Eight days away from playing a Champions League semi-final, PSG Handball has decided to open its training. Subscribers, club employees and a few journalists were able to attend the session. PSG Community tells you about this training Red Blue.
Between the end of the national season and the start of Final 4, the Parisians have eleven days to prepare and recharge the batteries. This Friday, June 9, PSG Handball has decided to set up a training open to some subscribers and club employees. Warm-up, tactical session and opposition were on the program. But before starting the session, the Parisians served at the Paris communication campaign. Indeed, the players present next year all posed, one after the other, with the new PSG shirt in front of the club’s cameras.
🏋️ A week before the Champions League Final 4, the #PSG Handball trains almost completely.
Only Nikola Karabatic and Elohim Prandi are absent! 🤾♂️ pic.twitter.com/CApnENjpoK
— PSG COMMUNITY (@psgcommunity_) June 9, 2023
4 p.m. only Nikola Karabatic is on the pitch. The Frenchman, absent until the end of the season, continues to resume training, alone with a trainer. In front of some journalists, “Niko”, a series of physical exercises, with or without a ball. The center half will therefore undoubtedly miss the Final 4 of the Champions League next weekend. An absence of size for the champions of France, as the experience of Karabatic is precious for this kind of match. He then leaves a field quickly, waiting for the rest of the workforce for the start of the session.
Light training for PSG Handball
Less than thirty minutes later, the first Parisians come out of the locker room. Luc Steins, newly named MVP of the season, is accompanied by Green and Balaguer. They are quickly followed and joined in the center of the field. Some players warm up quietly while others decide to show off their soccer skills. Unsurprisingly, no one has a place to play at the forefront of PSG, but the good mood is present. When the entire squad is on the field, Raul Gonzalez calls on his players to gather in the middle of the field. Then make way for a short message from the Parisian coach, before sending them with the physical trainer. Until the warm-up, Elohim Prandi was on the field, in uniform and with a sort of splint on his left wrist. Released on injury during the meeting against Nantes, the left-back had not played the last D1 match on Tuesday. Before the start of the session, Prandi tried his hand at shooting, but in a fairly gentle way, when you know your usual strength. According The Teamit is difficult to imagine the Frenchman on the pitch in Cologne, due to a broken left hand.
Then follows a warm-up combining muscular awakening and running for about fifteen minutes, each player goes at his own pace. After being ready to start the session, the players split into two teams. Those with red chasubles, and those without. No one runs to catch his chasuble gently forcing the staff to nominate players. The game is then simple: it is a match mixing tennis and handball with a plastic soccer ball, as the youngest can have during recess. A game that ends with a magnificent goal from Luka Karabatic, member of the victorious black team.
20 minute opposition
After half an hour of preparation, it’s time for serious things. The players divide into two to warm up each goalkeeper in the two Coubertin cages. A very quick warm-up for the goalkeepers, which then allowed Raul Gonzalez to set up a 4 vs 4 tactical drill. At the same time, Balaguer and Keita train at their respective wing, on the other side of the pitch.
This set-up, which is quite short, makes it possible to work on not very advanced interlockings. Was the goal to hide the tactics in view of the Final 4 or simply to work on the relations of a back base marked by wounds? For the last twenty minutes, the collective is separated in two: on one side the holders, on the other the substitutes. A training match which is without pressure and with a not very intense rhythm, allowing certain artists such as Syprzak to shine.
At the same time, Prandi returns to the field, still in uniform, but this time, without his brace. Between a few shots in the empty goal, the former Nîmes player tests his left wrist. Tests that do not seem very positive, since Elohim Prandi winces every time. One week before the match against Kielce, the signs are not good, but hope will keep every Parisian alive until Saturday. After an hour and twenty minutes of training, the PSG Handball coach once again brings his players together in the central circle. A few seconds later, the players turn around to applaud their audience, the time for training.
The afternoon then ended with a nice group photo with the spectators, the players and the D1 trophy.
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Image credit: PSG Handball