expects him to go 25-0. That's why we're happy that he reached his peak form just in time for the first highlight of the season and then delivered an impressive performance.

Did you ever have the feeling at any point in the arena that the cup mission could go wrong?

What do you mean by go wrong? Things can always turn out differently than planned. But in principle, we didn't see that we were in any great danger. We won some of the matches we won very clearly, and the singles we lost in the final were at least very, very close with match point. So the title win was never in danger, although it must be said that anything can happen in sport, which is why it was all the more satisfying that we were never exposed to that danger.

After Fan's decisive victory against Fulda's defensive ace Ruwen Filus, many spectators had the impression that Patrick Franziska had explained the team's “La Ola” in front of the stands to the Olympic champion as a thank you to the spectators. Given his many great successes on the international stage, how did Fan Zhendong like winning his first title in Germany?

At our home games in Saarbrücken, we also do a little La Ola wave, but it's a little different from a standing position, and after the cup victory, the guys figured out shortly before that they wanted to do a wave while running, and that maybe had to be explained again. Thankfully, it worked out, everyone was euphoric, and I think Fan Zhendong was very happy that he was able to bring this title to Saarland, his first title in Germany. Let's see how things progress.

After the final, Fan said he would like to participate in the cup final again. Have there already been talks about extending his contract in Saarbrücken?

Yes, we are having informal discussions, of course. We have told him that we are very satisfied and would naturally like to continue working together. However, we have not yet held any concrete contract negotiations; it is still a little early for that. We have already informed him that we would like to continue working with him, but I believe that we are not under any time pressure and are not stressing ourselves out.
I think Zhendong feels comfortable, and that's a good basis for holding talks about the future.

After the award ceremony, Patrick Franziska had a few problems with his winner's medal. First, the plaque came loose from the ribbon, and later, after Franziska's winner's interview, the medal fell out of the cup opening and broke. Have efforts to replace it already begun?

Yes, Patrick's medal has unfortunately broken. We have already asked the TTBL if there could be a replacement, otherwise we will just have to put the trophy in his living room for a year as a small compensation. But joking aside, this is not the first time this has happened, and it won't be the last time someone's medal breaks. I think we will find a replacement.

One last point on the sporting side: often, winning the cup as the first title of the season relieves the winners of at least some of the pressure to succeed in the championship and Champions League. At the end of this exciting and thrilling season, could Saarbrücken be satisfied with just the cup victory with Fan Zhendong, or is the treble a must given your squad?

The first title is obviously very special because you start the year on a positive note. In 2025, we started the year with a defeat in the final and then lost two more games in January – that can influence the whole season. Now, winning the cup takes some of the pressure off us and we can play freely. Of course, it also plays into our hands that Truls Möregardh is now joining us in the Champions League, which also takes some of the pressure off the other guys, so the top players can take a break. Accordingly, we're taking the cup victory as a bit of a kick-start into the decisive weeks. Our goal is very clear: to win more titles. We probably have the strongest team in Europe, especially when it comes to European competition, so we want to deliver and, as a first step, qualify for the Final Four in our Saarlandhalle and then, in the best case scenario, win this tournament. So if we only had one cup win, it wouldn't be a lost season, but it would still be a bit of a disappointment, even though anything can happen in sport. But let's just see what else is in store for our team.

Thank you very much for talking to us, Nicolas Barrois.

Interview: Florian Manzke