The final sprint is on! With five rounds to go in this Liqui Moly StarLigue campaign, suspense still reigns in the battle for the title. Still unbeaten, Paris and Nantes are locked in a tense battle before facing off on Matchday 28 for what is likely to effectively be the championship final at the AccorArena on 27 May. Before then, Stefan Madsen's men have to take it one game at a time. That started on Friday evening with a trip to Brittany to take on Cesson-Rennes at the Glaz Arena.
However, Sébastien Leriche's men had earned a reputation for tripping up bigger teams in recent weeks. In 2026, the Bretons have transformed the Glaz Arena into a veritable fortress, with wins over Toulouse (34-26) and Chambéry (35-31). Paris were warned, but Les Rouge et Bleu are used to being under pressure.
The capital club got off to a perfect start, with Elohim Prandi and Luc Steins breaking the deadlock early on. However, Cesson-Rennes soon found their rhythm and gave the Parisians a tough time (7': 6-4). However, Stefan Madsen's players showed great drive and the whole squad that made the effort to push forward. Mathieu Grébille, Mateo Maras and Luka Karabatic twice gave the capital club the lead as the first quarter drew to a close (14': 8-10).
Jannick Green then imposed himself by saving Xavier Labigang's seven-metre throw, while Mikkel Lovkvist continued his excellent form by making four saves after twenty minutes, forcing the home side into their first time-out (23': 12-15). As the minutes ticked by, Paris' domination became more and more tangible - thanks mainly to one man: Luc Steins. Involved in 13 of Les Rouge et Bleu's 21 first-half goals ( three goals, ten assists), the Dutch international led the way to help Les Rouge et Bleu to a four0goal lead as the match reached its half-way point (30': 17-21).
However, when the second half began, Paris found themselves up against a particularly compact defence, while the Bretons' attacking sector managed to find space to make up for lost time. With a numerical advantage, Les Irréductibles even managed to get back on level terms, promising a thrilling end to the match (38': 22-22). But this low point did nothing to discourage the Parisians, who redoubled their efforts to regain control of the match. As the final quarter-hour approached, the capital club managed to restore their three-goal lead thanks to a brace from Elohim, followed by another from Kamil Syprzak (45': 24-27).
In defence, Jannick Green continued his masterful display, saving another seven-metre throw before turning away attempts by Egon Hanusz and Xavier Labigang (50': 24-30). Despite the sizeable gap on the scoreboard, the home side were far from finished - and proved it with another burst of acceleration in the final ten minutes to come back to within two points of the Parisians (57': 29-31). But Stefan Madsen's men held firm to clinch a steely victory in Brittany (60': 31-34).
Kamil Syprzak: seven goals, Ferran Solé: six, Elohim Prandi: five, Luc Steins, Yahia Omar: four, Luka Karabatic: three, Simen Lyse: two, Mathieu Grébille, Sebastian Karlsson, Mateo Maras: one, Jannick Green: seven saves, Mikkel Lovkvist: six saves.
Having negotiated their third consecutive away game to perfection, the capital club return to the Stade Pierre de Coubertin when they take on Chartres on Sunday 3 May at 17:00. It's a fixture not to be missed, as it will be the penultimate meeting at Coubertin this season due to the relocation of the clash with Nantes to the AccorArena on 27 May. Les Rouge et Bleu will then return to Coubertin a month later, on Saturday 6 June, when they take on Tremblay in the final match of the season.
