Podium finish!

News

No more than 24 hours after their EHF Champions League semi-final defeat against Aalborg on Saturday (33-35), Paris Saint-Germain Handball were back in action in the third-place play-off at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne. This match was 100% French, as the capital club were up Nantes, who were defeated by Barcelona in Saturday's other semi-final (31-26). The objective for our team was to finish on the podium, as they have done all five times they have reached the Final4. But the task was not easy against The H. Both teams had a win over the other in the Lidl StarLigue this season, but the European jousts, on the other hand, have been to the advantage of the Parisians, with three wins, one draw and one defeat.

At throw-off, Nantes looked to be dealing with the previous day's disappointment better and they got off to a good start thanks to an excellent Cyril Dumoulin. To answer The H's assaults, Benoît Kounkoud worked hard and scored twice on the counter (4': 4-2). Our right-winger was also ready to tee them up, playing in left-winger Mathieu Grébille cut the deficit (8': 5-4). Raul Gonzalez's men even had several chances to get back on level terms, but each time they were beaten by Dumoulin before conceding the break once more (9': 6-4). It wasn't until the tenth minute that they were able to get properly back on track! After goals from Ferran Solé Sala and Mathieu (12': 7-7), Paris levelled it up.

A few moments later, they took the lead after another counter-attack, this time concluded by Luka Karabatic (13': 7-8). But the Parisians did not take advantage of this to increase their lead and soon found themselves chasing the score again (15': 9-8). From then on, the two teams went back and forth and neither of them managed to break away (18': 10-10). Les Rouge et Bleu seemed to have the measure of their opponents, going for the first time to +2 through Mikkel Hansen (21': 10-12), but they were quickly caught (24': 12-12). The game seesawed as the momentum went back and forth! In the good moments, our players managed to take a two-goal lead after another goal from Mathieu and an exceptional double penalty save from Vincent Gérard (26': 12-14).

As the end of the first half approached, Paris were getting stronger, with Nedim Remili hitting a quick-fire double (28': 13-16). The last attack was concluded by one of Paris' best performers from the early stages: Benoît Kounkoud. He produced a magnificent chabala just before the buzzer and gave his team to have a +4 advantage at the break (30': 13-17).

The second half started like the first, with Dumoulin imperious in Nantes' goal (33': 14-17). But this time, despite some errors, our team resisted the opposing attacks better and managed to maintain a decent gap (36': 15-18). Defenders and 'keepers took the upper hand and few goals were scored (40': 17-20), but Dainis Kristopans was on hand to make difference! The Latvian international unleashed two missiles that left The H's 'keeper no chance and Paris remained three goals to the good (42': 18-21).

But then the momentum switched again... and Nantes clawed their way back into it (45': 21-22). The tempo accelerated and the attacks started to get on top (48': 23-24). Nantes were riding their wave and were a little more inspired, duly levelling it up once again (49': 24-24) as the tension rose even further. Les Rouge et Bleu wanted none of it narrowly avoiding going a goal behind before getting a second wind and streaking four goals clear with Kamil Syprzak and Dylan Nahi leading the way (52': 24-26).

For his last appearance with our club, our left-winger made a great appearance off the bench! He scored the goal that put Paris three goals up (54': 25-28), while at the other end of the court, Vincent Gérard shut the shop! Paris Saint-Germain Handball seemingly had the match in hand (56': 25-29) and held out to claim third place in the EHF Champions League for season 2020-21 (28-31)! A success that marks the end of a long season capped with two national titles (Coupe de France and Lidl StarLigue) and a podium finish in Europe's top tier!

(Credits: A. Gadoffre/TeamPics/PSG)