Ortega: “We cannot afford to lose in Paris”

Same time, same place. Paris Saint-Germain coach Philippe Gardent hoped to travel somewhere he had never been to; instead the draw gave him the right to play against Veszprem again, at the same stage of the competition which his side were eliminated by the Hungarians last season (26:28, 26:31).

Both teams had a very different outcome during their past few months in the VELUX EHF Champions League. Veszprem finished top of their group, with comfortable wins against top teams like Rhein-Neckar Löwen and Vardar. PSG, on the other hand, reached second place of Group A with four losses, including two against THW Kiel.

Furthermore, while Veszprem quite easily defeated Spanish side Naturhouse La Rioja in the Last 16, PSG struggled against compatriots Dunkerque, only progressing by three goals on aggregate. Since then, Veszprem won the SEHA League, beating Vardar Skopje and Meshkov Brest amongst others, while PSG struggled against Aix in the French league, only winning thanks to a last second Mikkel Hansen goal.

That is not to say that Veszprem are firm favourites, however. The Hungarians have been bothered by other French team Montpellier AHB earlier this season, and Philippe Gardent certainly thinks there might be room for surprise.

“I think last year what cost us our qualification was our defeat at home. We've got a better team this season, they have as well, so this confrontation will show which team has made the most progress,” the French coach says. With the addition of Thierry Omeyer between the posts, who used to play and win against Veszprem every season with THW Kiel, they are certainly in with a shout.

Antonio Carlos Ortega, on the other hand, approaches this double-header with a lot of hunger: “We've had our share of top teams in the first round, and we had to stay focused in order to make it to this stage of competition. We know it's very hard to beat us in our arena, but we cannot afford to lose at PSG in order not to give them any confidence."