quarters objective for Paris SG and Montpellier in the Champions League
With a trip to Norway on Wednesday for some, to Portugal on Thursday for the others, the Parisian and Montpellier handball players are embarking on the first leg of the Champions League to open the way to the quarters.
Qualified for the C1 Final 4 four times in the last five seasons, PSG had a much more complicated course this year than in the past to make their way to Cologne and play in front of 19,000 spectators in mid-June.
From the first phase, the Parisians had to fight in an extremely strong group with FC Barcelona and Veszprem, present in Final 4 2021, and the Poles of Kielce, a growing force in the European hand.
Third place, two points behind Barcelona and Kielce, forced Raul Gonzalez’s men to go through a play-off against Elverum. But above all, in the event of qualification, in a quarter-final against Kiel, with a return match in northern Germany, on the ground of the quadruple European champions.
“We have passed the group stage and we are coming to matches where you have to concentrate, because they have quality. We will have to play a good match there, otherwise we could have problems”, warned l coach of PSG after the victory in Nancy, the 21st in as many matches in the league, where an eighth consecutive title is promised to the Parisians.
PSG has recovered full-back Elohim Prandi in its workforce, three months after being attacked with a knife on the night of December 31 to January 1 in a street in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.
But the Parisians will have to do without the services of Mikkel Hansen until the end of the season. The Dane, affected in the right knee, suffered from phlebitis coupled with a pulmonary embolism which will keep him away from the field for several months.
The Parisians will start as favorites in their double confrontation against Elverum, just like the Montpellier against Porto, the two French clubs will benefit from the home advantage in the second leg.
Patrice Canayer’s men regained their momentum in March, with three successes in the Starligue, the latest against rivals Nîmes, a “brilliant victory in the derby which rewards all our work for some time”, revealed the captain Valentine Door.