Five things on Flensburg - PSG Handball

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On Thursday evening, the Paris Saint-Germain Handball have another very important match to play, travelling to Northern Germany to take on familiars foes Flensburg in their EHF Champions League Matchday 13 fixture.

No rested for the wicked!
The matches are coming in thick and fast for the capital club! Indeed, Thursday's clash in Germany will be Paris's third match in just six days. The busy stretch started rather well for Raul Gonzalez's men, who first won away to Chartres (29-39) before clinching another win on Tuesday afternoon. In their rescheduled Matchday 9 clash with Group A leaders Kielce, our players shone brightly, dominating the match from beginning to end - a good omen as they head into the important clash that awaits them on Thursday evening (the marathon will end on Sunday, with their Lidl Starligue Round 18 match in Istres).

Another crunch clash
Despite a slow start for Les Rouge et Bleu - three defeats in their first four Champions League outings - they are now back in the race for first place. They are currently on a five-game winning streak on the European stage and see the top of the group drawing ever closer. A win over the Germans, who have the same objective in this group phase, would be great for Paris. Currently, both teams have played nine games. Flensburg are three points ahead of our team (15 points), but Paris (12 points) could come back to within just one point with a win. Current leaders Kielce have 17 points, but have played three more matches.

A look back at the first match
The first meeting between the two teams went the way of the Germans (28-29). It was our team's first official match in seven months (after the championship was stopped last March and their Champions League campaign opener, the trip to Szeged, was postponed). Paris had a superb first half and looked set for victory as the last 20 minutes approached (38': 23-18), but in the end, the trend was reversed and the visitors won in dramatic fashion in the dying seconds. Hampus Wanne was one of the driving forces of their success, finishing as the game's top scorer (8 from 8).

Key stats
This will be the twelfth time that Flensburg and Paris face each other in European competition. The first duel dates back to the 2005-2006 season. At the time, our team lost heavily in Germany (37-24) but took revenge on home soil (33-31). The general trend has been in favour of Paris Saint-Germain Handball, who have won eight times for three defeats. Furthermore, our side has enjoyed plenty of success at the Flens-Arena, where they are currently on a run of three successive wins, including two buzzer-busters (33-34 in 2017 and 29-30 in 2019). In terms of scoring, Mikkel Hansen is the third-top scorer in the competition with 65 goals (899 in the Champions League since the beginning of his career).

To follow the game (throw-off at 20:45):
• Television: Eurosport Player
• Live tweet: our official page


(Credits: TeamPics/PSG)