At the death

News

On Saturday evening, Paris Saint-Germain Handball played host to Flensburg in their Velux EHF Champions League Round 7 clash. Faced with a side who have struggled in the competition this season, les Rouge et Bleu emerged victorious after a wild end to the match (29-28).

Flensburg arrived in the French capital with the firm intention of becoming the first side to take points from the Parisian juggernaut this campaign. Their plan went well early, some strong defending allowing to make the first break (9': 3-6), but in the space of a few minutes, Nedim Remili, Luka Karabatic and Uwe Gensheimer found a way past Torbjoern Bergerud and got their side back on track (14': 6-6). However, it wasn't enough to turn the tide completely (19': 8-11) and, despite Luc Abalo's best efforts (22': 9-11), our side never got on top of the visitors' tough defence and went into the break behind on the scoreboard (12-15).

Things got even more complicated as the second half began, with Simon Hald putting the German side four goals to the good (34': 14-18) before Rodrigo Corrales was forced off injured. The excellent captain that he is, Thierry Omeyer stepped into the breach with aplomb, his saves galvanising his team and the Coubertin faithful (41': 19-21). Nonetheless, the visitors once again began to pull clear once again (44': 20-24), but this time les Rouge et Bleu had had enough. Little by little, Raul Gonzalez's men clawed their way back as the atmosphere grew more and more electric (50': 24-25) and the roof just about came off when Henrik Toft Hansen levelled matters (53': 26-25). In the final minutes, the two sides played cat and mouse (58': 27-27) until, with five seconds left, Uwe (8 from 8) found himself in a shooting position and made no mistake (29-28).

After a timid first half and an accomplished end to the match, Paris Saint-Germain Handball pulled victory from the jaws of defeat against a valiant Flensburg side. Les Rouge et Bleu remain flawless in the Velux EHF Champions League this campaign, but that record will doubtless face a stiff test when these two entertaining sides run it back in Flensburg next Wednesday!

The Parisian scorers:
Uwe Gensheimer (8), Nedim Remili (6), Sander Sagosen (4), Benoît Kounkoud, Mikkel Hansen (3), Luka Karabatic (2), Kim Ekdahl du Rietz (1).

The Parisian 'keeper:
Thierry Omeyer: 5 from 21 (24%).

(Credits: TeamPics/PSG)