A premiere on holy handball ground

Neither KS Vive Tauron Kielce nor Paris Saint-Germain Handball, contenders of the first semi-final, have ever made it to the final of a VELUX EHF Champions League before and for PSG it is their first-ever time at the showpiece event that is the VELUX EHF FINAL4.

Despite their lack of experience of the final weekend the French champions go to Germany as favourites against Kielce. But the team from Poland will try hard to end their Cologne curse, as they always lost their semis so far.

VELUX EHF FINAL4 Semi-Final 1
KS Vive Tauron Kielce (POL) vs Paris Saint-Germain Handball (FRA)
Saturday 28 May, 15:15 hrs (local time), live on ehfTV.com from 14:45

Paris Saint-Germain Handball are one of the highest-class debutants ever at the VELUX EHF FINAL4 and though 2016 is the maiden voyage of the French champions at the LANXESS arena, many experts consider Nikola Karabatic & Co. as strong favourites to win the trophy.

Karabatic can make FINAL4 history in Cologne as he would become the first-ever player since the final weekend format started back in the 2009/10 season to defend the title. In the six seasons since, not one single player has held on to the title but Karabatic can. In the 2015 edition he led FC Barcelona to their eighth title in a Most Valuable Player performance before the 2014 IHF World Handball Player of the Year transferred to the French capital.

As Barcelona were eliminated by Kiel at the quarter-final stage this year, Karabatic is now the last survivor of that winning team still in the tournament.

Goalkeeper Thierry Omeyer, like Karabatic, was in the squad of the last (and so far the only French side) to win this competition as they took the honours with Montpellier in 2003 which also included former goalkeeper and current PSG manager Bruno Martini.

Since 2003, Karabatic has added two more trophies (2007 with Kiel and 2015 with Barcelona) to his cabinet, while Omeyer could be heading for his fifth title after winning the EHF Champions League with Kiel a further three times (2007, 2010, 2012).

Kielce want to finally reach the final

But standing in their way is an experienced Kielce squad eager to make the next step at Cologne after the Polish champions lost at the semi-final stage twice in their last two participations – both against Barcelona.

“I hope that our time has come now,” says Kielce coach Talant Dujshebaev, who is coaching at his fifth VELUX EHF FINAL4, but who has never taken glory, with Ciudad Real (2010, 2011), Atletico Madrid (2012) or Kielce (2015).

A multiple-winner as a player, the last and onle time Dujshebaev became a EHF Champions League winner was in the 2007/08 finals against THW Kiel - the final international matches of Noka Serdarusic as THW Kiel coach, who is now back in the spotlight as PSG coach, so there could be a delayed opportunity for Serdarusic to take revenge against Dujshebaev.

Serdarusic can count on a world-class squad including former IHF World Handball Players Karabatic, Omeyer, Mikkel Hansen and Daniel Narcisse; while in this ranking Kielce can claim just one, goalkeeper Slawomir Szmal.

The final step on the road to Cologne was similar for both semi-finalists, as they each gained a draw and a win in the quarter-finals, but PSG were already clear after their first leg, away at HC PPD Zagreb, as they won 28:20 against the Croatian side.

Kielce’s journey was much more nervous, not confirming their qualification until the final attack in the second leg at home against SG Flensburg-Handewitt, taking a 29:28 win on the night, following a 28:28 draw in the first leg in Germany.

Paris won their respective group phase in an impressive way, beaten only at Flensburg and MVM Veszprem in group A, topping their group and qualifying straight through to the quarter-finals, skipping the last 16.

Kielce finished runners-up in Group B below Barcelona, but then had no problems with HC Meshkov Brest in the last 16.

The biggest strength of the Polish champions is their defence and their experience, while PSG count on two of the best scorers in the EHF Champions League so far this season with Hansen topping the ranking thanks to 121 strikes in 16 matches and Karabatic on 88. The best Kielce striker is EHF EURO 2016 All-Star Team member Michal Jurecki (85).

The semi-final in Cologne is the first competitive match between the two sides. The only time they duelled so far was in a friendly match in Krakow last summer, when the final result was a 32:32 draw.

Now, one of the opponents will make it to their first-ever VELUX EHF Champions League final in history and with it one coach can make history too.

If one of these semi-finalists win the trophy, either Dujshebaev or Serdarusic would follow Kiel’s coach Alfred Gislason and become the second-ever to win the EHF Men’s Champions League with two different clubs.

Photos: vtkielce.pl/Tomasz Fafara/Anna Benicewicz-Miazgra ABMprojekt/CKfoto.pl