A look back on Elverum - PSG Handball

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On 28 September 2019, Paris Saint-Germain Handball travelled to Norway for their relocated Velux EHF Champions League Round 3 fixture against Elverum.

It was not in its usual Terningen Arena that the Norwegian team played host to Les Rouge et Bleu - it was a little further north, in Lillehammer, that the hostilities took place. The objective: to take advantage of Hakons Hall (known for being a host venue in the 1994 Winter Olympics) and its 12,000 seats to break the record for the largest number of spectators for an indoor sports match in Norway.

So, the match-day training took place in a magnificent complex. Less than 24 hours later, every single seat in the arena would be occupied!

The next day, as our players were getting ready to leave their hotel and head to the venue, they received a nice surprise from the local fans! Several of them, dressed in Les Rouge et Bleus' colours, cheered them on by singing the club anthem!

Unfortunately, Sander Sagosen, a key player for the Norwegian national team, had sustained an injury a few days earlier - in the 34-28 Lidl StarLigue home win over Toulouse - and was unable to take part in the game. But he wasn't about to miss this historic moment for his country, and made the trip with his team-mates. Much to the delight of his compatriots.

It's 5:30 pm and the mach throws off in a crazy atmosphere!

Galvanised by their supporters, Elverum - who had lost the first two matches of the Velux EHF Champions League campaign - got off to a great start and took an early lead (15': 6-4). Paris relied on their youngsters - notably Adama Keita - to turn the tide. Our left-winger scored a quick-fire quadruple to turn things around (22': 8-9) and went on to finished the game with eight goals from ten attempts - earning top scorer status and a place in the team of the week.

Raul Gonzalez's men had responded perfectly and were deserved leaders, taking a four-point lead into the break.

The Parisians continued their dominance after the break, stretching their lead to +6 when Kim Ekdhal du Rietz got the better of the home defence (46': 15-21).

However, the outcome of this clash was still far from decided. Little by little, the home side caught up and on occasion came close to levelling matters (51': 19-21), leaving the crowd on tenterhooks as the final minutes approached! But, as the Norwegian arena began to get into the swing of things, Paris Saint-Germain Handball 'keeper Rodrigo Corrales single-handedly threw cold water on the home fans' hopes.

Voted best player of the match, the Spanish international was one of the driving forces in this win, which was capped off by a final goal from Dylan Nahi.

Paris Saint-Germain Handball dealt with the pressure of a packed arena - full of opposition fans - perfectly and duly secured a third victory in as many Champions League games (22-25).

Check out Paris Saint-Germain Handball's stay in Norway with our embedded video review of the trip.

(Credits: TeamPics/PSG)