Paris wrap up group stage in style

The context:
While Paris Saint-Germain Handball and Zaporozhye were both assured of a place in the knock-out rounds - at least - before their Round 14 clash on Sunday, the match still held plenty of importance. The Ukrainians were out to defend fifth place from Zagreb, while the Rouge et Bleu were looking to cap magnificent group stage campaign with a final win in front of their own fans.

The match:
Playing as though there were no pressure on their shoulders, the Ukrainians really took the game to their hosts. In a relatively tight opening phase, it was the visitors who were on the front foot (9’: 4-5) but, luckily for the capital club, Rodrigo Corrales made two early penalty saves (12’: 5-5). His classy start to the match got his teammates on track and, a few moments later, Luka Stepancic put his side in front for the first time in the match (14’: 6-5) before stringing together finishes from nine metres out as well as on the (22’: 13-8). At the break, despite the visitors pushing back in the final moments of the half, Paris were still in front (16-13).

As was the case in the first half, Paris had a complicated start in the second term (34’: 17-15)… but, once again, Rodrigo and Luka stepped up (35’: 18-15)! After putting these nervy moments behind them, Raul Gonzalez's men got back to work blowing out their lead (40’: 21-16). Coubertin was in festive mode for this last European outing before April, and our team made sure to keep things going smoothly with a solid lead (47’: 24-21) - all while turning on the style. Our 'keeper pulled off a superb double save (50’: 25-21) and our Croatian right-back hit another powerful goal (54’: 28-22) to help Paris Saint-Germain Handball run out comfortable - and deserved - winners (31-25).

The Parisien in the match: Luka Stepancic
In scintillating form, Luka fired an impressive 9 from 10 (90%) to top-score in the match and level his personal-best goal tally in a singe match. What's more, he scored with a range of different shots - from distance, from point-blank range and on the end of counters. A huge performance from our Croatian international!

The word: Record
With 13 wins from 14 matches (with just one defeat), Les Rouge et Bleu set a new record for points taken from a group stage campaign since the introduction of the new competition format in 2015-16. With 26 points to their name, they eclipsed Barcelona's record of 25 points, set in season 2016-17.

Coming up:
Paris Saint-Germain Handball have plenty of big matches on the cards! The first is just around the corner: on Thursday night, Paris take on second-placed Nantes in a super-important Lidl StarLigue clash. If they win, Paris will stretch their lead over second-placed Nantes to five points. Meanwhile the capital club will be keeping a watchful eye on the Velux EHF Champions League last 16 clash between Zaporozhye and Kielce - before facing the winner in the quarter-finals!

(Credits: TeamPics/PSG)