Not over yet!
The context:
On Sunday afternoon, Paris Saint-Germain Handball come to a turning point in their Velux EHF Champions League adventure. For round 12, they travelled to third-placed Szeged to try and hold on to second place. Before the matchf, the two teams were tied on 18 points, with our team enjoying the advantage thanks to a first-leg win (30-25). A win, draw or defeat by fewer than five goals would put them in a very favourable position with two games to go.
The match:
From the outset, the two teams battled it out in a very physical match-up; defences took precedence over attacks and few goals were scored (5': 1-1). This scenario lasted for several long minutes, since neither Roland Mikkler for the Hungarians, nor Vincent Gerard for Paris, were about to give up (10': 2-2). But Les Rouge et Bleu gradually took control of the game and built a modest lead (11': 2-4) before, with the fans cheering them on, the home side started to come back into the game (15': 5-5). However, there was little they could do to stop Sander Sagosen (23': 10-12) and Mikkel Hansen from scoring their first goals (25': 11-14). Raul Gonzalez's men were still in front when this very tight and focused game hit its half-way point(30': 15-18).
The second half started very strongly! Solid in all areas, our players logically widened the gap (34': 15-20). The home side's task became even more complicated when Bogdan Radivojevic saw red after sending a ball into the head of Vincent Gerard on a 7m throw. The capital club took advantage of this superiority to take a six-point lead (35': 15-21), but Szeged made up the deficit relatively quickly, taking advantage of every possession (43': 23-23). `the comeback then turned into the kind of pitched battle we saw in the first half and, while the Parisians are two goals ahead again as money-time approached (50': 25-27), it was the Hungarians (56': 29-28) who were in front when the final buzzer sounded (60': 32-29).
Player of the Match: Vincent Gérard
Despite this setback, Vincent Gérard played a very good game in the Parisian goal. Invincible at the beginning of the match, he also allowed his team to break clear at the beginning of the second period, saving from the penalty line but also one-on-one in open play.
9' : Superbe entame de @Gerard_Vincent qui réalise une nouvelle parade ! (2-2) #SZEPSG pic.twitter.com/B10I4QBVmK
— PSG Handball (@psghand) February 16, 2020
The word: Hope
After Round 12, Les Rouge et Bleu saw themselves slip to third place in Champions League Group A. Second, which is advantageous especially insofar as it guarantees playing the return lee of the quarter-finals at home, is still not completely out of the Parisians' reach. Still, as this defeat was by a margin smaller than five goals, it means that our side are still ahead of Szeged on specific goal difference. Thus, in the event of a tie on points come the end of the group stage, Paris would come out on top. What's more, Paris have a more favourable run-in, with games against lowly ranked Elverum and Zagreb, while Szeged have to do battle with the likes of Flensburg and Barcelona.
Coming up:
After an absence of almost two months, Paris Saint-Germain Handball will return to the Stade Pierre de Coubertin! The trip to Hungary marked the end of a series of five consecutive away matches. On Wednesday, they will play host to neighbours Créteil in Lidl StarLigue Round 16 action.
(Credits: J. Azouze/PSG)