Handball – European League (3rd day): Irun, land of flight for Fenix Toulouse?
Beaten in their first two games, Toulouse hope to “get started” by bringing something back from the Basque Country.
After Berlin (30-32) and Plock (29-33), Toulouse are expected in Irun this evening (8:45 pm) to continue their European campaign there. In the lair of this historic club, winner of the Champions League in 1995, the teammates of Pierrick Chelle hope “to start taking points to launch our competition” summarizes the Toulouse captain. In a pool that they also share with the Russians from Presov and the Swiss from Winterthur, the goal is to finish in the top four to see the round of 16 next spring.
“We knew it would be complex with three trips to start but our first two outings are rather encouraging,” said Chelle. In Germany as in Poland, the Toulouse have indeed led in the score in the last ten minutes, without forgetting that they also remain on two good performances away in the league, in Nîmes (29-28) and in Cesson (27 -27).
“An opposition of style”
In a very hot room, which Fenix knows for having won this summer in a friendly match, Danijel Andjelkovic’s men will face them a team with a very atypical game, more marked by spaces than by duels. “A style opposition” warns Chelle who recalls that “since our little crisis in September (3 consecutive defeats in the league, Editor’s note), all the content has been relatively good” despite repeated absences on the rear base (Marmier, Abdi, Vieira ). To get back into the race for qualification, the Basque Country will not return empty-handed would therefore be “a great operation” before continuing with the reception of Plock next Tuesday, and especially the double confrontation against Presov the following two weeks. “We respect this team but it’s at our level” conclusion, full of ambition, the locker of the Toulouse locker room.