We’re finally done with the group stage of the Handball Champions League. Started in September, it ends this Wednesday March 6 for PSG which hosts the Hungarians from Szeged (8:45 p.m., Pierre-de-Coubertin stadium, live on Eurosport). This last stage has a challenge for the French champions who are going through a strange slump.
PSG remains with a defeat in Zagreb (28-26) on the European scene and a draw against Toulouse (29-29). A series of poor performances unprecedented since the start of the season. Nothing to worry about, as long as it doesn’t last. “Before each meeting, our goal is victory. This will be the case against Szeged. We want to finish this group stage well at home in front of our home crowd against a very good team. You have to know how to bounce back after a defeat,” warns captain Luka Karabatic.
Against Szeged, Paris therefore has no right to lose and the challenge is simple: preserve third place in the group rankings. We already know that the first two are no longer accessible and that Paris can no longer qualify directly for the quarter-finals. At the end of March and beginning of April, a playoff – in other words a round of 16 – in a two-way match awaits him.
Why is it important to preserve this third place? To challenge an easier opponent in the next round, a rival from the bottom of the ranking of the other group. “We know that we can no longer finish in the top 2, now we have to consolidate our third place. Moreover, this last match is at home. We always want to get the two points when we play at home, it’s very important for us,” says right winger Ferran Sole
If the positions do not change at the end of this day, Paris (3rd) will face the sixth in group B, namely the Poles of Plock with a return match at home. This forecast is well within the reach of Parisians.
The quarter-final will be very complicated
Conversely, if PSG loses this Wednesday, it will probably lose this third place to Kielce. Finishing fourth means falling to fifth in group B: for the moment the Danes of GOG but possibly also Montpellier which travels to Barcelona at the same time. It can complicate things.
In the quarter-finals at the end of April and the beginning of May, heavy things are already promised to PSG. By not finishing in the first two places in the group stage, Paris will take the quarter without being protected. It will therefore fall on one of the two best teams in group B: the Germans of Magdeburg, reigning European champions, or the Hungarians of Veszprem who face each other this Wednesday in a decisive duel.
Or even worse, Barcelona which dreams of winning a 12th continental trophy. The return match will take place away, to make things a little more complicated. The quest for this Champions League is an obstacle course.
