Pursuit duel in Mannheim: Red Bulls aim to overtake the Eagles

Saturday, 24. January 2026 |

DEL preview, match day 43: EHC Red Bull München visits Adler Mannheim

Pursuit duel in Mannheim: Red Bulls aim to overtake the EaglesDirect match for second place// DEL - PREVIEWWith three points from Friday's 6-3 home win against Bremerhaven, EHC Red Bull München travels to the Kurpfalz region. There, the top match against Adler Mannheim is scheduled for Sunday at 2:00 p.m. (live on MagentaSport & in our blog).

The league table shortly before the Olympic break promises to be extremely exciting. Mannheim is in second place with 84 points, closely followed by Munich in third with 83 points. This means that our team could overtake Mannheim again with an away win.

Both teams are going into the game on the back of a win. The Red Bulls won 6-3 against the Pinguins Bremerhaven on Friday, while the Adler narrowly beat the Grizzlys Wolfsburg 2-1 on Thursday. Mannheim therefore has an extra day to recover.

Nuances will decide

Looking at the previous encounters this season, the Adler have a slight advantage. The Quadratestädter have been our guests twice recently at the SAP Garden. First, our boys won 4-0, and in the last matchup at the beginning of January, Mannheim won 4-2. The first matchup in the Kurpfalz was particularly close and hotly contested. Here, the Adler only prevailed 4-3 in a penalty shootout in October of last year.

Highlights: EHC Red Bull München vs. Adler Mannheim (04.01.2026)

// DEL - HIGHLIGHTS

One thing is clear: when these two DEL heavyweights meet, it's often the little things that make the difference. This will also be the case on Sunday.

Top defensive lines in direct comparison

Mannheim is currently back in good form, with coach Dallas Eakins' team winning four of its last five games. The defensive line around the two excellent goalies Maximilian Franzreb and Johan Mattsson is particularly impressive. With 100 goals conceded, the Eagles are just ahead of the Red Bulls (104) as the best defense in the league. So, on paper, a goal fest is not necessarily to be expected.

Schütz's line is on fire

Looking at the line-up, one player stands out in particular: Nicolas Mattinen. The defensive sniper, who will also be playing in Mannheim in the new season, is the most dangerous blueliner in the league with 18 goals already. Mattinen also scored twice against us in the last game.

The offense remains well balanced, with seven forwards having already racked up at least 20 points. Leading the attack are top scorer Anthony Greco (13 goals, 28 assists) and his strike partner Zach Solow (14 goals). Recently, however, the formation around Alexander Ehl, Marc Michaelis, and Justin Schütz has been in the spotlight. They scored both goals against Wolfsburg and three goals in the 6-2 win in Dresden before that.

DEL record against Mannheim

Wins: 37

Losses: 42

Win percentage: 47 percent

Goal difference: 221:228

Last game: RBM vs. MAN 2:4

Last ten games: W L W L L L L W L

Last ten away games: L L L L L L L W L L

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