Preview: 5 things about Paris - Kielce

News

Make way for the Trickscout24 EHF Final4! After long months of competition, Paris Saint-Germain Handball will be in the EHF Champions League Final4 at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne on Saturday afternoon, with a semi-final against Kielce to kick off what promises to be an epic weekend.

1 - THE STORY SO FAR

After a brilliant group stage in which they finished top of Group A, Les Rouge et Bleu qualified directly for the quarter-finals. At this stage of the competition, they once again controlled matters perfectly, winning both games of the home-and-away tie with Kiel (27-31; 32-29). The capital club will therefore be taking part in their sixth Final4.

For their part, Kielce had to contend with a formidable group. They put in some fine performances and finished in second place (behind Barcelona, who will play the first semi-final, against Magdeburg, at 15:15), which also gave them the right to go straight into the quarter-finals. Against Veszprém, they first drew in Hungary (29-29) before qualifying for their sixth Final4 with a fine victory on Polish soil (31-27).

2 - KEY STATS 

Offensively, it should be an interesting duel between two teams that score a lot (765 goals for Paris, 764 for Kielce). They each have two excellent strikers in the shape of Polish internationals Kamil Syprzak and Arkadiusz Moryto, who have both scored 92 times since the start of the competition. 

Defensively, Kielce's goalkeepers have turned away 193 shots, including 162 by Andreas Wolf. As for the Parisian rearguard, they were able to rely on 179 saves from the back line. Jannick Green alone made 137 saves.

3 - HEAD TO HEAD

This will be the 12th time the two sides have met in the Champions League. The first meeting took place in 2016, also in the semi-finals in Cologne, with a victory for Kielce (28-26). Since then, Paris Saint-Germain have returned to the top of the head-to-head records, with seven wins and four defeats. And all of them have been spectacular encounters!

4 - UP AGAINST DYLAN AND BENOÎT

As well as facing a strong line-up, the capital club will have to be wary of several of their former prospects. While Nedim Remili left Kielce to join Veszprém just a few months after his arrival, our team will be taking on Dylan Nahi and Benoît Kounkoud, both of whom recently played for Les Rouge et Bleu (Dylan two years ago, while Benoît was still with Paris last season).

5 - HOW TO FOLLOW THE MATCH

Throw-off: 18:00
Television: Eurosport
Social networks: Live-tweet

(Credits: A. Gadoffre/Team Pics/PSG)