Preview: Paris-Nantes - A headline clash to get back in the swing

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It's time to get back to it! After more than a month and a half off, Paris Saint-Germain handball make their return to competition this Saturday. As is the case every year, it's the Coupe de France that gets the ball rolling, and the draw has handed the Parisians a clash with two-time defending champions Nantes. We take a closer look at this first fixture of 2025.

How did they get here?

Paris and Nantes followed a fairly similar route in the first two rounds, with the only difference being that, unlike their rivals from the Loire, the capital club faced two Proligue sides. Both teams had to work hard to reach the quarter-finals: against Pau Billère in August, the Parisians were able to rely on an excellent Kamil (9 from 9) to overcome a team that fought right to the end (28-33). At the same time, not far from Paris, in the Essonne region, The H launched their Coupe de France campaign with a win over Grégory Cojean's Massy (33-41). In October, Paris held firm against neighbour Saran (32-36), while Nantes had to work hard to beat Istres (39-44), recently promoted to the elite.

A particularly lively winter break

With no matches to get their teeth into, due to the World Championship, it was off the court that Parisians and Nantes made handballing news. During the break, the capital club formalised the recruitment of three new players in preparation for next season. To compensate for the departure of Léo Plantin and David Balaguer to Montpellier, Paris have turned to two Swedish internationals. While Sebastian Karlsson will make the opposite journey from Montpellier to Paris, Emil Mellegard will arrive this summer from the Danish team Hoj Elite. One of the revelations of the World Cup and a tormentor of Les Bleus with Croatia, right-back Mateo Maraš will join us from Tatabanya, the club of a certain Sadou Ntanzi. No friendly matches in the capital of the Loire region either, but two new recruits for next season. H have secured the services of Ian Tarrafeta and Romain Lagarde, who have both been making the Pays d'Aix club very successful for several seasons.

Aymeric Minne: watch out, danger!

A true classic of the French championship for many years, the matches between Paris and Nantes have become increasingly close. At the forefront of the Loire team is Aymeric Minne, who is coming off an impressive World Championship. Over the course of the matches, the 27-year-old centre half established himself as an essential asset for Les Bleus. He was one of the driving forces behind the 34-33 victory against Egypt in the quarter-finals, scoring five goals (at 100%) and providing two assists in just 16 minutes, and he finished in style against Portugal. Guillaume Gille gave the Melun native his first start of the tournament and he delivered a real recital with ten goals and three assists. The top scorer for H in the league (91 goals) and the Champions League (53 goals), he will probably be the main threat to the Parisian goal.

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Une publication partagée par IHF (@ihfworldhandball)

Some stats...

  • 4: Apart from the 2019-2020 edition, cancelled due to Covid-19, Paris and Nantes have both been in the Coupe de France final four for the last four seasons. The last time either side was eliminated at the quarter-final stage dates back to the 2017-2018 season.
  • 2: On Saturday, the capital club will face The H only for the second time in Coupe de France history. In 2011, the team from the Loire region managed to eliminate Paris at the same stage of the competition (30-23).
  • 51: The Stade Pierre de Coubertin crowd will be cheering on their team against Nantes 51 days after Raul Gonzalez's men beat Saint-Raphaël (41-34), their last home game of 2024.

(Credits: E. Renard/Team Pics)