Preview: Plock - Paris

Avant-match

Paris Saint-Germain Handball travel to Poland to take on Plock in their EHF Champions League Matchday 3 clash on Thursday. Find out all you need to know about this fixture...

1 - Form

Crowned Polish champions a few months ago after overcoming Kielce in the play-off final, Plock are continuing their rise to prominence. The Poles again got the better of their biggest rivals in the Supercup at the start of September, but these encouraging performances have so far failed to translate to success on the European stage. Despite their good intentions, the Blue and Whites have conceded two defeats: at Sporting (34-29) and then at home to Dinamo Bucharest (26-28). However, this weekend, Xavi Sabate's men got back to winning ways against Ostrow Wielkopolski (30-23) on the opening day of the league season.

On Sunday, Les Rouge et Bleu regained their confidence and continued their unbeaten run in the league with a comprehensive 39-31 win over Dunkerque at Coubertin. The Parisians will now be looking to get back to winning ways on the continental stage, with a second consecutive away game following a difficult trip to Veszprรฉm (41-28) last week.

2 - Plock, a team on the rise

Fresh from their first Polish league title since 2011, Wisla Plock made some big moves this summer, bringing in a number of new signings to keep an eye on. In addition to Nantes goalkeeper Viktor Hallgrimsson, the Poles also nabbed Mitja Janc and Tim Cokan, who formed a formidable duo at Celje last season. To compensate for the departure of left-back Tin Lucin, the Polish champions have managed to repatriate Zoltan Szita, who challenged the Parisians last season while playing for Szeged. Another familiar face for Les Rouge et Bleu is Marko Panic, who has arrived from Montpellier.

3 - HEAD TO HEAD

Over the seasons, the capital club have made Plock one of their favourite targets on the continental stage. Les Rouge et Bleu have won all eight of their head-to-head meetings with the Polish outfit, most recently just a few months ago. In the EHF Champions League play-offs, Raul Gonzalez's men won both legs to book their place in the quarter-finals.

4 - The other Group A fixtures

On Wednesday evening, Sporting and Veszprรฉm will both be looking to continue their unbeaten run on the continental stage. It promises to be a spectacular encounter between the two best attacks in the EHF Champions League over the first two rounds. A few hours before Plock and Paris face off, Fredericia will be aiming to pick up their first points in Europe as they take on Fรผchse Berlin for the very first time. Pelister, also in search of a first result on the continental stage, travel to Dinamo Bucharest. Having beaten Fredericia and Plock in their opening two games, the Romanians of Dinamo could make it three wins in a row and take top spot in the group.

5 - To follow the match

Throw-off: 20:45

Television: Eurosport

Social networks: Live tweet

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(L. Valroff/ PSG)