Les Rouge et Bleu fall in Lisbon

Comptes-rendus

Paris Saint-Germain handball lost 39-28 to Sporting in Lisbon on Wednesday evening as part of EHF Champions League Matchday 8. Here's a look back at the match.

The Champions League is back! Three weeks after welcoming Sporting to Coubertin (30-28), our Parisians had a date in Lisbon to begin the second half of of Group A campaign. It was a tricky trip for the capital club, who travelled to the Portuguese capital without captain Luka Karabatic, who had joined Elohim Prandi, Luc Steins and Andreas Palicka on the injury list. Faced with a Lions side hungry for revenge after their defeat in Paris, Raul Gonzalez and his men were ready to push their limits to extend their run of five consecutive wins on the continental stage.

Playing in the Pavilhao Joao Rocha for the first time in their history, the Parisians needed no time to adjust. Right from the start, Jannick Green got the better of Francisco Costa, one of Portugal's main threats on the night. Jacob Holm got off to a strong start, scoring the first three goals for Les Rouge et Bleu. His first was followed by an assist for David Balaguer (4': 2-3). The Dane was omnipresent at the start of the match, and scored twice to put his side level with the Portuguese, who had taken the lead (8': 8-8). The goals kept coming in the first quarter of an hour, and it was the Parisians who shone. In addition to Jacob, Gautier Loredon scored a hat-trick to extend the lead (14': 7-10). Ricardo Costa, struggling in all areas of the game, soon called the first time-out of the match in the hope of breathing new life into his side.

The Portuguese coach's tactical adjustments quickly paid off, and Sporting immediately pulled back to within one goal of Paris (17': 9-10). But Les Rouge et Bleu were not to be deterred, and they regained their lead thanks to Ruben Marchan's first goal of the game (21': 10-12). As the minutes ticked by, Les Rouge et Bleu were frustrated by André Kristensen, who responded to Jannick Green with a fifth save of the first half (25': 13-13). With the Lions on the back foot and the atmosphere electric, the capital club decided to switch to a seven-man attack. Les Rouge et Bleu were more effective in attack, but they suffered from the Lusitanians‘ lightning counter-attacks, which outpaced Raul Gonzalez's men's defensive retreats (28’: 15-14). Yahia Omar converted Paris' first penalty to level the scores. In the end, Paris went into the break one goal behind an enterprising Sporting side (30': 16-15).

Back on the court, the two teams fought fiercely and made several defensive blunders, as evidenced by the almost simultaneous expulsions for Gautier Loredon and Christian Moga (34': 19-17). With six men against six, the capital club made every effort to close the gap. Having left their goal empty, the Portuguese were subjected to the vision and power of David Balaguer, who sent a marvellous ball from his own nine-metre area into the back of the Portuguese net. Despite good attacking intentions, the Parisians struggled to find a way past the imperious Kristensen, who allowed his side to extend their lead (40': 25-18). With his men in real trouble, Raul Gonzalez decided to make us of his entire squad. Wallem Peleka, who freshly subbed on, sent in a cannonball to keep Paris afloat (44': 28-23).

Buoyed by the Costa brothers, who scored 13 goals between them, Sporting upped the tempo and took control of the score (49': 32-24). Despite the deficit, the Parisians did not give up at the end of the match. Young Stanis Soullier came on in place of Jannick for the final minutes and pulled off two fine saves, but unfortunately without consequence (55': 37-27). Forced to cope without several of their key players, the capital club showed great spirit for 40 minutes before falling short against an enterprising Portuguese side buoyed by André Kristensen's 19 saves. As a result, Paris conceded their second Champions League defeat of the season (39-28), but remain runners-up to Veszprém. Paris return to Liqui Moly StarLigue action on Sunday when they take on Chambéry on Matchday 11.

Reactions from Ruben Marchan and Léo Plantin :

(Credits: L. Valroff/PSG)