The Kiel public is knowledgeable and well-mannered, they gladly applaud the former members of the house like the Parisian goalkeeper Andreas Palicka, even Henrik Toft Hansen as the brother of a local glory (René). But you shouldn’t push and stand up to your favorites for too long.
And these Parisians were really too difficult, brawling and impertinent, without the slightest deference for the master of Germany and his four stars of European champion. Les Rouge et Bleu spoiled the party on Wednesday, in this legendary Wunderino Arena where their Champions League had come to an abrupt end a year ago (33-32, 30-30 in the first leg). And have set foot in the Final Four in Cologne (June 17-18), before returning to Coubertin next Wednesday.
Their evening quickly turned into a concert of whistles, it ended under a joyful roar. The supreme tribute was for Luc Steins, whistled at each of his ball shots for having in turn excluded the rough German defenders during his supercharged raids.
“When the public boos us, it is recognition of what we have achievedlaunched the Parisian goalkeeper Jannick Green in a gigantic smile. I am very happy. It’s only the first half of this quarter-final, but we played it really well. »
Propelled to the front line by the muscular injury of Andreas Palicka, the Dane delivered a fabulous distance duel to his glorious compatriot Niklas Landin. His jersey as green as his name and his little mustache will haunt the next nights of the “Kielers”.
“We are ready to take this kind of physical impact. Me, I like to come home soaked like that. »
“Our defense gave me extraordinary help, my teammates fought like crazy”, he whispered. It was a great ballet of defensive poetry, Elohim Prandi’s tackles on the stratospheric Sander Sagosen, Luka Karabatic’s hot spots… “We stayed on the same intensity as against Montpellier in the Championship (38-23, April 23), reveled Prandi. We are ready to take this kind of physical impact. Me, I like to come home soaked like that. »
It took energy and lucidity to resist for 50 minutes the German game at 7 against 6 (by taking out the goalkeeper for an additional attacker). But the Parisians had perfectly anticipated this tactic over the long video sessions professed by coach Raul Gonzalez. Again the day of the match, which they spent locked in their hotel.
You had to be strong in the head, too, when the THW came back three goals behind in two minutes, in the heart of the second period (19-19, 44th), and the cauldron erupted. “We stayed very calm, we played clean, also in difficult timesappreciated Luc Steins, hair in battle and crimson face. The team is progressing, it is gaining experience. We didn’t lose a lot of balls, there were just a few missed shots in the empty goal which could have hurt them even more. »
“Even if we are very disappointed, we will not surrender without a fight. »
Even the red card of the essential Dainis Kristopans (56th) did not stop their march forward. Halfway through such a fight, no one will risk selling the skin of the “Zebras” (the nickname of the Kiel players) before having stabbed them. There have been far too many improbable episodes, too, in the long history of PSG-Kiel.
“Even if we are very disappointed, we will not surrender without a fight”, warned German left winger Rune Dahmke. But late Wednesday evening, between the scents of tiger balm and mercurochrome, it was a light wind that brought the Parisians’ private flight home.
But Paris did not lose the thread, when Kiel returned to equality (20-20, 45th) and immediately resumed its march forward (22-20, 47th). The red card of Dainis Kristopans, for a third temporary exclusion, five minutes from the end of the meeting, did not disturb the Parisian machine any more.