Facing Granollers on Tuesday November 26 (8:45 p.m. at FDI Stadium), Montpellier wants to stock up on points for the last day of the first phase of the European League.
By winning against Granollers, for the last day of this first phase, the MHB would finish undefeated, but beyond that, would deprive its opponent of the day of precious points for the second phase. “We need to stock up on points and have four points in the second round and already put Granollers at zero points, it’s a considerable advantage over them before going to the second round. It’s anything but an anecdotal match”insists Erick Mathé, the Hérault coach.
Jostled in the first leg despite the victory (24-28) in Catalonia, Montpellier ended up finding the solution, as it did in similar conditions in Dunkirk last Saturday (22-24 victory). “This first leg is a lot like the match we just experienced in Dunkirk, namely by not playing that badly, defending well, but having difficulty achieving our rise to the ball and also putting ourselves in difficulty facing their guardians, Mathé analysis. The idea is to be able to deploy our game a little more and to be as solid on defensive withdrawals because they score a lot of goals. They almost score one goal in two of their goals, if we are in the big space.”
Yanis Lenne operational
He will be able to count on the return of Yanis Lenne, whose suspension does not apply to Europe. And on Ahmed Hesham who took the keys to the attack.
The group
Bolzinger, Desbonnet. Karlsson, Simonet, Cikusa, Hesham, Fernandez, Arthur Lenne, Yanis Lenne, Prat, Konan, Monte, (cap.) Porte, Nacinovic, Guigon, Caille.
“We still have quite a few resources. The most frequent for three matches and the most obvious, was to put Hesham at center half in relay from Diego Simonet. This combines Hesham and Bryan Monte, who are two shooters, so that poses other problems for the opposing defense”explains the MHB technician. Proof that Montpellier knows how to adapt in all circumstances…
