A spectacular draw in Flensburg

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On Wednesday evening, Paris Saint-Germain Handball were in a heavyweight European clash, travelling to Flensburg for their EHF Champions League Matchday 3 fixture! The objective: to get a second consecutive European victory - against a team who had lost its first two matches. But the German side is difficult to handle - the last time Les Rouge et Bleu won at the Flens-Arena was in 2019, thanks to a buzzer-busting save by Vincent Gérard (29-30).

At the beginning of the match, the defences and the two goalkeepers clearly established the upper hand on the attacks (6': 1-1). From a distance, Vincent Gérard and Benjamin Buric played out a real duel and their nets rarely rippled (9': 3-3). The minutes passed and the feeling-out process still didn't seem to be over (12': 4-4), but Flensburg finally hit the harder and became the first side to make the break (14': 6-4). The hosts were in front, but Paris hung on! With ten minutes left to play in the first act, the offensive lines had sighted themselves in and were going at it blow for blow (19': 9-8)!

The Germans had several opportunities to go to +3, but every time, they ran into Vincent Gérard. The capital club took full advantage of their goalkeeper's exploits to stay in the game (23': 11-10). Unfortunately, Vincent could only do so much and and the Parisians found themselves chasing the game (26': 14-11). Chase it they did - and how! Quickly catching up to their opponents after a double form Nikola Karabatic (28': 14-13), Les Rouge et Bleu took Flensburg's best shots and were only one point behind at the break.

The second half started much as the first one did, with strong saves form the 'keepers (32': 14-13). Buric and Gérard were still in sparkling form and repelled most of the attempts that were headed goanward - so much so, in fact, that Flensburg's lead remained at just a single goal (36': 17-16). French international Vincent grew in strength as the match went on, racking up the saves. The Parisian attack was in tune with the situation and closed the gap through the excellent Ferran Solé Sala (42': 18-18). Money-time was approaching fast and the suspense was only mounting (47': 22-22).

The two teams pushed each other hard with every attack giving their all whether a goal resulted or not (50': 22-22). But one thing did not change: Vincent's razor-sharp reflexes, which denied Hampus Wanne from the penalty line. This was, however, still not enough to seal the fate of the match and Les Rouge et Bleu found themselves once again at a disadvantage (53': 25-23). Once again, Paris Saint-Germain Handball dug deep to get back to level terms! Thanks to Mikkel Hansen and Luc Steins, they drew even and then resisted Flensburg's final attack to take a point at the Flens-Arena. After three games, the Parisians have three points - and are only one point behind the Group B leaders.

 

Reactions from Mathieu Grébille, Nikola Karabatic and Raul Gonzalez:

(Credits: A. Gadoffre/TeamPics/PSG)