Paris win the battle in Porto

Match reports

On Wednesday evening, Paris Saint-Germain Handball travelled to Porto for their EHF Champions League Matchday 9 clash. The objective was clear: to win an eighth European match in a row, make official their qualification for the next round and stay atop the Group standings (the first two places qualify directly for the quarters). But in this competition, even the bottom side can be hard to beat, especially at home. 

The beginning of the match was tight, the two teams determined to go blow for blow (4': 3-3). Then, opposing goalkeeper Nikola Mitresvki tarted to really hit his straps and played a key role as the home side made the break (9': 7-3). Les Rouge et Bleu began to struggle up front and went scoreless for several long minutes (11': 8-3). But after a time-out by Raul Gonzalez, the Parisians were in better shape and managed to claw back some of their deficit (16': 9-6).

Then Jannick Green also started to fire and took his turn to upset the opposing attackers. Elohim Prandi took advantage of this to bring his team back to within one goal (19': 10-9). Paris grew much more clinical in their finishing and, on al lightning counter, Ferran Solé Sala levelled it up (22': 11-11). The capital club now had the psychological advantage and used it to take the lead when Elo' smashed home on yet another counter-attack (26': 13-14). However, at the break, Paris were once again chasing the game - but not by much.

After the break, the duel resumed (33': 19-19). The clock was often stopped for fouls and the scoreline was all but stagnant (38': 22-22). But this time, the Parisians were the first to find the solutions. Thanks to the excellent Nikola Karabatic, who scored his 400th European goal with our team, Paris made the break at just the right time (42': 23-26). At the beginning of the last quarter of the game, after penalty save from Andreas Palicka, Les Rouge et Bleu took a five-point lead (47': 24-29).

Once again, the game was far from over (52': 28-30). Les Rouge et Bleu had to hunker down to resist the electric atmosphere in Porto's arena (54': 29-31) but, thanks to their experience, they defend well. They delayed their opponents shots as much as possible while also scoring consistently when they had the ball (57': 30-33). After a hotly contested 60 minutes, Paris Saint-Germain were confirmed as winners of a 17th-straight win in all competitions and firmed their grip on top spot!

REACTIONS FROM RAUL GONZALEZ, LUKA KARABATIC AND FERRAN SOLÉ SALA:

(Credits: L. Valroff/Team Pics/PSG)