After achieving the feat of eliminating PSG on Saturday, Chambéry lost Sunday against Nantes in the final of the Handball League Cup (21-28), at the Arènes de Metz. The Savoyards missed their meeting, dominated in all sectors of the game by Nantes in tune with an exceptional goalkeeper, the Danish Emil Nielsen (19 saves, 50%). The “H” won his second trophy in the competition, six years after the title won in 2015.
– Michel Dell’Aiera
Missed opportunity for Europe
This defeat, the second in eight days against HBC Nantes, already victorious over the CSMBH in the Starligue, deprives the Chambers of the fifth title in the club’s history, but also of an automatic qualification for the European Cup next season, l priority objective displayed by management.
“We want titles, not silver medals.” Erick Mathé, Chambéry coach
After watching the Nantes team lift the cup, the Chambéry coach Erick Mathé had a hard time digesting, even though his troops’ journey to the final of the competition is remarkable, “we want titles, not silver medals, so disappointment dominates. When we look at the statistics of the goalkeepers on one side and the other, we have almost summed up the game. More than 50% stoppages for Nielsen, it’s difficult to win in these conditions“.
– Michel Dell’Aiera
Building for the rest of the season
With five saves to his credit, the Chambéry goalkeeper Nikola Portner therefore lost his duel from a distance with Emil Nielsen, but the Savoy rear base also failed to repeat his masterful performance of the day before against Paris, at the image of Alexandre Tritta (1/4), Alejandro Costoya (2/5) or Sebastian Skube (1/4). Opposite, David Balaguer (5/6) and Théo Monar (4/4) were the main offensive architects of the Nantes victory.
“Pride all the same”. Arthur anquetil
Author of a 3/5, the winger of the “yellow and black” Arthur anquetil despite everything, savor the journey, “the feeling is pride anyway, we managed to inflict a first defeat on the national scene on Paris this season, but against Nantes we were far away, they were stronger. We can build on this weekend. We go on vacation tired but with a taste for revenge in our heads and a desire to validate our goal, to reach the European Cup, not by the shortest route but by the one that is the longest, that is to say the championship“.
The Savoyards will have time to digest this weekend rich in emotions at the arenas of Metz. The resumption in Starligue is not planned until February 5 in Créteil, after the international break of the Euro.