Masterfully, Nantes crushed Paris SG (31-23) on Saturday in the final of the Coupe de France at Paris-Bercy and won the trophy for the third time. Title holders after their final won against Montpellier last year (39-33), the H this time taught a lesson to the Parisian leaders of the championship, very worrying five days before their quarter-final first leg of the Champions League against Barcelona Thursday (8:45 p.m.) in Coubertin.
To the slap, reminiscent of their sinking against Montpellier (33-20) in the semi-final last year, is added the concern surrounding Elohim Prandi. The “Bison”, savior of the Blues in the semi-final of the Euro against Sweden and number 1 offensive weapon of the Parisians, only played a handful of seconds after returning from the locker room before leaving injured with knee complaints. left after an impact. Previously, the left-back, like the other detonator of the Luc Steins attack, had been extinguished by the hyperactive Nantes players. Without it being better in defense for Nikola Karabatic’s gang, who will not win their last Coupe de France final before his retirement at the end of the season.
The capital club had conceded 19 goals after the break. His pair of goalkeepers displayed much less success than their Nantes counterpart Ivan Pesic. The only good news in this sector is that the Rouge et Bleu have recorded the return of Swedish goalkeeper Andreas Palicka. Injured since the first leg of the Champions League play-off against the Poles of Plock, he had missed the last five matches of the Parisians. Back at 7-7, PSG seemed to have erased its false start (5-0) before diving back even further (19-13, half-time).
A shipwreck at the worst time as the turning point of their season against Barça approaches. Or perhaps it was the prospect of this turning point that distracted Parisians? The fact is that Nantes, which faces Füchse Berlin on Tuesday (8:45 p.m.) at the same stadium in the European League (C2), left a much better impression. The second in a row against PSG, who suffered the law of H at home in Starligue (32-30) and their first setback of the season in the league two weeks earlier. In four confrontations against the Parisians this season, Grégory Cojean’s team has won half of them.