For the third year in a row, PSG and Nantes failed to qualify directly for the Champions League quarterfinals. Like Montpellier this season in the European League, while Toulouse and Saint-Raphaël were eliminated before the main round in this second continental competition. Parisians and Nantes will therefore have to go through the play-offs, respectively against the Hungarians of Veszprem and the Danes of Gudme, with the first leg matches this Wednesday.
The year 2018 seems far away, when Montpellier, Nantes and PSG – who had assembled a formidable team before reducing their financial resources in recent years – participated in the Final Four. With Montpellier’s success (the only French winner of the competition). An exceptional milestone, partly due to favorable circumstances, which led the president of the national handball league at the time, Olivier Girault, to describe France as the “best championship in the world.”
“We boasted about having the best championship, but I think the top spot has always been the Bundesliga,” retorts Nantes coach Gregory Cojean today, who has since seen the gap widen. François-Xavier Houlet, now an agent and consultant after being a player and manager in Germany, agrees: France “wasn’t far behind a few years ago, but for the past four or five years, the Bundesliga has become an extremely strong championship at all levels, both in terms of sports and economics.”
“Closing the Gap with Germany”
“It could have been said that the French championship was catching up. But since Covid, the Bundesliga has regained strong economic momentum and has taken a lead over the French championship,” adds Gaël Pelletier, president of HBC Nantes. The average budget for German clubs is around “7 to 8 million euros” compared to 5.8 million in 2024-2025 for the French Starligue, according to LNH president Fabrice Boutet, who states that “the gap is stable” between the two championships. “The goal is to catch up with Germany,” where handball is the second sport and attracts almost twice as many spectators per match (5,525 in 2024-2025) in generally larger and more modern arenas.
Like Dika Mem, who will leave FC Barcelona for Berlin in 2027 (despite an offer from PSG), the Bundesliga has become the preferred destination for top players. Another testament to German superiority: the last Champions League final was between Magdeburg and Berlin, while the European League has been won, for the 21st time since 2000, by a German club (Flensburg).
But in the Champions League, France has managed to place representatives in the final four every other year since 2020. Nantes, last year’s third-place finisher, hopes to return, and Paris hopes to reach that stage again.
This Wednesday, April 1st, Veszprem – PSG at 6:45 PM and Gudme – Nantes at 8:45 PM, on Eurosport.
