Montpellier Handball Aiming for European Glory at Final Four

Montpellier is aiming for a new star. And even if the latter were not to appear above the Hérault coat of arms in the event of success in Budapest this weekend, it would still look great in an already sumptuous list of winners. Back in the last four of a European competition for the first time since 2018 and its second coronation in the Champions League, the MHB begins the home stretch of an already very rich season.

Qualified for the Final Four of the European League for the second time in their history, the double winners of the Champions League (2003 and 2018) can believe in their lucky stars this weekend. But it will be necessary to be strong against the two Germans, almost at home, and a Spanish team of Granollers full of surprises, to become the first French club to hang a C3.

Berlin, a first wall to cross

And the draw did not necessarily spoil the MHB. Because the men of Patrice Canayer inherited the Füchse Berlin, considered the scarecrow of this last square. “They haven’t had the best draw with Berlin. For me, he is the favorite of this competition, now that Flensburg are eliminated. It remains a bloated workforce, they are used to this format, it is an experienced team“, says Jérôme Fernandez.

Weapons of choice to break the German hegemony

In Flensburg, the multiple champions of France will have solid assets to achieve their ends, despite the absence of their Argentinian metronome Diego Simonet. “Montpellier can rely on the quality of their goalkeepers (note, Rémi Desbonnet and Charles Bolzinger). If they are there, they have every chance of winning. They have a great ability to project themselves into fast play, we will have to focus on that through Jaime Fernandez or Yanis Lenne“, explains the top scorer in the history of the France team.

All the living forces will have to be on the attack. Even more in an arena won over to the cause of the two German clubs, Berlin and Göppingen. Winners of 18 of the last 21 editions, Bundesliga teams are a hit in the European League. “Going to play in Flensburg with two German teams in the last four… It’s complicated because they are bound to have greater popular support than Granollers and Montpellier. It is especially there that we see the density of the German championship. When we see how tight the Bundesliga is today, we have Kiel, Magdeburg and Berlin holding each other in two points… But these teams were even stronger a few years ago.”

Nevertheless, the new format of the European Cups tends to redistribute the cards for our expert. “I also think that the plateau is more and more raised especially since they have tightened the number of teams present in the Champions League.” The coronation of Benfica last year is the best illustration of this.

As well as the performance of Antonio Garcia’s Granollers and hope Faruk Yusuf, Flensburg scorer in the quarters a few days ago. The former captain of the Blues also makes it his hair to scratch the weekend. “You have to be careful with this team, they are capable of causing a lot of problems. We know the quality of Spanish teams with clever and tactically intelligent players. They have what it takes to create the feat.”

A (first) date with history

The Final Four remains a particular format where everything is possible. “The complexity is to put the cover back the next day“, continues Jérôme Fernandez who nevertheless believes that the MHB has a card to play.I am convinced that with the season they are having, they have all the qualities to go for this title. They had a very big season on all counts. This is the time to validate this beautiful work. They will give themselves the means, but in these moments, it is played on very small details.”

The only French club to have reached the European grail, Montpellier can still become a pioneer this weekend if successful in C3. “We go into this competition with the desire and the ambition to win it“, assures Patrice Canayer, always to our colleagues.

If everything remains to be done in the league and the objective is to “find the Champions League and fight in all competitions“, the MHB can dream of an XXL end to the season. This Final Four looks like the first icing on the cake for Julien Bos’ teammates. The Hérault coach cannot sum it up better. “This is the challenge for this group: to turn a good season into an excellent or even exceptional season.. ” It’s up to you gentlemen.