Heavy defeat for PSG, Nantes turn match around
The knock-out stage of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2025/26 began with contrasting fortunes for the two French teams on Wednesday night. While Paris Saint-Germain must attempt a comeback from an eight-goal deficit against One Veszprém HC next week, HBC Nantes are in a far stronger position after their impressive fightback and 34:33 win at GOG.
We played incredibly well. During the season we’ve shown several times what we’re capable of, but we had never maintained it for sixty minutes. When you play like this and win like this against a team of PSG’s caliber, it’s impossible to highlight just one key factor. There were many keys to this victory. It was incredible teamwork, and I’m very proud of the boys.
Wow, this is very difficult. We knew it would be a huge battle, but unfortunately we fell short in the key moments - especially in efficiency and defensive discipline. But we’ve seen many times what kind of character this team has. We’ll learn from this match, and next week at home, in front of our fans, we’ll do everything we can to turn it around.
A bitter ending to what was otherwise a very strong performance. They managed to steal a few balls out of nothing and took full advantage, which is obviously frustrating. It leaves us with a bitter feeling, but at the same time we take away the fact that many things worked really well for us at a high level. We believe we can go to Nantes, deliver a top performance, and play a great game – and that’s exactly what it will take if we want to go there and win.
It was a tough match, and we’re very happy to get the win. We now have to stay fully focused for the next game. The play-offs are played over 120 minutes, so it’s important that we stay sharp heading into next week. GOG are very strong away from home, so we’ll need to be at our best to secure the win.
Wednesday's action
