Paris cruise into the EHF FINAL4

But this time, PSG had won at Kiel in the first leg (31:27) and the cushion was comfortable enough to keep Kiel at a constant distance, with the hosts finally winning 32:29. With sharpshooting duo of Dainis Kristopans (six goals) and Petar Nenadic (five) on fire and combining with agile Luc Steins (five) combining for 16 PSG goals, the victory and the club's sixth berth for the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 was never endangered. 

QUARTER-FINAL, SECOND LEG

Paris Saint-Germain HB (FRA) vs THW Kiel (GER) 32:29 (17:15)
First leg 31:27. PSG win 63:56 on aggregate

• Kiel needed to win by four goals to force a penalty shoot-out or by five to directly proceed - but no team has won by more than five goals in Paris since Kiel with a 28:21 victory in 2005
• two Petar Nenadic strikes five minutes before the end of the first half gave PSG a 15:11 lead, or eight goals on aggregate
• in the second half, the margin was constantly between two and five goals in favour of Paris and the home team were able to hold off any Kiel attempts at a comeback
• Jannick Green won the goalkeeper battle against Niklas Landin and Tomas Mrkva with 11 saves to their 10, and now might face his former club SC Magdeburg at Cologne
• if he recovers from phlebitis, PSG’s Nikola Karabatic will have another chance to become the first ever handball player to win the EHF Champions League with four different clubs after Montpellier (2003), Kiel (2007) and Barcelona (2015)
• the successful era of superstars Niklas Landin (leaving for Aalborg) and Sander Sagosen (Kolstad) for Kiel came to an end on the international stage on Wednesday with sub-par performances from both

The successful triangle story of Petar Nenadic

Last season, Nédim Rémili left Paris to start his first adventure abroad, at Polish side Barlinek Industria Kielce. After only seven months, the French international signed for Telekom Veszprém to replace injured right back Omar Yahia and will face his former team in Poland for a place at the EHF FINAL4 on Thursday.

At the same time, Veszprém suspended Petar Nenadic, who had arrived in 2018 and became a key player; even as Nikola Karabatic was ruled out by phlebitis. PSG signed a medical ‘joker’ and signed Nenadic.

On Wednesday, Nenadic played his second Champions League match for Paris - and qualified for his fourth EHF FINAL4 in the last five years, including playing the final in 2019. After 60 goals in 12 matches for Veszprém, he is now on six strikes in two matches for PSG including five in the second leg.