Paris Saint-Germain are entering the final stretch of their pre-season before returning to competitive action on 29 August, when they face Montpellier in the Trophée des Champions. Stefan Madsen's men built up their confidence in Japan with convincing wins over Zeekstar Tokyo (41-31) and the Japan U21 team (37-29) before stepping up the intensity in Germany for their second training camp.
Les Rouge et Bleu gave a good account of themselves in the HSG Premium Cup semi-finals, but ultimately tasted defeat against recent Champions League finalists Füchse Berlin (28-31). However, they responded well and came out on top in a high-scoring win over HSG Nordhorn (44-38). The team are finding their rhythm with each passing game and will have another opportunity to fine-tune their game during their final training camp in Denmark, with two more matches on the programme.
Danish league runners-up in 2025, Skjern endured a more difficult campaign the following season, finishing just fifth in the regular season before failing to qualify for the title play-offs in the second phase. The club has undergone major changes this summer, with the aim of returning to European competition and challenging for honours on the domestic front, where their last league title came in 2018.
Now coached by Oscar Carlén following the end of Kasper Søndergaard's tenure, Skjern have made several changes to their squad, notably bringing in former Parisian Jacob Holm. Unfortunately, the Danish club's marquee signing will not get to face his former teammates on the court, having suffered a hamstring injury in a friendly against Aalborg.
It will be the Danes’ fifth pre-season match of the summer and their first at home, and the Parisians will need to be wary of a team eager to claim the scalp of one of Europe’s heavyweights. Against Aalborg, a powerhouse of Danish handball whom the capital club will face on their return to competitive action in the EHF Champions League, Skjern produced a strong performance and came close to getting a result (28-31). Oscar Carlén’s men will be looking to go one better against the Parisians.
Stefan Madsen, meanwhile, will be able to call on an increasingly sharp squad, strengthened this summer by the arrivals of Bjarki Elisson, Frederik Ladefoged and Rodrigo Corrales. The latter, back at the club six years after his departure, has made a number of decisive interventions between the posts since the start of pre-season, while Elisson has finished as Paris’ top scorer in three of their four friendlies so far.
The match will take place at the Skjern Bank Arena in Skjern at 18:30 on Tuesday 18 August.
