On 31 August 2019, Paris Saint-Germain Handball officially launched their season with the Champions Trophy final against Montpellier in Limoges. A look back at this sensational match!
Arriving in New-Aquitaine on the Friday, Les Rouge et Bleu had their first chance to check out the court at the Palais des Sports in Beaublanc during a training session before the match. A session that started in a playful way, with a warm-up game that saw the 'old' beat the 'young' thanks to the power of the Karabatic brothers.
But the main point of this trip came the next day, when Raul Gonzalez's men took part in the Trophée des Champions, which was played over a single match for the first time since the creation of the event in 2010. The task did not look easy for our team, who were facing their runners-up from the previous Lidl StarLigue campaign: Montpellier.
🏆🤾♂️ Handball - #TropheeDesChampions
— Hand Action (@HandAction) August 28, 2019
📺 Ne manquez pas le choc @psghand - @mhbofficiel samedi à 18h00 en direct et en exclusivité sur beIN SPORTS 3#HandAction #PSGMHB pic.twitter.com/SkR94sPDge
Arriving at the arena at around 16:30, the Parisians were already highly concentrated.
After a half-hour warm-up and Raul's final instructions in the dressing room, our players were ready to go!
For his first game in his new colours, Vincent Gérard was facing the team he had just left. But the French international didn't hold back against his former team-mates and started the match extremely well despite the intense summer heat!
18': @Gerard_Vincent @VilleLimoges87 même combat ! Trop chaud ! Déjà 45% d'arrêts pour le gardien parisien. #PSGMHB #TDC2019 pic.twitter.com/Mo3M8LOQGi
— PSG Handball (@psghand) August 31, 2019
Excellent in the first half, Paris Saint-Germain Handball were deserved leaders at the break!
C'est la mi-temps et après une très belle première période, les Rouge et Bleu rentrent avec un avantage de 5 buts à la pause ! #PSGMHB #TDC2019 pic.twitter.com/B0Nd0qMiuR
— PSG Handball (@psghand) August 31, 2019
In attack, it was Mikkel Hansen who hogged the limelight. Our left-back found the net on 11 of his 12 attempts (91 per cent success rate). The Dane's four seven-metre shots were almost unstoppable, and he converted all four of them into goals.
After a perfectly controlled match, Les Rouge et Bleu lifted the Trophée des Champions Trophy (34-27). It was a fourth win in the competition for the capital club, and made PSG the competition's all-time record winners, ahead of Montpellier on three.
Vincent (voted best player of the game with 17 saves) and his team-mates continued the on-court celebrations into the dressing room! Our team got off to a perfect start for what has been an incredible 2019-2020 season.
Here is a look back at this weekend, behind the scenes of the team's first success of the season:
(Credits: TeamPics/PSG)