This Sunday, in 14th day of Liqui Moly StarLigue, HBC Nantes hosts PSG Handball, leader with 2 points more than their opponent.
And this penultimate day before the break could well be a first turning point of this season. “It’s a turning point in the sense that if we lose, we will no longer be masters of our destiny. It’s a big challenge but we also live for this kind of match in front of 10,000 people,” explains Thibaud Briet, who already feels fully focused on the fight that awaits him. Grégory Cojean knows that seeing Paris win on Sunday would already give the reigning French Champion a 4-point lead. “The season is still long but it is indeed an important moment in our quest for the championship. They haven't lost any points yet and a 15/15 at the halfway mark would put them on the right track.”
PSG has turned its back. Deprived of Prandi but also for a time of Steins and Syprzak, and sometimes of Palicka and Karabatic, the capital club is still 1is by Liqui Moly StarLigue, 2th of his group in the Champions League. In the absence of certain executives, others took the opportunity to express themselves fully. “Paris is in good shape, almost complete. Yahia gained more weight in the game, Steins came back very fit, Holm had more responsibilities. It's a very complete team, who build the ball very quickly, who score a lot. But we will do everything to limit their strengths and thwart their first game of the championship”analyzes the Nantes coach. “They are very strong, feed off opponents' ball losses, project themselves. We must respond with desire, aggression and commitment, as we always do”adds Thibaud Briet.
Against PSG, the “H” remains on 3 consecutive victories (at the Trophée des Champions at the end of August, in the Coupe de France final in mid-April and at the H Arena at the beginning of April), but for Grégory Cojean, this just means that “We have made progress. I'm not questioning our successes, but they are all different games, at different times of the season, with different squads. Each encounter has its own story. What is certain is that we are going to play a very big match, which I think will come down to details, and I hope that it will swing in our favor.” The speech is roughly similar on the side of Thibaud Briet who believes that these recent victories against Paris give just “a little confidence. By remaining humble, we know we can beat them. Now the counters are reset to 0. Place your bets.”
Grégory Cojean: “We are going to play a very big match, which I think will come down to details, and I hope that it will swing in our favor”
This Sunday, HBC Nantes would like to close its XXL Saga in the most beautiful way. “I hope that our public will still give us a lot of strength and energy as they always do because we will need it. It's up to us to put the right ingredients on the pitch to wrap up the match and take the supporters with us.”assures Grégory Cojean. Already winners of Magdeburg and Chambéry, Thibaud Briet and his teammates would very much like to make the 3/3 that comes “reward the work of the entire team and thank the supporters”. The left back of the “H” still seems as amazed as the first time to think that “Handball, Nantes is capable of bringing together more than 30,000 people in 10 days. It's huge, I love this fervor and so we obviously want to give it back to all these people who come to see us. I'm just happy to make a living from my sport in front of so many people. There, I want to play, to destroy everything.”
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