Luka Karabatic: 'There will be a show'

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In this second part of the interview, our captain Luka Karabatic covered a wide variety of topics including the return to action, the fans and the NFL.

Psg.fr: This is Raul Gonzalez's third season at the head of the club. After such a long break, have you all found your feet again more quickly?
Luka Karabatic: Yes, after these three years, there are a lot of automatisms and adjustments that we already had in place. We know the plan! We are used to it, even if this year was a little bit special, because several new players arrived. They needed some time to adapt. Each season, we restart with a new squad. So we had to work hard to fine-tune all that.

On Wednesday, you return to competition, against Flensburg at a Stade Pierre de Coubertin that, due to the pandemic, cannot welcome the fans. Will this require an adaptation on your part?
It's going to be a bit weird. We did it during the preseason, but in the previous years it happened to us several times, playing without spectators for friendly matches, so we were not necessarily disoriented. In Chartres, for our last match, there was an audience and all the precautions were taken. There was a good atmosphere. I'm confident: I know that, at some point, there will be a show in the stands this season.

This year you will once again share the pivot position with Kamil Syprzak and Henrik Toft Hansen. How is your relationship going?
It's going very well! We're very supportive and we're all moving in the same direction. It's a position that demands a lot physically, so you can't have too any of us [laughs]! Especially given the number of matches we have. That enables each of us to give 100%. We don't need to ask ourselves any questions, we know we can give it our all and count on the rotation. We know what Raul expects from us and things are clear.

The NFL (National Football League) championship resumed last week. Is the squad getting back into the Fantasy League (a fictional American football championship based on real results) now?
Yes, we've been playing this game for a few seasons in Paris. It's always a pleasure to compete in another way! This season, Dylan, Adama and Elohim have joined us. It's going to be a very exciting championship once again. It's nice to have a common passion in the team that is different from handball. It allows you to experience other things. It's often a good time to relax.

Who is the title holder?
It's Rodrigo Corrales, who left this year, so he won't be there to defend it. The race for his successor will be very even and very tough!

Check out the first part of our interview with Luka Karabatic, on video.

(Credits: J. Azouze/PSG)