Paris (AFP)
Paris-Saint Germain suffered its first defeat of the season, all competitions, in the hall of Barcelona, 36 to 32, Saturday in the Champions League Handball.
The Parisians won their seven French Championship games and also won their first four European matches before moving to Catalonia.
Joined by Barça in the standings, they will leave the group's lead in Flensburg if the Germans win in Denmark against Aalborg on Sunday.
PSG had continued its winning streak despite the injury absences of its Scandinavians, the Norwegian Sander Sagosen and the Danes Mikkel Hansen and Henrik Toft Hansen, essential players, especially the first two.
But against the Catalan club and its four French internationals, Dika Mem, the most brilliant with 6 goals, Ludovic Fabregas, Timothey N'Guessan and Cédric Sorhaindo, the reserves were not enough.
The champions of France held the shock for twenty minutes, then the Barcelonans took off before the break (19-15) and have never been seen in a match at the summit that did not keep all its promises .
This result does not endanger the ambitions of PSG. Qualification for the finals is not in doubt and the first place in the group, which allows to qualify directly for the quarterfinals by "jumping" the eighth, remains accessible. Parisians know that this advantage is not a guarantee of success. In "pole position" the last two seasons, they have not yet managed to win the title.
Luka Karabatic was the most effective Parisian in attack with 8 goals, ahead of Poland's Kamil Syprzak (5 goals), a former Barça, Icelandic Gudjon Sigurdsson and Nedim Remili (4 each), but the southpaw shooting problems (4 out of 10).
PSG will continue its European campaign with a trip to Aalborg in Denmark, on November 2nd, after the international truce dedicated to the Golden League (also in Denmark).
© 2019 AFP