Close to three months after their last official match, which was marked by celebrations of a 12th French championship title won, at the expense of Nantes, our Rouge et Bleu were finally back and ready to write a new page in their history. Having arrived this summer on the bench of the capital club, Stefan Madsen was preparing for his first official match as coach of Paris Saint-Germain Handball. Our new boss faced a tough challenge in his competitive debut: a clash against Montpellier in the Trophée des Champions.
In an Arena Futuroscope that was packed out for this season opener, both teams started at a fast pace. Despite Jannick Green making two early saves, MHB stayed in touch thanks to three goals from a familiar face for Rouge et Bleu fans: David Balaguer (5': 3-3). However, the right winger was not the only one on the court to pose his former team problems - for Paris, Karl Konan showed no mercy against his former teammates (8': 4-3).
While the new recruits put on a show in the first quarter of an hour, the senior players also played their part. True to form, Kamil Syprzak - clearly having lost none of his cutting edge - hit three early goals (14': 6-6). As we moved into the second half of the first period, both teams picked up the pace and made no secret of their desire to open up an early lead to put the pressure on their opponents.
In this match, it was the south-westerners who were first to get their noses in front. Erick Mathé's team, sharper and more aggressive, put four unanswered goals past Les Rouge et Bleu (23': 9-13). Stefan Madsen immediately decided to stop the game to make his first tactical adjustments. The Danish coach's intervention had an immediate effect, with Ferran Solé, Luc Steins and Noah Gaudin all hitting the target to put Paris back on track. However, MHB managed to find the resources to extend their lead before the break (30': 13-16).
The second half saw no let-up in the pace from Montpellier, who pushed Les Rouge et Bleu to their limits. Although Sebastian Karlsson opened his goal account against his former club, the Parisians lacked cutting edge in attack, unlike their opponents (35': 14-19).
The task became even more difficult after Luka Karabatic was sent off for a third personal foul (39': 16-21). However, the capital club did not give up. As the minutes ticked by, they showed greater defensive solidity, but struggled to find a way past the Montpellier defence (43': 19-22). Stefan Madsen therefore decided to call another timeout as the last quarter of an hour approached.
The Parisians' intentions were good, but Charles Bolzinger proved ruthless as he made his 13th save, maintaining a significant lead as the minutes ticked away in the final stages (53': 20-25). Lacking creativity and efficiency in front of goal, Paris failed to turn the situation around and lost to a worthy Montpellier side in the Trophée des Champions (60': 23-29).
Paris s’incline dans ce Trophée des Champions 2025. pic.twitter.com/pqshDAzwXa
— PSG Handball (@psghand) August 30, 2025
Paris Saint-Germain Handball will return to their home crowd next Saturday when they host Dunkerque. Throw-off for this opening-day Liqui Moly StarLigue fixture is at 20:00.
