Completely missing the point, Montpellier was soundly beaten by a great Paris team at home

You are missing two people and everything is depopulated. This is a bit what the Castelnau public must have said to themselves when they attended the catastrophic performance of the MHSC VB, Saturday evening at the Palais des sports in Castelnau-le-Lez.

Without its two starters in the central position – the double Olympic champion Nicolas Le Goff, happy father of a little boy and the young French international Joris Seddik (19 years old), ill – the Montpellier team showed the worst version of itself -even.

And it's not the fault of the usual replacements catapulted onto the field but rather because of a failing state of mind and a glaring lack of benchmarks. Opposite, the Parisians who came to Hérault with four successes in a row added a fifth as they played their game. After a largely dominated first set, they led under the eyes of stunned and also a little sleepy spectators (19-25 ).

A short-lived reaction

Since it couldn't be worse in the second set, it was a little better on the Montpellier side. Led by Raphaël Pascal finally dominating at the net, the MHSC VB showed a conquering face. Ezequiel Palacios slammed an ace and celebrated furiously (8-4). Paris Volley was hanging on but Montpellier was doing better. Dimitar Dimitrov countered the visiting attack twice in a row before the tone rose between the players of the two teams (16-14).

But this improvement did not last. The players from the capital clung to the coattails of the Héraultais before plunging them into torpor by winning the second round (23-25).

The MHSC VB ends up sinking

With their heads underwater, Tomas Lopez and his partners chased the score in the following act. The Argentinian, helpless like the others, got angry with the referee (7-12). A few minutes later, he tore his jersey in rage as he left, replaced by Théo Conré.

On the benches, the Parisian laughter contrasted with the crestfallen heads of the Montpellier residents who did not understand what was happening to them. They ended up sinking and bowing dryly (15-25).