Thriller ends honours even

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On Thursday, a massive clash took place at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin. Paris Saint-Germain Handball played host to Barcelona in their EHF Champions League Matchday 10 fixture with the sides level-pegged on 11 points. Les Rouge et Bleu had a chance to take second place in Group B - a place that qualifies directly for the quarter-finals, but to do so they needed a win over the Catalans as well as a bad result for Veszprém (currently second) in Flensburg. In a stadium packed to the rafters for this last home game of 2021, the capital club were up against the reigning European Champions, who beat them when the sides met in Spain in October (30-27).

All the protagonists of this match know each other perfectly and so there was no need for a feeling out period (4': 3-2). The minutes passed and Les Rouge et Bleu take an initial ascendancy over the Catalans. Ferran Solé Sala offered himself a double before earning a penalty duly converted by specialist Mikkel Hansen (7': 6-2). The Spanish right-winger hurt his compatriots, but did a lot of good for his teammates, allowing them to take pull further ahead (11': 8-3). With the first quarter of an hour out of the way, Paris were in a strong position (15': 10-6).

Despite this excellent start, our players were not yet safe (23': 14-12) and, a few moments before the break, the visitors raised the tone get back to within one goal (27': 15-14). It took all the skill of Barcelona old boy Kamil Syprzak to push back his former (28': 16-14). At the break, after a goal by Benoît Kounkoud on the final offensive, the Parisians still had a two points lead.

As was the case in the first half, Raul Gonzalez's men made an excellent start to the second act (33': 19-15), but Barcelona were never far away (37': 20-19). The Spanish defence left less space for the capital club, who were forced to try their luck against Gonzalo Perez de Vargas from les than ideal positions. In this context, the Catalans levelled it up (41': 20-20) and then took the lead (42': 20-21). Yann Genty did his best to prevent his side from breaking, expertly saving a penalty and teeing up Nedim Remili to equalise (44': 21-21).

The end of the game was unbearably tense (48': 22-23). Well helped by Perez de Vargas and a clinical Dika Mem, Barcelona found themselves in a favourable position (53': 23-26). And while things looked dire for the Parisians, they made a last-gasp fightback and got back to level pegging when Mathieu Grébille scored off the inside of the post. The final attack yielded nothing and the two teams had to make do with a draw. Paris Saint-Germain Handball (like Barcelona), are now equal with Veszprém (beaten earlier in the day in Flensburg, 30-27) and two points off first place, occupied by Kielce (defeated in Porto, 29-27). See you in February when the group stage action continues!

Nedim Remili and Henrik Toft Hansen's reactions:

(Credits: A. Gadoffre/TeamPics/PSG)