A week after their record-breaking victory at Coubertin, Stefan Madsen’s men faced RK Celje once again, squaring off for their EHF Champions League Matchday 4 clash on Wednesday. This time, the Parisians travelled to Slovenia to play at the happy hunting ground of the Zlatorog Arena. Still unbeaten in Group C with two wins and a draw, Les Rouge et Bleu would officially qualify for the main round with a win!
Just like last week, this match got off to a fast-paced start, with both attacks proving highly effective in the opening minutes (4': 4-5). It wasn’t until the sixth minute that we saw the first save of the match, made by Mikkel Lovkvist. A few minutes later, our Danish goalkeeper saved another attempt from the opposition, making it 100th stops in the Champions League for Paris (10': 8-9). A quarter of the way through the match, Stefan Madsen’s men managed to open up a lead for the first time by converting a 14th shot from 15 attempts (15': 10–13).
It was a dominant display, characterised by well-executed attacks and a superb individual performance from Luka Karabatic, who was already making his best performance of the season across all competitions with three goals to his name. The home side’s first time-out did not really have the desired effect, as the Sloveniansremained at a loss as to how to deal with the devastating Elohim Prandi, who had scored five goals as half-time approached (25': 12-18). In complete control of the match, Les Rouge et Bleu went into the break with a comfortable lead (30': 22-14).
Right from the start of the second half, the Elohim Prandi show resumed with a quick-fire brace to take his tally to eight goals (34': 16-24). When it wasn’t Elo’, it was Sebastian who took over, and our Swede bagged three goals in the second half (40': 21-29). Imperious in attack, Paris were also outstanding in defence, as evidenced by Luc Steins’ splendid save at the buzzer at the end of the first half - as well as Karl Konan’s numerous blocks and interceptions. As the match entered its closing stages, the lead showed no sign of narrowing - quite the opposite, in fact.
Spurred on by an unstoppable Luka Karabatic (five goals), Les Rouge et Bleu extended their lead to ten and came close to matching the margin from the first leg (48': 24-34). The closing stages of the match were almost entirely about Kamil Syprzak, who found the net five times in the final quarter of an hour to take his tally to nine goals. Our Pole duly rounded off another masterclass by the Parisians in Slovenia, securing victory by an eleven-goal margin just as they did last week (60': 30-41). This victory, combined with Aalborg’s narrow win over Zagreb (34-33), secured the Paruisians' place in the main round.
Kamil Syprzak: Nine goals; Elohim Prandi: eight; Luka Karabatic: five; Bjarki Elisson, Yahia Omar and Sebastian Karlsson: four each; Noah Gaudin: three; Luc Steins: two; Mateo Maras and Ferran Solé: one each. Mikkel Lovkvist: six saves; Rodrigo Corrales: four.
In a moment of sheer brilliance, Kamil Syprzak stretches out to beat the Slovenian goalkeeper after being set up perfectly by Elohim Prandi!
Tonight, Stefan Madsen’s men began a long run of four consecutive away fixtures across all competitions. Following this latest fine victory on Slovenian soil, the capital club will head to Normandy on Saturday to take on promoted surprise packet Caen. Throw-off for this Starligue Matchday 7 clash is at 19:00, broadcast on beIN SPORTS 3.
