Pick Szeged fought hard but Paris Saint-Germain managed to win the away game with a small margin. The other French team in Thursday action, HBC Nantes has to deal with a three-goal deficit against Wisla Plock in the return game.
PSG put their mark in the second half and ran away from 19–20 to 23–20. Still, Pick Szeged could hang on with Lazar Kukic´s reliable performance in the attacking line and relevant saves by Tobias Thulin.
Kamil Syprzak was always a threat having received the ball in pivot position for PSG, while Yahia Omar and Elohim Prandi provided good back court options. Ferran Sole´s last minute goal gave PSG enough space to win the game and focus on the tight standing going into next week’s action.
Wisla Plock diminished Nantes with 22-16 and 15 minutes to go. But the guests pushed hard towards the end when wing openings for Julien Bos and Leopold Noam closed some of the gap.
– We presented ourselves very well in the first half and made some changes in the second half. At the moment we have an advantage of three hits and we are going there fully motivated to win, said Plock´s coach Xavi Sabate to eurohandball.com.
The most prominent player in the winning team. Przemyslaw Krajewski scored eight times on eight attempts.
Champions League, play-off
Pick Szeged–Paris Saint-Germain 30–31 (13–14)
Wisla Plock–HBC Nantes 28–25 (17–12)