A beginning of handover? Nantes triumphed 37-33 over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions Trophy on Saturday at the Arena Futuroscope in Poitiers, setting the tone for a season that could see the end of the Parisians’ monopoly on the national stage.
With a workforce relieved of three major players who left in the offseason, Mikkel Hansen, Nedim Remili and Benoît Kounkoud, but also of their duo of goalkeepers Yann Genty and Vincent Gérard, PSG gave in to the intensity put in the second half. by Nantes, their main rivals in recent years, a week before the opening of the French championship.
If the new goalkeeper of the capital, the Swede Andrea Palicka (9 saves in total), contained the threat of the “H” in the first period, he then weakened. And it was two consecutive saves by Nantes goalkeeper Ivan Pesic against Ferran Solé five minutes from time, then a goal from one of the summer recruits Jorge Maqueda that put an end to the suspense.
Nikola Karabatic relativizes
“I hope it will come quickly,” Parisian Nikola Karabatic told BeIn Sports after the match, regarding the adjustments the capital club is facing this season with its reshuffled squad. “It’s only the start of the season. “During the past financial year, PSG became the first French team to win all of its matches in the league.
For his first official match on the bench of Nantes as head coach, Grégory Cojean congratulated the “good match” of his players. “We wanted to assess ourselves. We had a full match, it confirmed our good preparation. Beaten three times in as many games last season by the capital club, Nantes won the first leg of the duel that awaits them in the Starligue.