No need to try to get a place: the Auguste-Delaune gymnasium will be packed this Saturday.
Even the PSG Kop makes the trip.
And that's normal: it's not every day that US Ivry (14th in Starligue) welcomes (5 p.m.) a champion of France, a leader in addition.
The last time was a little over two years ago.
Sébastien Quintallet's men had suffered defeat (25-35), and for its part PSG had lost Nikola Karabatic for many months, victim of a cruciate ligament rupture in his knee.
Ivry then fell back to Proligue before coming back up this season.
The capital club has recovered its star triple Olympic champion and is full of success for its 9th national title.
D-8️⃣ before igniting Delaune 🆚 @psghand 🔥
🎟 Ticket office ➡ https://t.co/dpMXllt4O3#IVRYPSG #usivryhb pic.twitter.com/WDetm89jnF
— US Ivry Handball (@USIvryHB) November 25, 2022
“Niko's return to Delaune is a great pleasure, smiles Pascal Léandri, the director of the Ivry club.
This match is also for the public to be happy.
» The party before Christmas, what.
Of course, for it to be full, Little Thumb would have to eat the Ogre.
Not won.
Beyond the budgets (that of Paris is 5.6 times higher), which exactly reflect the ranking, the objectives between the two Ile-de-France clubs are absolutely not the same.
PSG plays on all fronts, including the Champions League.
His opponent just wants to stop yo-yoing with the lower rung.
No one is fooled: “We dream of victory but we have to be lucid, continues Léandri.
We know where our goal is.
For the moment it does not really work for us.
The team had good matches like Dunkirk, Cesson-Rennes, Montpellier, but they weren't rewarded with enough points.
We also have a few injuries, like many clubs at this time of year.
PSG arrives at the wrong time.
Having a good match and losing is still zero points.
»
This Saturday, Luc Steins and company will still be ahead in the standings.
In Ivry, we are mainly interested in what will happen before the log and the gifts under the tree: “We know where our objective is, warns the Val-de-Marnais director.
We have no pressure on the meeting this Saturday!
On the other hand, it should help us to prepare well for the next three, Aix, Saint-Raphaël, and Créteil, our only real derby if we take the true meaning of the word.
The fraternal meeting is taken.