To finish, finally, with the long litany of group matches which began in September, PSG Handball had a challenge to take on: secure their third place in Group A. Anecdotal?
No, not that much.
We knew it for a week and the defeat in Zagreb (28-26), Paris could no longer hold the first two places synonymous with direct qualification for the quarter-finals.
The French champions are obliged to go through a playoff, in other words a round of 16, to get there.
This will take place as a two-way match on March 27 and April 3.
It's longer and dangerous but there's no choice.
The formula at this stage is “simple”: the two Champions League groups cross paths.
The third-placed team on one side meets the sixth-placed team on the other;
the fourth plays against the fifth.
The 7th and 8th (Kolstad and Pelistar in group A) are eliminated.
This is the advantage of finishing third: it is the assurance of challenging the weakest team in the other group by promising a seemingly easier round.
Maintaining this precious third place was therefore the ambition of Paris on March 6.
Victory became all the more obligatory as an hour before kick-off in Coubertin, Kielce won.
A setback would have caused PSG to fall a level lower with the risk of facing Montpellier at the end of the month.
It didn’t happen but it wasn’t that easy, especially at first.
Was it fatigue as Paris played its 41st match of the season this Wednesday?
This PSG has not always been very lively in recent days.
A defeat in Croatia (28-26), a draw against Toulouse (29-29) in one week, that's called a slump.
It's logical at this time of the season, especially since it's also the time when the European champions suffer the repercussions of a victorious Euro.
This slump did not disappear at the start of the match.
Paris started its evening very badly, letting the Hungarians take off (5-9, 15th).
“It’s true that we had difficulty at the beginning,” concedes Luc Steins.
It's been several matches that we haven't been completely level.
We had to change things to make us better.
What we wanted was to save our third place and we succeeded.
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It was not until the end of the first half that Elohim Prandi finally reset the scorers (14-14, 28th) and Luka Karabatic's partners controlled the rest of the game.
The second period was clearer.
In front of 3,136 spectators, Szeged did not go the distance and Paris led the entire time to win 37-33.
Kamil Syprzak's 10 goals helped a lot.
“We are happy because we finished third, that’s the main thing,” analyzes coach Raul Gonzalez.
It was a complicated match but afterward, the boys played better and better.
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60': It's over at Coubertin!
After a successful second act, the 🔴🔵 won against Szeged and concluded their @ehfcl group stage with success!
#PSGSZE pic.twitter.com/gDYxvl6dse
— PSG Handball (@psghand) March 6, 2024
The fact remains that despite this success, PSG is hardly further advanced.
We do not yet know the name of his opponent in the playoff, in the round of 16.
The 14th and final day of the group continues this Thursday and we will know the final table at the end.
Two possibilities present themselves.
The most likely is that the Poles from Plock will show up in three weeks on the route to the Parisians.
Before its last match, Plock is sixth in group B. However, the Poles are playing against Porto (7th) which follows them by one point in the standings.
If the Portuguese win in Poland, and they need it to avoid being eliminated, they move back in front and become Paris's next rivals.
“Frankly,” continues Luc Steins, “the identity of our opponent is not important.
It doesn't matter who it will be.
All the teams are almost at the same level, it doesn't change anything to know that.
We'll take what we're given.
We still have many other matches to play between now and then, starting Saturday against Chambéry for example.
We will also go to Montpellier in the semi-final of the Coupe de France (March 20).
We have plenty of time before thinking about the next round.
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An observation echoed by Raul Gonzalez.
“We're not going to plan ahead,” says the coach, “because we don't know Plock or Porto and their qualities this season.
We will analyze them when necessary, let's wait until Thursday evening to find out who we will come up against.
We have no preference.
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If things go well, it will then be time to think about the quarter-finals where a very big player will inevitably appear.
It could be FC Barcelona.