This season, there are two more French clubs in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. On Thursday, Paris-SG logically eliminated Elverum (37-30, 30-30 first leg) and joined Montpellier, which defeated Porto on Wednesday (35-27, 29-29 first leg). Like the MHB, the team from the capital very quickly made people forget their failed end to the first leg (they had five goals up, 22-17) and won for the most part.
Between 11 and 19 May, PSG will face the Germans of Kiel (qualified directly thanks to their 2nd place in Group A of the first stage), whom they eliminated last year in the same stage (29-31, 34-28), a duel that promises to be explosive. to be between two of the favorites for the overall victory. It is the eighth time in a row since 2014 that Paris has reached the quarter-finals (the 8th and quarter-finals were canceled in 2020 due to Covid-19).
Kounkou brilliant in attack and defense
Despite several major absences (Mikkel Hansen and Nedim Remili forfeited, Vincent Gérard and Henrik Toft Hansen stayed on the bench for most of the game as a precaution), the French champions eliminated Elverum in the first period (20-14 at half time) .
The “1-5” defense with Benoît Kounkou in the foreground disturbed the Norwegians much, as did Eric Johansson, much less in sight than last week (barely 3/9 in firing), and the pivots were reduced to bread-dry. Only Stig-Tore Moen managed to set his sights (10 goals). But the offensive impact of Luc Steins (4/4 shooting, 7 assists) and finally Dainis Kritopans (7/10, 4 pd) made the difference for PSG.
Under the eyes of Luc Abalo, the former of the two clubs who returned to the Paris region after the end of his season in Japan, Coubertin and the Ultras were able to celebrate the entire second period.
“We had two difficult games, but we kept our faith. appreciated Benoît Kounkou, also brilliant against the opposing team’s goal with 6 goals, most of them on counter-attack. We had to prepare well because we had problems with the defense in the first leg and we showed that tonight. Of course we would like to move on to the next round, but it’s not over yet, we want more. †
“We fought with everything we had and we made a lot of progress compared to last season, but in the end Paris showed that they are a top team, their victory is deserved”greeted Borge Lund, the Norwegian coach.
In the other game of the evening, Flensburg, narrowly defeated in Szeged (36-35), won their ticket thanks to their clear success in the first leg (25-21). The German club will face defending champions Barcelona (directly qualified) in the quarterfinals and his four Blues, Ludovic Fabregas, Dika Mem, Timothy N’Guessan and Melvyn Richardson.
