Preview: 5 things about Paris - Plock

Avant-match

A week after a perilous - but ultimately victorious - Rond of 16 first-leg trip to Poland (26-30), the capital club meet Wisla Plock in the return leg at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin on Thursday evening, with the aim of booking their place in the quarter-finals of the EHF Champions League.

1 - FORM

In a first leg that lived up to all its promises, the Parisians took an option on qualifying for the quarter-finals of the EHF Champions League last week. Led by Kamil Syprzak, who scored eight goals from eight attempts against his parent club, Les Rouge et Bleu will be keen to finish the job at Coubertin and set up a meeting with Barcelona, their future opponents in the event of qualification. Raul Gonzalez's men have not slowed down since the first leg, with a deserved 36-31 victory over Ivry on Sunday in the Liqui Moly StarLigue Round 22.

For their part, Wisla Plock also made sure of their place at the top of their league table this weekend with an easy 26-16 win over Legionowo on the final day of the regular season. The Blue and Whites thus regained their confidence after a difficult week that had seen them lose the league lead with a home defeat to arch-rivals Kielce (29-34) and be beaten again at home a few days later by Raul Gonzalez's men (26-30).

2 - KAMIL SYPRZAK ON TOP

Top scorer in the EHF Champions League with 94 goals and boasting the same status in the Liqui Moly StarLigue with 169, Kamil Syprzak is unstoppable, whatever the competition or the opponent. After another exceptional week against Plock and 11 goals from 13 attempts against Ivry, our Polish pivot was named in the team of the week for the two flagship competitions. Honoured week after week by the authorities and by his peers, our number 21 seems to have stumped those looking for superlatives to describe his season - and he knows how to get even more out of himself in the big matches.

3 - THE OTHER ROUND OF 16 TIES

Of the eight teams vying for a place in the quarter-finals, some have already taken a major step towards their goal. This is particularly true of Kielce, the two-time reigning finalists who showed no fear in their 33-25 first-leg win over GOG in Odense. Veszprém's comfortable 30-37 win in Szeged in an all-Hungarian clash has also put them firmly in the driving seat for qualification, before they potentially face Aalborg in the next round. Montpellier, meanwhile, managed to draw 27-27 in Croatia and will now be looking to secure qualification against Zagreb in front of their home crowd in France.

4 - HEAD TO HEAD

Les Rouge et Bleu continued their perfect record against their Polish counterparts last week with a seventh win in as many meetings. This is the first time the two sides have met in the EHF Champions League knockout rounds, having been drawn in the same group three times since their first meeting in 2016.

5 - HOW TO FOLLOW THE MATCH

Throw-off: 20:45 at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin

Television: Eurosport

Social networks: Live-tweet

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