Paris Saint-Germain Handball clinched their ninth French championship title in a row, and the tenth in their history, thanks to their victory against Nantes (35-32), Friday June 2 at home during the penultimate day. of Star League.
The Parisians (52 points), crowned continuously since 2015 and also in 2013, cannot be joined by the Nantes (48 points) and Montpellier (48 points, one game less but ahead of the particular difference).
They can devote themselves fully to the Final Four of the Champions League, in two weeks in Cologne, where they will aim for a first continental crown.
They now have ten in France after their success at Coubertin, pushed by ultras from football. Who belched, like the whole room, when Andreas Palicka, entering the goal at half-time, stopped a penalty from Nantes captain Valero Rivera on an equalizing ball from the “H” (32-31) at 2 min 15 sec from the end. In the process, the Latvian giant Dainis Kristopans, the man at the end of the match with the Swedish international goalkeeper, gave PSG a two-step lead (33-31).
Tough game
Nantes’ chances of winning the first league title in its history, which went through a success by two goals or one goal but by registering at least 34, definitely flew away 1 min 10 sec from the siren when Kauldi Ordiozola left his teammates, then back to a length (33-32), one less until the end of the match after a foul.
Paris won with forceps and at the end of the suspense a tough match, marked by numerous temporary exclusions and a few clashes, like this head to head between Thibaud Briet and Kamil Syprzak in the last minutes.
The Nantes people fought until the end after recovering in five minutes after returning from the locker room, thanks in particular to a timely change of goalkeeper (Viktor Hallgrimsson in place of Ivan Pesic), the three goals behind conceded at mid- time (16-19).
Paris remains the boss at home after a season where its national supremacy has never been so contested, a year after a perfect season and 30 wins in thirty games, a first. The team lost two of its best players last summer, Mikkel Hansen and Nedim Remili (in addition to Benoît Kounkoud), and was deprived for more than half of the season of Nikola Karabatic, injured since the start of the season. year and whose season ended.