A disappointing start to the Parisians' European campaign
Handball•
Stefan Madsen's men kicked off their 2025/26 EHF Champions League campaign against defending champions SC Magdeburg on Wednesday.
In the opening moments of the match, Paris stood up to their opponents. In fact, Les Rouge et Bleu did even better, quickly taking a two-goal lead. The man in form was Polish and stands over two metres tall... his name is Kamil Syprzak, and he scored four of Paris's first six goals (8': 4-6).
But Magdeburg also have experience in these major European competitions and looked to their fiery attack to first close the gap and then, thanks to some errors from the Parisians, pull ahead. With five minutes left in the first half, the Germans had carvd out a four-goal lead (25': 17-13).
The introduction of Noah Gaudin in place of Luc Steins and Wallem Peleka's move from wing to backcourt resulted in some fine goals, including the No. 66's first in the Champions League.
But on the scoreboard, the gap was only reduced by two goals. Worse still, before the break, Magdeburg regained their four-goal lead to return to the dressing room with a handy advantage (21-17).
Unfortunately, the second half did not see Paris stage a comeback. Although Les Rouge et Bleu started with the same intentions as in the opening minutes of the match, Magdeburg took less time to respond this time around.
Paris' deficit never fell below three points, despite some fine saves from Jannick Green. Worse still, it ended up increasing, and with 15 minutes to go, Magdeburg were seven points ahead (32-25).
Nevertheless, Paris made up some of the deficit in the final stretch, scoring four goals to their opponents' one. But they needed much more than that to really threaten the five-time Champions League winners.
Paris ended up losing 37-31, but MAdesen's men will have a chance to clinch their first European victory of the season at home next week. Until then, the team will have to travel again, this time to the south of France to face Saint-Raphaël in the Liqui Moly Starligue on Sunday at 16:00.
🎙️ Les réactions du coach et de Karl Konan après le revers face à Magdebourg. 💬#SCMPSG I #EHFCL pic.twitter.com/MI7fjiKXaV
— PSG Handball (@psghand) September 10, 2025