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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.
What a banger from @psghand's Nedim Remili as the French side take control vs Dinamo 🚀 #ehfcl #showtimeforchampions pic.twitter.com/mnGG3mOHKB
— EHF Champions League (@ehfcl) September 23, 2021
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!
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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).
48': ET voila @syprzak_kamil qui inscrit son 100ème but avec Paris en Ligue des Champions
— PSG Handball (@psghand) September 23, 2021
36-22#PSGBUC pic.twitter.com/NTw1ItDix8
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.
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Reactions from Adama Keita, Vincent Gerard and Raul Gonzalez:
Jeudi, les 🔴🔵 se sont imposés devant Bucarest en J2 d'@ehfcl @Adams_Keita : "quand on joue comme ça, on est difficilement battable"@Gerard_Vincent : "une belle soirée"
— PSG Handball (@psghand) September 23, 2021
Raul #Gonzalez : "un bon travail pendant 60 minutes"#PSGBUC (41-30) pic.twitter.com/Y3j6SgqmZF
(Credits: A. Gadoffre/TeamPics/PSG)