Five things on Kiel - PSG Handball
Wednesday night, Paris Saint-Germain Handball will look to punch their ticket for the EHF Champions League Final4. To do so, they will have to get the better of reigning European Champions THW Kiel. The first leg, at the Wunderino-Arena, is the first step towards Cologne.
1 - A great match
At this stage of the competition, there are obviously no ordinary matches. But Wednesday's match has all the makings of a final ahead of time; two of the best teams will fight for one of the four qualifying tickets for the Final4 in Cologne, which will take place in one month. Although they did not meet directly, they both participated in the last edition of this event, last December. Les Rouge et Bleu finished third, after a victory against Veszprém (31-26), while the Germans claimed gold by disposing of Barcelona in the final (33-28). This double confrontation will be the fourteenth and fifteenth direct confrontation between Kiel and Paris. For the moment, the Zebras lead with seven wins, against five for the capital club (and one draw). However, our team are on a run of three games without a single defeat in the Champions League.
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2 - In the quarters again
The quarterfinal stage has now become a regular event for both clubs. Apart from a stint in the EHF Cup in 2018-2019, the Kielers have been at this level of the competition every season since the introduction of the Final4 in 2009-2010, and they have since appeared seven times, including five in a row between 2011 and 2016. They have also won the competition three times - in 2010, 2012 and 2020 (but also in 2007, under a different tournament formula). Meanwhile, the Parisians have reached the quarterfinals every season since the 2013-2014 edition. In eight years, they have been eliminated only three times - by Veszprém (in 2014 and 2015) and Kielce (2019). Note that this big-ticket fixture was also instantiated in the third-place play-off in 2015-2016, with Paris winning 29-27, thanks in particular to ten goals from Mikkel Hansen.
3 - Facing Sander
Among all the talented players who make up the German team, one of the opposing faces will not be unfamiliar: Sander Sagosen. The Norwegian international joined his new team last summer, after three years in the French capital (2017 to 2020). With Les Rouge et Bleu, he won three French Championship titles, one Coupe de France, two Coupes de la Ligue and participated in two Velux EHF Champions League Final4s. Our former centre-half performed very well in Lidl StarLigue, scoring 236 goals, - including 11 in the draw between Nantes and Paris in February 2020 (29-29). Since joining the German league, he has managed to score 112 times and is his team's second-highest scorer Niclas Ekberg (172 goals).
4 - Key stats
THW Kiel's top two scorers in the league are the same in the Champions League, with 71 goals for Ekberg and 67 for Sander. On our side, the most frequent scorer is none other than Mikkel Hansen, with his 72 strikes (fourth overall). These teams have the fourth-(Paris, with 456 goals scored) and third-best (Kiel, with 460) attack among the teams still in the competition. Only Barcelona (581) and Veszprém (523), well helped by their 80 goals scored against Vardar Skopje in the previous round, are doing better. In the round of 16, both teams cruised through, Kiel disposing of Szeged (66-56 on aggregate), while the Raul Gonzalez's men got the better of Celje (68-47).
After a long wait, it's quarter-finals time. The fight for a ticket to Cologne has begun!
— EHF Champions League (@ehfcl) May 11, 2021
Tell us in the comments which match will be more equal! 💬👇 #ehfcl 🏆 pic.twitter.com/RaAiPzk937
5 - To follow the game (kickoff at 20:45):
- Television: Eurosport Player
- Live tweet: our official page
(Credits: J. Azouze/PSG)