Rodrigo Corrales: 'The title would be a reward for our hard work'
On Thursday night, Paris Saint-Germain Handball travel to Aix for their Lidl Starligue Round 22 clash. Should they win, Les Rouge et Bleu will be crowned Champions of France just a few days after their elimination from the Velux EHF Champions League. Rodrigo Corrales talked to us about this chance to clinch the title.
Psg.fr: This will be your first match since the clash with Kielce (35-26). Is it easy to get back into the swing of things?
Rodrigo Corrales: It's pretty tough after losing a quarter-final like that... But we have the motivation we need for our matches against Aix and Saint-Raphaël. We can be crowned Champions of France this week. This is the best league, so it's a very important title. It will allow us to show our character and show that we are a great team.
You're just one win away from the title. It could come against Aix...
We're conscious of the fact that we're only a match away from the title. The best way to recover from our Champions League defeat would be to lock down the title as soon as possible. We deserve to have some joy - it would be a reward for our hard work. We will do our best to achieve that even though we know it won't be easy."
Is it an important title?
Winning the Lidl Starligue is not easy... we have worked really hard to stay on top. We won't have the Champions League to think about any more, but we want to clinch this title as quickly as possible. We have been really strong in the league. We've only conceded one draw so far - in Nîmes (28-28) - and we have won everything else. I think we deserve it. If we take the title with four rounds left to play, that will prove that we have done really well - and no-one can take that away from us.
Last season, you lost in Aix (33-31). So it certainly won't be easy...
Getting a win is never easy in this league. Especially way from home, where there is a lot of pressure on us. Aix will perhaps be counting on our being fatigued after Sunday's match - and disappointed too... We'll need to be 100% focused right from the opening buzzer.
It will be the same in Saint-Raphaël on Sunday…
Yes, because last year we won our match there in the very last second, from a penalty (25-26). It will be just as tough on Sunday… They are two team who give their absolute all. It will be up to us to make sure that it isn't such an even contest this time around.
Check out the first part of our interview with Rodrigo Corrales on video (in French).
(Credits: TeamPics/PSG)