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Montpellier still without Tej

Chambery have their chances of winning because their back-court line is in better form than Montpellier's, which is very dependent on Simonet. If Chambery, spearheaded by the Gille brothers, put in a quality defensive performance, then they can win

Psychology is one of the most important things in sports. Even if it is not that evident in team sports, it does come to the fore from time to time. Montpellier players seem to have needed a huge slap in their face, that came in the form of their ignominious 32-34 home defeat to Cesson, to get them going. After the match against Cesson, trey traveled to Selestat, with the pressure of not being permitted to lose and they thrashed the home team by 41-24. It is as if we had seen a different team but the same players. And they played without Omeyer and Tej. Their goalscoring realization was fairy-tale 75% (38/51, without 7-meter throws), unlike Selestat's 45%. Siffert did a good job in goal, the first match without Omeyer, saving 13 shots, while Dragan Gajic spearheaded the shooters with his 7 goals from 9 attempts from open play, 10/12 overall. 

This way, the peace has been restored in the eve of the arrival of their arch-rivals, they have regained the lost self-esteem and they have been able to calmly prepare for the derby. For years this has been the biggest game in French championship but with PSG, Dunkerque and even St. Raphael and Nantes emerging and with the financial decline of Montpellier and especially Chambery, the derby has somewhat lost his appeal. It is no longer a fight for the title, instead it has become a fight for a Champions League spot. Montpellier currently have one point more and they will start today's match with the same lineup as they did against Selestat. Omeyer will be sidelined for the rest of the year, while Issam Tej will also miss the derby. The Slovenian Gaber will have to perform task of pivot in offense while in defense he will be aided by Wissam Hmam. Gaber scored 3 goals from his 4 attempts against Selestat. 

-This is not just the encounter of two teams, but the encounter of two clubs, two stories. This is a poster that has been around for the last 20 years. Many players that have participated in these matches have contributed to the development of the French handball - said coach Canayer, in the eve of what the French like to call "le clasico" of handball. 

Siffert's partner in goal position today will probably be Mickael Robin, who has recovered from his injury and played last weekend for the reserve squad. If he makes his appearance, it will be his first match of the season, which means he should replace the young Kevin Mesnard. 

Chambery, on the other hand, last week suffered a first slip-up of the season in their arena. They lost to Toulouse 31-30. At half-time they were considerably behind, their defense had been struggling for the entire match, bar the first part of the second half. Fernandez, Ilic and Montoro scored 23 goals against them and in the end not even Cyril Dumoulin's 18 saves helped, nor did great performances of the back-court duo Basic-Nyokas. They scored 14 goals from their 19 open-play attempts. There was no time to over-analyze the match as during the weekend they played two second- round EHF Cup matches, hosting Turkish Ankara. They won the first encounter by 34-26, scoring 20 goals by half-time (Bicanic 7, Basic 6), while they won the other match by 32-20 (Basic 7, Paty 4) with an even better defensive performance. N'Guessan's four goals that he scored in the second match are worth mentioning as he has recently recovered and this season he has yet to play real competitive minutes in the league. Bertrand Gille has missed both matches after he had sustained injury against Toulouse. It is unknown whether he is going to play but the fact that Onesta has called him up to play for the national side in the following week is indicative and suggests he will play. 

Chambery will play two matches against the Austrian champions Aple Hard in order to qualify for the group phase of the EHF Cup. 

They come to Montpellier with a sensation that they had PSG on the ropes twice, they are aware of their good performances and they believe they have a chance. The difference between these two teams is much less evident than it has been in recent years. 

- The championship has become more homogeneous but the match with Montpellier remains an attractive encounter. We arrive after two European wins and in the second of those all the players scored a goal. Winning two matches in two days is invaluable - said goalkeeper Dumoulin. 

- The match against Montpellier is very important for us considering that we have two defeats and one draw. We have to climb our way up in the table and in order for us to do that, we need to win in Montpellier. We have no other choice because we have to make it up for the two lost points against Toulouse. Montpellier had been out of form but they showed signs of improvement at Selestat, which only guarantees a hot contest. We have to show ourselves in good light before the international break. 

Chambery certainly have their chances. Their back-court line, that comprises Bicanic (N'Guessan), Basic and Nyokas (Panic) is arguably in a better form than Montpellier's back-court line, who is extremely dependent on Diego Simonet. They haven't got a real replacement for him and neither do they have for Accambray because although the young Grebille can put in an excellent performance, he can also make unpardonable mistakes. Dolonec is not on the level he had been when he played for Velenje and all these things increase the visiting team's chances of winning. If they set their solid defense spearheaded by the Gille brothers and Paturel, if they manage to stop Montpellier's transition with an efficient offense and easy goals, then they will have good chances of winning. Cesson did it ten days ago...
 

Montpellier will today miss Tejo more than Omeyer. This might sound weird, but it truly is so. Siffert was better at the goal in the season onset, and Tejo is impossible to replace adequately. Gaber might be a good player but he is not in the same class as Tejo. Chambery have a good choice for their front court, even greater than Montpelier I daresay. In the two matches against PSG they demonstrated quality, top notch handball. This is a match where no additional motivation is needed, and I think we will not see a one sided match as was the case in their previous games. Chambery can win this…