Handball – European League (4th day): against Plock, Fenix Toulouse will have to tackle its defense
Winners in Irun last week (24-26), Toulouse will try to hook the Poles of Wisla Plock on Tuesday evening. On condition of regaining a defensive rigor that they had lacked in Poland.
Thanks to their victory in the Basque Country last week, on the ground of Irun (24-26), the Toulousains pocketed precious points in the race for qualification. If they negotiate well the future deadlines against Presov or Winterthur, the Fenix should logically rise in the quartet of group A called to qualify for the knockout stages of the European League.
But before measuring against the Slovaks and the Swiss, Danijel Andjelkovic’s men would have everything to gain from facing Wisla Plock tonight. “As long as we improve our defensive sector,” warns the Toulouse coach, scalded by the last outing of his troops in the league, last Saturday, against Limoges (27-27). “Our defense struggled to set up,” continues Andjelkovic, who remembers that when we went to Poland “we also had defensive problems.
The Toulouse 6-0 had indeed struggled to resist the inspirations of Zhitnikov (5 goals and 9 assists that day!) Or the assaults of wingers Daszek and Krajewski, both authors of a 100% ( 8/8 and 4/4 respectively). “We had managed to hold on to an alternative with a 5-1 but this system is very physically demanding and as we lack rotations on the back base and the matches are linked at the rate of two per week, it is not easy to solicit the players with this defense “, emphasizes Danijel Andjelkovic who hopes that his players will regain aggressiveness and efficiency in defense. Because the Wisla Plock, undefeated in the league and who lost for the first time at home against Berlin, last week (24-28), is not the type to let the opposing largesse pass …