If we recognize a big poster by the deafening noise of the supporters, by the fervor of the Ultras who came in even greater numbers than usual in a room full to bursting... If we judge the importance of a match by the prestige of the grandstand filled this Wednesday evening by the presence of Evan Fournier, the basketball player of the New York Knicks, Kristina Mladenovic who came with her family of handball players or even Pascal Obispo, a regular at the place... If we think that, to make a great match, you need a great opponent, in this case the Germans of Kiel, quadruple European champions (2007, 2010, 2012, 2020) and quadruple finalist... If all this comes together, we can be sure of living a privileged moment at the Pierre-de-Coubertin stadium.
The first act of this double confrontation is over!
The two teams left with this draw at the end of a very tight match.
If the Parisians did not manage to win, they did not mortgage their chance of qualifying for the #EHFFinal4 pic.twitter.com/plpZgTaIjf
– PSG Handball (@psghand) May 11, 2022
What happened
A year after their duel at this same level which had seen Paris win (29-31 on the way to Germany; 34-28 on the return trip to Coubertin), PSG and Kiel therefore met for the first leg of the quarter Champions League final.
Before the return match scheduled for May 19, the stakes were already high.
And Paris, clumsy in shooting and stuck by the power of the German wall, got off to a disastrous start (2-6, 9th).
Giving confidence to a revanchist machine, run in like that of Kiel driven by the Norwegian elf and former Parisian Sander Sagosen was not a good idea.
The Parisians took time and energy to try to make up for this delay.
The bitter fight, of a maddening intensity and very physical remained undecided.
The French champions came back (10-11, 20th) then equalized for the first time (11-11, 21st).
But at the break, Kiel still had a two-goal lead (14-16).
This lead quickly increased (14-18, 52nd).
Once again, the Parisians had to run after the score.
It took strength and courage from them (19-20, 40th, 21-21, 45th; 25-25, 50th).
They lacked neither one nor the other to preserve their chances intact before the return match.
Even if they didn't win, nothing is lost.
Player: Luc Steins
In such a duel, where it was necessary to find the collective resources to get out of it cheaply, difficult to release a single player.
On the Kiel side, Sander Sagosen, the former PSG (2017-2020) was a real poison.
In Paris, Nikola Karabatic did not spare his efforts nor the blows received;
Nedim Remili was indispensable in the commitment;
Vincent Gérard kept his cage with conviction in front of the German balls;
Kamil Syprzak was invaluable in shooting but it took a moped to put Paris back on the right track.
At PSG, this racing car mounted on springs is Dutch and is called Luc Steins.
The pocket center half sounded the revolt with his flights.
Kiel understood that he was the key by defending the second half man to man on him.
The accident
Scheduled at 8:45 p.m., the match started fifteen minutes late: “A few minutes before the kick-off of the match, a person accidentally fell from the stand onto two photographers placed in the back-goal.
The three injured were immediately taken care of by the club's medical staff as well as the team of doctors in charge of the health surveillance of the competition, before being evacuated to the nearest hospital to carry out a complete assessment. .
Their vital prognosis is not engaged,” the club said in a press release during the evening.
The number: 0
The gap between the two rivals at the end of the first round.
The counters are reset to zero.
The return match in the boiling Wunderino Arena on Thursday May 19 and in front of its 14,000 white-hot fans will be terrible.
At its conclusion, one of the best teams in the world will leave the Champions League.
