Borussia Dortmund's women's handball team will face the newly-crowned cup winners TuS Metzingen away from home in the Bundesliga on Saturday. The game in the Öschhalle in Metzingen will get underway at 19:30 CET.

The TuSsies from Metzingen lifted the DHB-Pokal in Stuttgart last weekend after a thrilling final against favourites SG BBM Bietigheim. Following their 30-28 victory over the reigning German champions, the team from southern Germany will host BVB on Saturday. Both sides will be looking for points to keep them in contention for a place in Europe.

"First of all, I'd like to congratulate Metzingen on their success," said BVB player Haruno Sasaki, referring to the opposition's cup triumph. "They're a great team who worked hard for this win and fought their way through two intense days. Their level of focus was really fantastic." Borussia, who have been preparing for the match against Metzingen since the weekend, know how demanding the game against the team placed sixth in the table will be - the Black & Yellows narrowly lost the return fixture by a single goal (25-24). "We're ahead of them in the table, but that was also the case when we played them in Dortmund," said Sasaki.

"I'm really looking forward to playing the new cup winners. They're a great side, but I believe in my team. I think the key will be hard work over 60 minutes," explained Sasaki, adding: "If we stick to the plan, throw all our energy into it and stay focused, then the result will follow."

BVB used the weekend off after the win against Halle-Neustadt last Friday for a team-building trip to the Dutch capital Amsterdam. "It was really great and showed me once again how much I enjoy playing with the girls and how much fun I'm having," said Sasaki, who recently signed a contract extension until the summer of 2025.

BVB coach Henk Groener will be able to call on almost his entire squad against Metzingen. The exceptions are Dana Bleckmann and Lena Degenhardt, who are both still missing due to cruciate ligament ruptures and are working to get back to fitness.

Saturday's game will get underway at 19:30 CET. The action can be watched live on Sportdeutschland.TV and Dyn.