Paris fall to Nantes in final

Comptes-rendus

Paris Saint-Germain Handball lost 31-23 to Nantes in the Coupe de France final at the AccorArena on Saturday. Here's a look back at the match.

It was finally Final Day for Les Rouge et Bleu! After the Trophée des Champions, Raul Gonzalez's men had the chance to claim their second title of the season, against the same opponents: Nantes! The Parisians would have to put up a good fight if they were to overcome an in-form Nantes side determined to retain the title they won against Montpellier last season.

In a sold-out AccorArena, Nantes got off to the best possible start and set the pace in the early stages (5': 4-0). After more than seven minutes, Les Rouge et Bleu finally got off the mark with a penalty converted by Kamil (7': 5-1). The capital club gradually got their bearings and came back to within two points of The H thanks to Jannick Green (12': 6-4). Luc Steins put the score back on level terms at the end of the first quarter of an hour (14': 7-7) after a fine delivery from Elohim.

Seeing his team chasing the score, Raul Gonzalez decided to call the first time-out of the final (18': 11-8). However, the Parisians failed to find the net, in stark contrast to Nantes, who took advantage of every space left by the Rouge et Bleu rearguard to once again extend their lead (22nd: 14-8). At the end of a lively first half, Paris were behind in this Coupe de France final and had to redouble their efforts to turn the situation around (30': 19-13).

After the break, the Parisians showed their determination to reduce the deficit and keep their hopes alive (33': 20-15), but the capital club were unable to keep pace with their counterparts (46': 29-18).

Despite their best intentions, Les Rouge et Bleu struggled to make up ground in the last ten minutes (52': 30-20). At the end of a difficult match, our players were unable to find the net against Nantes, and lost out in the Coupe de France final (60': 31-22). Raul Gonzalez's men will be back in action on Thursday in the EHF Champions League quarter-finals against FC Barcelona.

REACTIONS FROM RAUL GONZALEZ, LUKA KARABATIC AND YOANN GIBELIN:

(Credits: JM.Hervio/ Team Pics/PSG)