In the archives: Toulouse
On Sunday, Raul Gonzalez's men take on Toulouse at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin in their Liqui Moly StarLigue Round 19 clash. To mark the occasion, take a look back through the archives and find out what links the two sides.
RECORDS AND GOALS GALORE
Meetings between Paris and Toulouse often produce a great spectacle. As proof, Nikola and Luka Karabatic both bagged personal-best goal hauls for Les Rouge et Bleu against Le Fenix. During the 2020-2021 season, our number 44 scored nine times in Paris' 41-35 win at Coubertin. This was a carbon copy of the record set by our captain in a dominant win in 2017 (42-31).
However, if one player had made Toulouse his favourite prey, it was Mikkel Hansen. In the 2015-2016 season, the former Parisian scored 12 goals in the first leg in Toulouse (33-38), before continuing in the same vein a few months later at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin, where he bested the Toulouse rearguard 11 times in another emphatic win (37-30).
Une longue tradition entre Parisiens et Toulousains
Paris Saint-Germain Handball's current squad includes no fewer than three former Fenix players. Luc Steins arrived from Tremblay in the summer of 2019, having spent just one and a half seasons in Toulouse before joining the capital club. Already impressive with Toulouse (63 goals and 53 assists in 21 games in the Liqui Moly StarLigue), the centre-half has taken on a whole new dimension under Raul Gonzalez, symbolised in particular by his awards as player of the season in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
When the Dutch international arrived at Coubertin, Sadou Ntanzi went in the opposite direction on a season-long loan. The young centre-half then had the opportunity to gain playing time and experience, before returning to our squad the following season. Finally, Ferran Solé Sala delighted Toulouse fans for four seasons between 2016 and 2020. Voted best right winger at Euro 2018 and the 2019 World Cup, Ferran has since established himself as an indispensable part of the Parisian squad.
In the opposite direction, Les Rouge et Bleu will be reunited with a familiar face in Edouard Kempf. The right winger joined the capital club in 2016 and replaced Ferran when he moved to Toulouse in 2020, after four seasons at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin. With Le Fenix, the Mulhouse-born winger is a regular goalscorer, and has quickly established himself as a leader in an ambitious squad that the Parisians will certainly need to be wary of.
(Credits: L. Valroff/Team Pics/PSG)