Paris avoid Zagreb trap

Match reports

Paris Saint-Germain Handball beat Zagreb 35-31 on Thursday evening on EHF Champions League Matchday 2. Here's a look back at the thrilling encounter!

On Thursday afternoon, Paris Saint-Germain Handball took part in EHF Champions League Matchday 2, Raul Gonzalez's men welcoming Zagreb back to the Stade Pierre de Coubertin. Beaten 23-30 at home by Kiel last week, the Croatians changed coach a few days before the trip to Paris, with the arrival of Slavko Goluza. For their part, our team got their European campaign off to a perfect start with a valuable win in Szeged (29-31). But in the Champions League, form doesn't always matter.

Faced with a team looking to bounce back after their opening defeat, Les Rouge et Bleu failed to make the difference in the opening minutes (5': 3-3). Despite the growing strength of our Scandinavian duo (Jacob Holm and Kent Robin Tonnesen) at the back, and also in goal with a penalty saved by Andreas Palicka, the capital club were again stymied by a Croatian side who had come to fight for their lives (11': 7-7). Even when our players had the chance to go +2, they came up against some fine defending (14': 9-8) and even had to chase the game at one point (15': 9-10).

For a very long time, neither of the teams managed to break away (21': 12-12). The visitors' rearguard was extremely solid and it took a long battle to break them down (24': 14-14). Fortunately, the Parisian defence responded well and several shots were also blocked in front of our goal (26': 15-15). Finally, after a burst of acceleration, Paris managed to go +2 thanks to captain Luka Karabatic (28': 17-15). At the break, our team was still leading after a very tight first half (30': 18-16).

The second half began as the first had ended: with Paris dominating (34': 21-18). But once again, Zagreb refused to give up and quickly got back into the game (39': 22-21). Thanks to a number of heroic deeds by Luc Steins (who had already been at his best for the first 30 minutes), Les Rouge et Bleu managed to hold on to a lead that was still short of being comfortable (41': 25-23). The lead only started to grow as the final quarter approached. Raul opted for a 5-1 defence, which caused more problems for the visitors' forward line, and the attack took advantage to extend the lead (45': 27-24). The last part of the match, however, proved to be very tense (48': 30-27).

But it still wasn't enough to bring the game to a close (51': 31-30). As the clock ticked down, the capital club took the lead, but every possession had to be converted into a goal, otherwise they could find themselves in danger (54': 33-31). In the final moments, after a battle lasting almost an hour, Zagreb began to break down physically. Jannick Green won several duels to give his team the lead. In the end, Paris Saint-Germain Handball won by four goals for their second victory in as many European matches. Before travelling to Kielce next week, they must face Créteil on Sunday in Liqui Moly StarLigue Round 3.

REACTIONS FROM RAUL GONZALEZ, FERRAN SOLE SALA AND DOMINIK MATHÉ:

(Credits: L. Valroff/Team Pics/PSG)