Proven success for PSG in Romania. Facing sixth in their Champions League pool, Raul Gonzalez’s players won against Bucharest, who erased the lesson inflicted in the first leg. In the standings, they return to 2nd place in contact with Barcelona, who could not play this Thursday against the Ukrainians of Motor Zaporozhye, an opponent that the Parisians should have met two days ago.
What you must remember
Intractable in the league (18 wins in 18 matches), the Parisians have found their cruising speed on the European scene, as evidenced by their previous success against the Germans of Flensburg (33-30). Still it was necessary not to miss facing Bucharest, whose master to play is Cédric Sorhaindo, an old acquaintance of Paris Handball and several Parisian players of the France team.
In the first leg, the champions of France had atomized their opponents at Coubertin (41-30). The scenario is different this time. The Romanian champion hangs on and intends to create a surprise (13-13, 20th). Mikkel Hansen then takes care of giving his team a four-goal lead on returning to the locker room (16-20). Paris then manages the last thirty minutes and Gonzalez rotates.
Player: Nedim Remili
After several months of absence, the right-back of PSG and the gold medal-winning French team in Tokyo has made a comeback on the rectangle. Severely injured during training with his club just before Christmas, the former Créteil player scored 3 goals. Very good news as the Parisians will continue with Chambéry, Veszprém, and Nantes in the next ten days.
The number: 1
Or the number of defeats for PSG in its last 19 meetings, in all competitions. It was December 18, in the final of the League Cup against Chambéry (28-29). In the Champions League, you have to go back to October 27 to see Nikola Karabatic and his comrades bite the pavement, in Kielce (33-38). The Poles, more serious opponents of the group with the great Barça, lost (33-35) this Thursday at the Hungarians of Veszprém where Kentin Mahé evolves but keep two points ahead of their pursuers.