The German women pulled off a big surprise when they reached the final of the World Championships in December, and now Gislason's men wants to emulate that performance at the upcoming European Championships.
Gislason, however, acknowledges that there is no room for error if the Germans are to reach the final stages of the tournament.
"We all know this tournament will be very difficult because we have tough matches ahead of us. But that doesn't keep us up at night. Our goals remain the same. We have a young team that has gained more and more experience over the past few years and is gelling better and better."
"Now, of course, I hope we can improve even further, and then we'll have a chance. On a good day, we can beat anyone. Denmark is the clear favorite at every tournament, but the challengers are very close in terms of their general level", says Gislason in an interview with Handball-World.
Germany's opponents in the preliminary round are Spain, Austria, and Serbia. After that, they could potentially face defending champions France, world champions and Olympic champions Denmark, Norway, and Portugal in the intermediate round.
"Even the opponents in the preliminary round are tough, but the main round is the real challenge. If we want to reach the semifinals like we do, we can't afford to drop a single point in the group stage. Just two losses could mean the end of our semifinal hopes. That's why our first goal is to do everything we can to win the group", says Gislason.
The European Championships will be co-hosted by Denmark, Norway and Sweden from 15 January to 1 February 2026, marking the second time the event is held in three countries, after 2020.