Max Funk and an injured person go to the limit with this incredible comeback

Max Funk was completely done. The player of Volley Bartringen was exhausted after a memorable duel on a bench on the edge of the hall. « It was so exhausting because we had to run after the points. This is more and more powerful than if you are lying in front, » he said about the exciting second final duel against VC Strasse. But the effort was worth it – for him and his team. Because Bartringen achieved an amazing comeback in the title race.

When everything looked for the series master street after a new triumph, the challenger tore the rudder around. Bartringen turned the game on Saturday, made a 3-2 win from a 0-2 deficit. After the 0: 3 in the previous week everything is now open again. The title decision is only made in the third game next Saturday (8 p.m.).

That was a bit unexpected in the form. « Anyone who saw the first sentence thought that this would also be a 3-0 for streets. We had personal problems during the week. That was probably still in the heads of the players, » said Funk. In this final series, the defending champion had appeared very confidently, although Bartringen had defeated him twice in the regular season.

But in the decision -making games, everything seemed like in previous years when the challenger had drawn the shorter three times as a finalist against the successful neighbor. In the days before the second final 2025, Bartringen was injured in an ankle in training on the ankle, colleague Mathis Esselin had back problems.

But in the middle of the away game in Strassen – in the third set, when the championship was almost lost – the Bartringer reared up, also because Cornil came up surprisingly well with a supporting association on the foot. « We noticed that Antoine is still not that bad. He played great. And at some point we just thought: now or never again, » said Funk.

« Due to the motivation in the final, I didn’t feel any pain, » said Cornil. He described how it came to the turn: « We started bad again. But then we decided to play for each other. It worked. These are big games. We would like to show one again next week. »

Lack of concentration

Strasse had won the first set with 25:15, the second closer with 25:21. The spectators in the fully occupied street hall should have expected that the normally mentally so strong defending champion would have the fifth championship win in a row without greater difficulties. For the first time that evening, Bartringen was ahead in the third set with 14:13. The cards were mixed again.

In the opinion of his trainer, the defending champion had gone into this. « In the assumption we went down from the third sentence. That was due to the concentration. If you lead 2-0, you have to go through it and you shouldn’t be happy with the audience. That is too early, » Massimo Tarantini accused his team. And that was quite self -critical. « We underestimated the bartmers a bit. You have to congratulate them, » said national player Mateja Gajin. « We stopped doing our work in the third set, » said Captain Boris Milosevic.

At the same time, the challenger hardly made any mistakes. While the team led by captain Steve Weber had too little against the significant home defeat in the previous week, the players have now become aware of their strengths again. « The championship was really almost gone. But at some point we pushed each other up and everyone made the right decisions. On the other hand, streets can do nothing, » said Funk.

After 25:23 and 25:16, a big fight ended after almost two hours with the 15:11 for Bartringen in the fifth set. Player Funk was so broken that in the end he asked for a short change. « I am glad that my colleagues kept through. I just felt around, » he said. Now the key player has a little time to relax. In the showdown next Saturday (8 p.m.), the Bartringer finally want to celebrate a title in their own hall. The last and so far the only one was far ago: it was in 2002.