Paris not rewarded

News

On Thursday, Paris Saint-Germain Handball started their European adventure! On the occasion of the first day of the group stage of the EHF Champions League, they travelled to Hungary to face Veszprém. This opening game was always going to be exciting, as our captain Luka Karabatic told us before the game.

In a boiling hot atmosphere, Les Rouge et Bleu resisted the pressure (7': 4-4). Led by an excellent Luc Steins, who was setting goals up as well as scoring them, they took the lead (11': 6-7). Our players respond perfectly in the defensive battle, with several interceptions and countered shots. Offensively, they took two a two-goal lead after a goal from Ferran Solé Sala (15': 7-9).

Despite a few bursts of energy from the Hungarians (18': 10-10), Raul Gonzalez's men were well on their way. While Andreas Palicka repelled several attempts, Kamil Syprzak made sure to hit the mark and put his side three goals to the good (22': 10-13) and +4 (26': 12-16). But, while everything can go very fast in handball, this adage is even more true at the Veszprém Arena, which saw its favourite sons make up part of their deficit (28': 15-16). At the break, the two teams were on level pegging.

After being pushed around in the first half, Veszprém reacted well at the beginning of the second (34': 20-18). But the role of the hunter seemed to suit Les Rouge et Bleu, who refused to let their opponents escape (39': 22-21). However, as the last quarter of the game approached, the Hungarians managed to change their dynamic and carved out a small lead (43': 25-22).

Money-time was approaching fast and our team was still at a disadvantage (47': 28-23). Raul Gonzalez then opted for a seven-man attack. Unfortunately, our players lacked precision with the final ball and came up against an excellent Vladimir Cupara from the seven-metre line (52': 32-28). Despite a fight-back at the end of the game, it was a bridge too far and Paris Saint-Germain Handball started their European campaign with a narrow defeat in Veszprém. On Saturday, the capital club will be back in Liqui Moly StarLigue acagainst Sélestat, but above all at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin!

(Crédits : J.Azouze/PSG)