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Paris lose nail-biting final to Montpellier

Comptes-rendus

On Sunday, Paris Saint-Germain Handball lost the Coupe de France final to Montpellier after a thrilling penalty shootout (36-35). Here's our look back at the match.

Almost a year after Nikola Karabatic's memorable farewell in the same AccorArena, the capital club returned to the iconic Parisian venue on Sunday. This time, it wasn't the league title that was at stake, but a potential seventh Coupe de France. To do so, Les Rouge et Bleu would have to overcome one of their biggest rivals and the competition's record champions: Montpellier. In one of his last big games for Paris, Raul Gonzalez had the opportunity to further cement his place in the Paris Saint-Germain pantheon and give the fans their first trophy of the season.

Clash of theTitans

As expected, the start of the match was particularly heated. In an electric AccorArena, the two teams traded blows early (5': 2-2). Aftrer Montpellier had created the first break of the match, Elohim sounded the charge with one of his trademark strikes (7': 4-3). Little by little, the Parisian machine gained momentum: Andreas made his first save and Wallem Peleka equalised with an unstoppable shot that flew into the top corner of Rémi Desbonnet's goal (10': 5-5).

The first quarter of an hour was tense, making very clear the ambition that both teams had brought into this final. The fouls piled up, and Montpellier's' excessive commitment was punished with a red card for Veron Nacinovic (14': 7-7). A man up, Les Rouge et Bleu decided to push and duly took the lead for the first time in the match. Montpellier reacted immediately, calling their first time-out of the final (19': 8-10).

Paris behind, but still in touch

The effect was slow to kick in, thanks in particular to some superbly inspired play from our Parisian. With defences well aware of his customarily powerful shots, Elo' changed tack, delighting the crowd with a perfectly executed lob (21': 9-11). Raul Gonzalez's men were in the lead, but two fouls in quick succession saw Montpellier with a temporary two-man advantage.

And they did not hesitate to take advantage, immediately setting about re-taking the lead and making another break (25': 14-12). Les Rouge et Bleu decided to stop the game in an attempt to get back on track before half-time, and they managed to level it up towards the end of the first half, but went into the break narrowly behind. Everything was still to play for in a final that thus far had lived up to all its promise (30': 17-16).

A spectacular comeback

After a 15-minute rest and some tactical adjustments by Raul Gonzalez, our Parisians came back onto the court with thepedal to the meetal. Kamil scored twice in quick succession and Jannick made a splendid save to deny Benjamin Richert's penalty (34': 18-18). The second half looked all set to be nail-biting until the end, with neither team managing to gain a clear advantage (41': 23-22).

Seeing his team in difficulty, Raul Gonzalez decided to switch to a seven-man attack. It was a risky move, as it left Les Rouge et Bleu exposed to counter-attacks, but the Spanish coach knew he could count on Andreas's superb defensive talents to clear off the line when needed (46': 24-23). As the game entered its final stages, Montpellier stepped up a gear and took a three-point lead (52': 28-25).

Then Andreas Palicka sounded the charge with a double save at the best possible moment. With five minutes to go, Paris called their last timeout (56th: 28-26). Digging deep, Les Rouge et Bleu fired up the AccorArena and managed to equalise with one minute to go (59': 28-28). The score did not change before the final buzzer and so the winner of the 2025 edition would be decided by a penalty shootout, as was the case last season against Nantes in the quarters (60': 28-28).

A nail-biting shootout

The capital club opened the scoring through Kamil, while Jannick savd to give Paris the lead. However, Les Rouge et Bleu suffered a blow when Ferran Solé's successful attempt was disallowed after consultation with the video assistant referee. Charles Bolzinger then won his duel to send the two teams into sudden death. In this match, the outcome was, inevitably, cruel. Unfortunately, our Parisians cracked first and tasted defeat in a thrilling Coupe de France final that proved as spectacular as it was cruel (60', pens.: 36-35).

(Credits: L. Valroff/PSG)