The fate of PSG was settled even before the kick-off of the last group match of the Champions League this Thursday evening against the Hungarians of Veszprem. Paris will have to go through the dam, in other words a two-way duel equivalent to an eighth final, to continue its journey.
Handicapped by a complicated start to the campaign, PSG finished third in Group B, beaten for the first two places in goal average. The problem is that only the first two, the Poles of Kielce and the Spaniards of Barcelona, are qualified directly for the quarter-finals. In the other group, the two qualified for the quarterfinals are the Danes of Aalborg and the Germans of Kiel.
If Paris knew its fate before kick-off, it was because it hoped for a defeat of Barça an hour earlier against the Germans of Flensburg which did not come. Obviously, the European champions did not lose. They even won pretty well 29-22 and secured their place in the quarter. Like the day before, Kielce had also beaten Bucharest, the first two places became mathematically inaccessible to Parisians. Faced with the Hungarian club of French Kentin Mahé, Paris therefore had nothing to seek or even nothing to defend. There was no more risk of leaving this third place. Veszprem, certain of finishing fourth, had nothing more to play for.
And now ? Well then, PSG will have to play at the end of March and the beginning of April, the knockout stages of the Champions League. Paris will cross with the team ranked sixth in group A. It will be the Norwegians of Elverum, the former club of Luc Abalo last season. The first leg will take place in Scandinavia on March 30 or 31 and the return to Coubertin on April 6 or 7. The task of the champions of France will not be insurmountable at all. A year ago, during the last confrontation between the two teams, Paris had crunched the Norwegian omelet 44-29. The biggest annoyance of this extra round is a new accumulation of matches in an insane schedule with the risk of injury that goes with it. The other French club, Montpellier, will also go through these round of 16 and will face Porto.
Once the obstacle of the dams has been successfully swallowed, it is to be hoped, PSG will play the quarter-finals in mid-May before the possible Final Four in Cologne in mid-June. Until then, he will be able to devote himself quietly to the conquest of a new title of champion of France which is reaching out to him more than ever.
And the game by the way? Without stake therefore, he just entertained the Coubertin public and its 2,808 spectators who saw two European giants evolve and found the former Parisian goalkeeper Rodrigo Corrales. The duel was close and undecided until the last second, Veszprem joined the locker room at the break with a goal lead (19-20). The second period was of the same ilk, the Hungarians being more often in front before everything ended with a goal at the last second of the match 39-40 for a Hungarian victory in a match which offered 79 goals in the evening. “We made a lot of mistakes which did not allow us to win this match which was very hard and very intense” regrets the Parisian coach Raul Gonzalez. “There was a lot of intensity on both sides, confirms Luka Karabatic. Both teams fought until the end now, we’ll focus on what’s next. »