Fuchse Duisburg hosted Eisbären Hamburg in a club friendly on Saturday, losing 1:5 in a match that showed the visitors were in sharper form. The game took place at 16:30 local time, though the result tells more of a story than the clock does.
Duisburg have been finding results lately, winning 7:1 against Tilburg Trappers and 4:3 with Halle. But they also lost 1:5 to Hannover and 3:4 to the Scorpions, so consistency hasn't been their strong suit. By then, the Hamburg visitors had already shown they could score in bunches.
Eisbären arrived with a different rhythm. They beat Kassel 7:3 in their most recent outing, then followed with 5:4 over Herford and 5:1 against Leipzig. The 7:8 thriller with Erfurt showed they can trade goals freely — and in Saturday's friendly, they clearly took the upper hand.
And here's the thing about friendlies: they're not always about the result. But 1:5 suggests something shifted, especially since Duisburg had been competitive in their last few games while Hamburg were scoring heavily. To be fair, the hosts had one decent run with that 7:1 win, but this was a different kind of day.
The scoreline gives Hamburg something to work with heading into the season, while Duisburg will need to find answers. Five goals conceded in a friendly is enough to make any coach pause, even if nothing else is guaranteed to follow.