Perfect debut for two new coaches, Sporting defeat PSG
In the first two matches after the three-week break for the Machineseeker EHF Champions League, two new coaches had a perfect debut. Velimir Petkovic steered HC Zagreb to their first ever win against SC Magdeburg (22:18), while Simon Dahl was happy with Aalborg Håndbold’s victorious comeback in a tight thriller against Kolstad Håndbold (30:28).
Later on, Sporting CP handed a sensational 39:28 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain after an equal first half, putting them ahead of Dinamo Bucuresti for now with 11 points. Meanwhile HC Eurofarm Pelister and Fredericia Håndbold Klub shared the points in another thriller, decided only by the very last shot of the match. The one-point gap between the sixth and the seventh teams remains.
Maybe the first part wasn't the best, but we come back with the help of the audience. We had a lot of chances to win the match. In the end I think if you don't take your chances you don't deserve to win, so the point is good. For me as a coach, it's good because we have a lot of things for improvement.
This was a different game than the previous one. We weren't that bad defensively in Odense, but we struggled in attack and made a lot of mistakes. Here we changed the approach and the way of playing a bit, so I think that the result was quite realistic.
It was incredible, with an amazing support. We lost the last two games so it’s important to bounce back like this, get again close to the top because we want to fight for the top two places.
I think we did a good first half, we tried to do the seven-against-six, but in the second half we missed too many chances and without the goalkeeper we conceded easy goals. Sporting CP played with a lot of tempo and I think it was the key of the game.
We were aware that we are going to a battle, and that in a battle anyone can come out as a winner. We looked really good on the defensive side of the court with Patryk Walczak and Jakov Gojun which helped us build confidence and eventually the lead as well in the first. We also managed to spread out their defense with Ihar Bialiauski and Luka Lovre Klarica which was our plan from the very first minute, while at the same time scoring many counter-attack goals and eventually taking a big win that's hopefully going to be a cornerstone and a turning point for us.
From the very first minute we were not on the right level when it comes to intensity and tempo. Of course Mandic had an incredible game here today, but again I have to say this one is on us and the way we entered the game. Later on in the second we failed to get back into it, and I have to be honest and say Zagreb deserved this win way more than we did.
A good one tonight, nice to win and now it’s one victory for each. We were maybe also a bit lucky I think, but I’m really happy about the victory and the way the boys kept on fighting.
We had a tight game and it is always tough to play the away games in the Champions League and in Aalborg. Obviously even though we came out with a win at home we knew it would be a tough game that went a lot back and forth and a game of margins where we were not able to stop them in the last minutes.
