Ivry vs PSG Handball: preview

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This Saturday, Paris Saint-Germain Handball travel to the Antarès, in Le Mans, to defend their title in the Final4 of the Coupe de la Ligue against neighbours Ivry.

Road to the Final4
US Ivry played one more match than Paris to get this far than Les Rouge et Bleu (due to the champions participation in the Trophée des Champions). On 8 September, Sébastien Quintallet’s side won 23-15 over Proligue outfit Saint-Marcel Vernon. They then overcame another second-tier side Nice, in a spectacular 37-35 win. And finally, on 12 December, they booked their place in the Final4 overcoming Pontault-Combault 26-23. The capital club only faced Lidl StarLigue opposition in Dunkerque (34-23) and Nantes (34-30), in a remake of the 2017 final.

Top scorer versus leading goalie
Ivry can count on Swedish right-back Linus Persson in their ranks, the top scorer in the competition this season, equal with Fahrudin Melic and Yosdany Rios. With 17 goals in three matches, the 25-year-old boasts a 77% success rate in front of goal. We starred in their quarter-final win over Pontault scoring 8 out of 10. But he will be up against the best goalie in the Coupe de la Ligue this season. With 34 saves against USDK (22) and the H (12), Thierry Omeyer has stopped 41% of his opponents’ shots. No other goalkeeper has done better!

Head-to-head
In early September, Paris and Ivry locked horns on the opening day of the 2018-19 season. Les Rouge et Bleu scored a resounding 38-21 victory. Our wingers Uwe Gensheimer and Benoît Kounkoud were on fire with the Germany international netting 10 goals while Ben scored with five out of five. In the opposition ranks Mahamadou Keita also recorded a five out of five. The Ivry left-winger is none other than the big brother of Parisian Adama.

Twice defending champions
Paris Saint-Germain Handball are taking part in the fourth consecutive Coupe de la Ligue Final4. While the first was a 31-26 loss to MHB in the Sud de France Arena, the capital club have won the last two. On 8 April 2017, in the Complexe René Tys in Reims, Les Rouge et Bleu won the first Coupe de la Ligue in the club’s history, courtesy of eight goals from Nedim Remili, and eight saves by Gorazd Skof (31-27). Last year, in Les Arènes in Metz, they defeated the Fenix of Toulouse 40-30 in the highest scoring final in the competition’s history. Paris also played in the final in 2005 and 2006.

How to follow the match at 16:00

• Television: beIN SPORTS 3
• Live tweet: official club page

 

(Credits: TeamPics/PSG)