After suffering a surprise 33:35 defeat yesterday against Aalborg in the semi-final, Paris Saint-Germain managed to gather their thoughts in order to come out fighting this afternoon.

Cyril Dumoulin, Nantes’ goalkeeper, saved 20 goals, delivering the best goalkeeper performance of the weekend so far, but that was not enough for the 2018 EHF Champions League finalists to take the third place.

3/4 PLACEMENT MATCH
HBC Nantes (FRA) vs Paris Saint-Germain HB (FRA) 28:31 (13:17)

• despite Cyril Dumoulin recording 14 saves in the first half alone, the same number as Emil Nielsen in the whole game yesterday, Nantes trailed on the scoreboard by four at half-time
• thanks to Vincent Gérard making some crucial saves in the second part of the first half, PSG found some easy opportunities to score, converted by wingers Benoit Kounkoud and Ferran Sole
• Nantes fought back in the second half, counting again on Dumoulin, and Kiril Lazarov equalised at 24:24 in the 48th minute
• however, a timeout by Raul Gonzalez, and the arrival on the court of Dylan Nahi and Luc Steins, made things turn around again for Paris
• two players scored five goals this afternoon: Nantes’ Aymeric Minne and Paris’ Ferran Sole

Paris finish third, again

For the fourth time in five visits in Cologne, Paris Saint-Germain played the 3/4 placement match. And for the fourth time, the French side took third place.

Thanks to their experience, highlighted by Vincent Gerard and an impressive Benoit Kounkoud, the Paris players managed to gather their thoughts after their defeat in the semi-final. Despite a strong start from Nantes and Dumoulin’s performance, the Paris team clearly showed their experience to deliver the win.