The Debrief: Paris - Szeged
Handball•
On Thursday evening, Stefan Madsen's men beat Szeged at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin on EHF Champions League Matchday 12. If you missed the capital club's latest victory, here's your chance to catch up.
2026 got off to the best possible start for Les Rouge et Bleu, who had a perfect February across all competitions. Five matches, three different competitions, five victories. After Saran in the Coupe de France (25-30), as well as Dunkerque (25-29) and Aix (32-28) in the league, Stefan Madsen's men took their form to the continent in the Champions League. First in Croatia, with a commanding victory away to Zagreb (24-35), then against Szeged in a thrilling atmosphere at Coubertin (29-28). A far from insignificant result...
Our Parisians have officially secured their place in the EHF Champions League play-offs thanks to this last-minute victory. As was the case in the reverse fixture, the Hungarians gave the capital club a tough time despite the Parisians' excellent start to the match. Taking a four-goal lead early on (5': 5-1), Paris laid bare their ambition to win in style and overtake their opponents in the standings. To do so, they needed to win by at least three goals. This proved to be a difficult task from the outset, especially as, as in the first leg, the Hungarians capitalised on every Parisian mistake to make the difference. Just after the quarter-hour mark, Szeged scored seven goals to their hosts' one, which saw the visitors take the lead (25': 12-15).
Fortunately, Paris showed great spirit and refused to be left in the dust. As the minutes ticked by, Stefan Madsen's men managed to resurface and rediscover their best form to turn the situation around and win at the death. Although the Hungarians remain ahead on goal difference, there are still two games left to make the difference and secure fourth place, which would mean a return leg at Coubertin in the play-offs.
In Kamil Syprzak's absence, Paris struggled greatly at the start of the season. Returning from injury just before the international break, our pivot made his return in the top flight at the beginning of February. And he needed no time to get back to his best: with seven goals against Zagreb and Szeged, Kamil has already made a big impression and will undoubtedly be an asset in the second half of the season.
Elohim, meanwhile, continues his excellent Champions League campaign. Top scorer against Szeged on Thursday with eight goals, he is second in the scoring standings (91 goals), behind only Mathias Gidsel (101 goals). These statistics give cause for hope as we enter the final sprint of the season.
