Selestat - Paris: The Preview
Handball•
Paris Saint-Germain Handball travel to Sélestat for their Liqui Moly StarLigue Matchday 27 fixture on Sunday 10 May (17:00). A crucial match in their quest for another French league title...
The home stretch of this Liqui Moly StarLigue season is proving more unpredictable than ever, with two teams, Paris and Nantes, determined not to drop any points. Les Rouge et Bleu hold only a narrow two-point lead, but further demonstrated their firepower against Chartres last weekend, securing their biggest win of the season (40-20).
Meanwhile, Nantes also secured a spectacular victory, trouncing Chambéry (42-32). Gregory Cojean’s men have not had their final say in the title race, with their sights set on the top-of-the-table clash at the AccorArena on 27 May, which could well decide the outcome of this thrilling end to the season. Before that, the capital club has a tricky away match to navigate at Sélestat, a side locked in an equally fierce battle to avoid relegation.
After a dreadful run of nine consecutive defeats, which severely dented their chances of survival, Sélestat turned their season around last weekend with a hard-fought victory over Nîmes (33-28). In a particularly close match, Laurent Busselier’s men gave themselves a glimmer of hope by climbing out of the relegation zone to 12th place. However, they are just one point clear of Dijon in the drop zone.
The Alsatians are in desperate need of points, and hosting Paris Saint-Germain presents a formidable hurdle to overcome. The capital club should remain cautious, however, as Sélestat have made a habit of turning in their best performances against the big teams this season, narrowly missing out on a draw against Nantes in early April (32-33). Facing a team with home advantage and their sights set on survival, the Parisians will need to be extra vigilant, as every victory is now essential in the title race.
Sélestat are determined to make the most of their opportunity, especially as they have plenty to offer going forward. With the tenth-best attack in the league, the Alsatian club know how to score, even though they have recently lost star striker Tom Vinatier to injury. To replace him, they have brought in Serbian Aleksander Spende, who scored three goals in the victory over Nîmes, as a medical replacement.
Paris, who boast the league’s best defence, will need to produce a performance similar to the one in the reverse fixture at Coubertin, where their opponents quickly fell behind by a margin that proved too difficult to overcome (36-28). Les Rouge et Bleu can also count on a Mikkel Lovkvist in top form, the Dane having produced his best performance of the season against Chartres with no fewer than 20 saves at a 65% clip - a personal best since arriving at the club.
Sélestat’s rivals in the relegation battle will all be in action ahead of the Alsatians' clash with Paris. On Thursday 7 May, there will be a particularly tense clash between 13th-placed Dunkerque and bottom-of-the-table Istres, which could shake things up at the bottom. Following their heavy defeat in the capital, Chartres will look to bounce back against another top-of-the-table side, Limoges, on Friday 8 May (20:00), while Saint-Raphaël and Toulouse will face off to keep their European qualification hopes alive.
On Saturday 9 May, Nantes will have the chance to put pressure on the Parisians when they host another low-ranked side in the form of relegation-threatened Dijon. A win would see The H draw provisionally level on points with Stefan Madsen’s men, whose trip to Sélestat will bring Matchday 27 to a close.
