Kim Ekdahl du Rietz: 'We're confident in our game'
On Sunday afternoon, Paris Saint-Germain Handball beat Celje (29-33) in Slovenia on Round 14 of the Velux EHF Champions League. Kim Ekdahl du Rietz, Raul Gonzalez and Vincent Gérard gave us their thoughts on the win.
Raul Gonzalez (Paris Saint-Germain Handball coach):
"We knew it would be difficult here. I'm happy because we're second in the group. The defence worked, the attack also worked; everyone played well. At the start of the match we used a 5-1 defence, which surprised them a little bit. They missed a lot of shots and we were able to score on quick counters. It's a difficult period with a lot of travelling - we're going straight to Aix now. We don't have much time to rest, but the players are professionals. They're used to it."
Vincent Gérard (Paris Saint-Germain Handball 'keeper):
"It's a shame because we made it easy at the end of the first half, but let them come back in second. We're satisfied because we were never behind and never really worried, even though it was a very big physical battle. We had some good defensive spells and that allowed us to score some fairly simple goals. There was also a good offensive relationship with Kamil (Syprzak). So we were able to maintain a fairly wide gap. We know that we have other difficult games ahead of us. We have a sizeable squad that can handle that."
Kim Ekdahl du Rietz (Paris Saint-Germain Handball left-back) :
"It was tight until the end, even though we managed to widen the gap at the end of the first half. Celje came back, but we managed to stay calm. We made the difference by trusting our game. I'm pleased we've got off to a good start in the Champions League this year. I've never had so many trips in so little time. But I'd rather have it happen in February than at the end of the season."
(Credits: J. Azouze/PSG)