Paris prevail as European action returns to Coubertin

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On Thursday night, the Stade Pierre de Coubertin was back in Europe! For EHF Champions League Matchday 2, Paris Saint-Germain Handball played host to Dinamo Bucharest. Beaten late in their campaign opener away to Veszprém (34-31), Les Rouge et Bleu were up against a Romanian aide full of confidence after toppling Kielce the week before (32-29). A match not to be taken lightly, as Nedim Remili reminded us before the game.

However, it was the visitors who got off to the better start (3': 0-2). Still, the capital club didn't take long to get going and, after a triple from Nedim Remili and several saves from Vincent Gérard, it was our players who took the lead (10': 7-5). More solid in defence, they hit hard on the counter and made the break (14': 9-6). In great form early in the game, Nedim then gave his team a four-point lead, resisting a defender and scoring powerfully.

Our wingers also had a lot of opportunities to show their skills - notably Benoît Kounkoud, who hit a double in the space of a few seconds (20': 14-7). The Parisians were unstoppable in all sectors and it was very difficult for Dinamo to find the net (24': 16-8). At the other end of the court, Dainis Kristopans used his power to maintain the gap (27': 18-11). At the break, after another save from Vincent - combined with a missile on the buzzer from Mikkel Hansen - Les Rouge et Bleu had a +10 advantage!

At the resumption, despite this substantial lead, the Parisians continued to pile on the pressure and bagged a string of quick goals (34': 27-14). Our offensive line was in clinical form (75% efficiency, against 53% for the Romanians)! Even before the 40th minute had been reached, Nikola Karabatic had bagged his side's 30th goal of the match (38': 30-17). Coubertin was in jubilant mood and even more so when Nedim found Elohim Prandi, who defied gravity to score a magnificent kung-fu (42': 33-20). The show definitely took hold of the Parisian arena when Kamil Syprzak scored his 100th Champions League goal for Paris (48': 36-22) and Adama Keita struck with a beautiful spin-shot (49': 37-22).

With a handful of minutes left to play, Paris Saint-Germain Handball seemed to have done the necessary to make the end of the game easier for themselves (52': 37-24). In the final moments, the continued the show (57': 39-28) and won! Les Rouge et Bleu thus got their first European victory of the season. A very good omen heading into a run of two away games: Créteil in the Liqui Moly StarLigue and then Flensburg, in Champions League Matchday 3 action on Wednesday.

Reactions from Adama Keita, Vincent Gerard and Raul Gonzalez:

 

(Credits: A. Gadoffre/TeamPics/PSG)