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False start

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On Saturday evening, Paris Saint-Germain Handball returned to competition as it ended the last campaign: with a final against Nantes. At the Futuroscope Arena, the capital club were defending the Trophée des Champions title they won in 2019 (the last edition). A special match for the former Nantes man and new Parisian, David Balaguer.

The start was complicated for Les Rouge et Bleu, who immediately found themselves chasing the game (4': 1-4). The H struck with every attack and carved out a healthy lead (8': 4-8). The capital club then raised the tone, especially in their defensive performance. They started to win possessions and Dainis Kristopans took full advantage of one to score from his own half (13': 6-8). Andreas Palicka stopped a penalty, while David Balaguer scored against his former teammates and Paris came back into the game (15': 8-9).

The wind was now in our players' backs. First, Elohim Prandi levelled matters as he struck powerfully while flying through the air (17': 10-10). Then, David, once again, found the top corner and put his side in the lead (18': 11-10). In a beautiful moment of strength, Mathieu Grébille took the Parisian advantage to +2 with a magnificent reverse spin shot and forced Nantes to call the first time-out of the game (19': 12-10). Finally, Andreas shut up shop with several spectacular saves, preventing any scoring for more than six minutes (21': 13-10).

The last ten minutes of the first half were balanced and the two teams duked it out (28': 17-16). But at the break, after a late push, our team was ahead.

After the break, the fight resumed (34': 20-20). It was now Nantes' turn to take a two-point lead (37': 22-24), but the capital club refused to give up and quickly levelled the score in this highly unpredictable match (41': 25-25). At the beginning of the last quarter, tension was becoming unbearable (46': 28-28).

As the minutes ticked down, The H got back to +2 (49': 28-30), but Les Rouge et Bleu refused to be shaken off (52': 30-31). Nantes succeeded in many of their attacks and put themselves in a very favourable position in the final moments of the game (56': 31-34). It proved a bridge too far for Paris, who conceded defeat to a great team. Paris Saint-Germain Handball's next appointment comes next Tuesday when they travel to Strasbourg in the Coupe de France, with a trip to Nîmes for the opening round of the Liqui Moly StarLigue season to follow on Saturday.

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