Paris are ready

News

The context:
Twenty-four hours after their victory in a pre-season friendly over Aix (26-37), Paris Saint-Germain Handball and the southern side met again on again Saturday afternoon in the capital club's final pre-season outing - the perfect opportunity to make any last-minute adjustments.

The match:
Like the day before, Paris were up against a rock-solid Wesley Pardin in the opening stages. But at the other side of the court, Rodrigo Corrales was in similar mood (7': 2-3) ! The Aix goalkeeper was the first to crumble, giving in to the attacks of Mikkel Hansen and Luc Abalo (15': 4-6). This first break allowed Les Rouge et Bleu to carve out a healthy lead, in a very physical confrontation. Dylan Nahi brought technique to this fight by scoring with a beautiful chabala, giving his team a four-point lead (22': 7-11). In front of their home crowd, the hosts raised their heads in the final minutes of the first act and were not far from levelling it up just before the break (30': 14-15).

In the second half, Raul Gonzalez's men regained control of the match, led by an excellent Kim Ekdahl du Rietz (35' : 17-18). The Swedish international went on to make a series of rushes through the Aix defence, converting all his shots into goals (42': 21-24). His Scandinavian teammate, Mikki, showed that he is still in sparkling form and Les Rouge et Bleu took a serious option on victory as the final minutes approached (52': 26-30). The Parisian defence, well anchored by Vincent Gérard, resisted PAUC's final push and Paris Saint-Germain Handball held out to claim victory in their final match before the beginning of the season (60': 30-34).

Coming up:
Paris now turn their attentions to the Trophée des Champions in Limoges on Saturday, 31 August! The French Champions will take on last year's league runners-up Montpellier. The match throws off at 18:00 CET.

(Credits: J. Azouze/PSG