Because after the 30:30 draw in the first leg last week in the French capital, the “Zebras” would be satisfied with an “easy” victory on Thursday (8:45 p.m.). But captain Domagoj Duvnjak warned before the upcoming duel with the top club: “We’re only halftime, now it’s 0-0 again.”
Free weekend: THW was able to recharge its batteries
This time the game board plays along. Unlike last year, when the Bundesliga game against Balingen took place between the two international quarter-finals and THW then suffered a heavy defeat in Paris – it was also May 19th.
This time the team was able to take a weekend off and recharge their batteries. Upon request, the Bundesliga home game against bottom Lübbecke was postponed by two weeks to May 26th.
PSG comes with cup tailwind
The opponent, on the other hand, had to play, but defeated Toulouse with 39:32 on Saturday and made it into the final of the French Cup. “Of course we have the chance to win in Kiel too,” said PSG coach Raul Gonzales.
Except for the Danish backcourt star Mikkel Hansen (consequences of a pulmonary embolism), the guest probably has everyone on board. “I hope that we get our defensive problems solved, then everything is possible,” said PSG left-hander Nedim Remili, also optimistic.
Sagosen: “Our hall must become hell”
The Kielers can hope for the best line-up and build on the home advantage. Almost 10,000 spectators will stream into the arena. “Our hall has to become hell,” demanded backcourt ace Sander Sagosen, who played for Paris from 2017 to 2020. “It’s going to be a very close game in which we can sometimes be behind,” coach Filip Jicha expects with a test of patience. “It’s like a grand finale where we all have to give it our all.”
A look at the statistics shows that things can go wrong: Twice already, in 2015 and 2017 in the group phase, the Kiel team lost out to the PSG handball team on their home floor. However, left-hander Harald Reinkind promised: “We will give everything to get to Cologne.”