A look back on Flensburg - PSG Handball

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On 6 November 2019, Paris Saint-Germain Handball travelled to Germany to take on Flensburg in Velux EHF Champions League Round 7 action. Take a look back at this spectacular clash!

Prophetically, Vincent Gérard got things started when he talked with us a few hours before reaching Germany. The Parisian goalkeeper knew that winning at the Flens-Arena would require a perfect performance.

The next day, the whole Parisian troupe flew out of Le Bourget airport, headed for Northern Europe! In total, almost 1,000 kilometres separates the two cities. After settling into their hotel in Flensburg, the Parisians had a chance to visit a venue that most of them know very well, during a training session on the eve of the match.

Wednesday 6 November: match day! Raul Gonzalez's men were already preparing for a turning point in their European journey. Indeed, the home side had the opportunity to catch up to Barcelona and Paris with a win. On the other hand, a win for Les Rouge et Bleu would give them a five-point lead over their opponents on the night.

Just seconds before kick-off, our seven starters were ready!

As expected, the beginning of the game was all about defence. After seven minutes, not many goals had been scored (2-2). However, it took just a few more moments before Nikola Karabatic scored a hat-trick to break the deadlock in favour of the capital club (10': 2-4).

But the game was still far from being won! The Germans, pushed by their home crowd as expected, made up the ground lost throughout the first half and finally levelled matters five minutes before the break, through Magnus Röd (25': 11-11). The Germans then got their noses in front and took a one-goal lead into the break, and it was very much on the cards that the second half would be a tight affair until the final second.

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Paris est devant au repos ! #FLEPSG

A post shared by Paris Saint-Germain Handball (@psghandofficiel) on Nov 6, 2019 at 11:00am PST

And it was! The Parisians were still in the driving seat, however, and with less than 20 minutes remaining, they were four points clear when Mikkel Hansen fired in an unstoppable penalty (42': 19-23).

However, in the final minutes, the result was still very much up in the air (59': 29-29). While Mikky restored his team's lead with another penalty, Vincent Gérard was taking care of business at the back. Two days earlier, he had told us "their fans are going to put pressure on us". But the France international remained unmoved, turning in a stoic performance and making seven saves - one of which came right on the buzzer as he denied Röd's and allowed Paris to leave the Flens-Arena victorious.

Les Rouge et Bleu ended up with a narrow win, but it took a solid and spectacular performance for the capital club to claim this win on German soil.

Check out our video of Paris Saint-Germain Handball's trip to Flensburg.

(Crédits : J.Azouze/PSG)