Crunch time in Barcelona

Comptes-rendus

Beaten 22-30 by FC Barcelona at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin in the first leg of the EHF Champions League quarter-finals, the Parisians will need to do better next week in Barcelona if they are to hope to qualify for the Final4.

After beating a valiant Plock side in the EHF Champions League Round of 16, the capital club came face to face with Barcelona looking to book a place in the Final4 in Cologne. Raul Gonzalez's men were ready to fight hard in a sold-out Stade Pierre de Coubertin with a semis berth on the line.

In this clash between two European giants, it was the Parisians who made the difference after a brief feeling-out process (4': 1-0). Both sides quickly found their rhythm, but Paris held firm, thanks in particular to a fine penalty save from Andreas Palicka (5': 2-2). Despite an increase in intensity from the Catalans, Les Rouge et Bleu remained solid and stayed in front as the quarter-hour mark approached, thanks to Kent Robin Tonnesen's third goal (12': 5-4).

Spurred on by their fans, Raul Gonzalez's men went from strength to strength as the minutes went by. Kamil started his personal show with three goals in less than two minutes to take the Parisians to +3 and set Coubertin alight (17': 9-6). The Blaugrana were far from giving up, however, and stayed in touch with the capital club thanks to the efficiency of Dika Mem (21': 11-9). As the end of this exciting first period approached, the two teams were neck and neck, but Sadou Ntanzi gave his side a one-point lead (27': 13-11). Les Rouge et Bleu finally went into the locker room with a three-goal lead, thanks to a last-gasp strike from Kamil Syprzak, who rounded off an excellent first half (30': 14-11).

At the start of the second term, Andreas Palicka made a splendid save from Timothée N'Guessan, before Ferran Solé put the capital club four goals up (32': 15-11). Barcelona redoubled their efforts to break through the Parisian rearguard, and the Catalans managed to turn the match on its head (40': 16-17). Raul Gonzalez then decided to stop play in an attempt to get Les Rouge et Bleu back on track in this breathless second half. At the start of the last quarter of an hour, Paris pushed to make up ground, but were still trailing to a particularly clinical Catalan side (46': 18-21).

Despite their good intentions, Les Rouge et Bleu lacked precision in their passing, and Barcelona took advantage to extend their lead (52': 20-25). After a high-intensity battle, Paris lost the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin (60': 22-30). Raul Gonzalez's men will now have to beat the Blaugrana in Barcelona next Thursday if they are to book a place in the Final4.

REACTIONS FROM RAUL GONZALEZ, FERRAN SOLÉ SALA AND ADAMA KEITA :

(Credits: L. Valroff/ Team Pics/PSG)