Yanis Lenne: “Play-offs are what we have been working for all season”

If it's not been a rollercoaster, then the left-hander does not know what it is. “I feel better and that’s what matters right now. This period from August to November was the first time I was out for four months in my career,” he recalls. “It was hard to be in the stands watching my teammates as I am a very energetic person. But in the meantime, I feel fresh and ready now. I’m hungrier than I’ve been in a fairly long time.”

And it’s good for Montpellier that Lenne is hungry, as the 27-year-old has been one of their key players since he arrived at the club in 2019. Although, Swede Sebastian Karlsson, who joined the club in the summer, did more than his fair share at the start of the season.

“He has been doing great, actually, but I think it’s good for the club and for both of us that there can be two very good players on our position,” says Lenne, as the two have shared playing time since the restart in February.

Yanis proved throughout the month of January with France that he was back at his best level, scoring 25 goals over the whole competition. If there were still any doubts, he put them to rest in the EHF Champions League in February. His ultimate statement was in Palau Blaugrana, when he scored seven goals against his former club Barça, in Montpellier's historic win there (37:34).

“I think that evening, we played the perfect game, and it shows that we can beat anyone. But we also know we can have some downs and we have to be careful,” he says, keeping in mind that Montpellier are capable of delivering bad performances and worse, even sometimes in the course of the same game.

“I think that, sometimes, we just adapt to the team we are playing against. The Barça game showed that we can raise our level, but when we play teams that are not as high-profile, we might tend to lower it a little bit,” Lenne admits.

But now, the task is completely different, as Montpellier will meet Zagreb in what might look like the most open confrontation in the play-offs. While the French side was in the EHF European League last season, Zagreb did not qualify for the play-offs for a second consecutive season, and the reunion of the two makes for a very exciting Match of the Week.

 “Zagreb are a very dangerous team, very powerful one. We saw that they were able to fill up their arena again, with fans backing them up. They managed to beat Paris in the group phase, so we are warned, this will not be an easy one,” explains Lenne.

At the moment, every game is important for Montpellier, as the French team is still chasing trophies, both on domestic and European levels. And the first game in Zagreb on Wednesday night feels no different. “We can lose everything every three days, and that’s very exciting,” he smiles. “We work and play 60 games a season to be there, play these play-off games. This is what we have been working for all last season, so there is no way we are going to waste our chance.”

Photos © #patriciasports, Anze Malovrh/Kolektiff