Finally! T he far too long group phase of the Champions League, which started in September 2019, is coming to an end. The fourteenth and final day is played this weekend. PSG welcomes Zagreb this Sunday at 5 p.m. at the Pierre-de-Coubertin stadium. The serious things can then start with the 8 th finals scheduled in the second half of March.
The game
To end this marathon started on September 14 in the Croatian capital, PSG receives Zagreb. The Parisians are advancing towards this last meeting with the counter thirteen games already played and a largely positive record of 10 victories for 3 defeats including two conceded against only FC Barcelona. At home, for the moment, only the Catalan club has managed to bring down the likely future champions of France.
The Rouge et Bleu welcome @RKZagreb Sunday! More info on this #PSGZAG here 👉 https://t.co/q5xAm1zjgd @ehfcl pic.twitter.com/gOq0i1r7K4
- PSG Handball (@psghand) February 29, 2020The opponent
Seventh in Group A, Zagreb should not be a problem. In the first leg, the match proved easy for the Parisians 37-29 winners. At the time, it is true, they were still fresh. Be careful though: Zagreb comes to Paris to seek its qualification for the Top 16. In the event of a victory, Zagreb will participate in the 8th finals.
The challenge
Paris must also win because casually, this match is not friendly either for the band of Nikola Karabatic. They must prevail to secure second place in the group. They can no longer win first place, synonymous with direct qualification for the quarterfinals of the competition, because Barça is out of reach. On the other hand, it is a question of keeping the dolphin chair to ensure a more lenient draw in the 8th final. In the event of a defeat, the Parisians could fall back to third place.