All you need to know about Toulouse - PSG Handball

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After two years without a champion (because of Covid), the Coupe de la Ligue is back this season! Paris Saint-Germain Handball make their entry into the competition in the quarter-finals, against Toulouse on Wednesday evening.

Toulouse already tested
Before reaching the quarter-finals, Toulouse had to make it through the round of 16. Danijel Andelkovic's men had to travel to Brittany in early October to face Cesson-Rennes. Well led by Edouard Kempf with 9 from 9, they made the difference in the last two minutes to win in money-time (24-26).

For their part, Les Rouge et Bleus, as participants in the EHF Champions League, were exempt from this first round, as were Montpellier.

Key men
In addition to Edouard, Toulouse have several bankable stars in their arsenal, starting with ‘keeperJef Lettens. The Belgian goalkeeper is the second most successful goalkeeper in the Liqui Moly StarLigue this season, with 80 saves. Only Nikola Portner is doing better, with 94 saves. Offensively, diminutive (1m77!) Serbian winger Nemanja Ilic is the most outstanding. He has scored 45 goals, including eight (from as many attempts) at Coubertin in September.

Old boys face off!
Several players will be up against their former team! In the home camp, Kempf will face his former club. With Paris, the 23-year-old right-winger scored 27 league goals, but also distinguished himself in the Champions League, notably with a sublime performance in 2017 against Veszprém.

Two Parisians will also face their former team: Luc Steins and Sadou Ntanzi. The former played for a season and a half in Toulouse, making 24 appearances and scoring 67 goals. The latter was on loan to Le Fenix last year, in exchange for Luc’s joining the capital club in November 2020 (to compensate for the injury of Nikola Karabatic). In 22 appearances, Sadou found the net 47 times.

A replay of the final
In March 2018, Paris and Toulouse faced each other in the Coupe de la Ligue final, at Les Arènes in Metz (where this year's Final4 will also take place). Our players dominated and duly ran out winners by a ten-goal margin (40-30). Nikola Karabatic was one of the main architects of his team's success, scoring from eight of his nine attempts.

Last league meeting
This season, the two sides have already faced each other - in Liqui Moly StarLigue Round 2, at Stade Pierre de Coubertin. There again, the capital club dominated for a big win (43-28). This time, it was Elohim Prandi who distinguished himself the most for the Parisians, thundering home eight goals.

Quarter-final fixtures
Eight teams are still in the competition (Paris and Toulouse, Chambéry and Aix, Nantes and Créteil as well as Nîmes and Montpellier). The winners will meet again in Metz in December for a Final4 that already promises to be exciting.

How to follow the match (20:00):
- Television: LNH TV and Twitch (multiplex)
- Our social media platforms: via our live tweet

(Credits: A. Gadoffre/TeamPics/PSG)