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Denic: PSG is individually strong, we are better as a team

Paris team's defense doesn't seem good, Igor Vori got red cards in their both league matches, because of rough fouls. Mikkel Hansen is far from the right form...

Champions League is returning to the French capital, it has been away for years, since Ivry won the French Championship title (in 2007) with Abalo. This time they reached the elite competition with a little force, with the strong support of Qatari finances and enormous investments. 

Last season they already bought a lot of players in Europe, and this Summer they only kept adding new players. So they added Vori, Narcisse, Csaszar... to Hansen, Abalo, Bojinovic, Gunnarsson, Honrubia... There is only one goal, to reach the finale in Koln. With the way Philippe Gardent's team looks on the court, they will have trouble winning against Dinamo Minsk, and let alone against Kiel, Lowen, Veszprem or mighty Barcelona in the later stages. 

They played their last match against Chambery in the League, and they won 30-29, after Patrice Annonay saved Edin Basic's 7 meter throw shot. Time had already run out, and all that was left was to take that last penalty shot. Fortunately, Annonay saved the penalty and they achieved their first victory. Before that they played 29-29 in Toulouse. What these two games have in common, besides Igor Vori's brutal fouls which earned him a red card in both games, is Paris' terrible defense. It is far from the last season's level with Dinart. Gojun and Vori do not seem too convincing for now and it is very much felt on their results. With all this, the goalkeeper Sierra is not in a good form. 

- It is an incredible feeling because we were behind the whole game, but in the end we won. This win is very important because it can be a trigger, it could change everything. We are present from the start, but the game was a bit lost - right wing Fahrudin Melic said. 

Coach Gardent couldn't count on the left wing M'Tima and right back Hallgrimsson, as far as the more important players are concerned. Today they are both back in rotation. 

- My players have to understand that first they have to work hard, fight, and then the talent they posses will come into play - coach Gardent said. He led Chambery in the Champions League for years. 

Mikkel Hansen and Marko Kopljar had 2/6 shots in the last game. Danish had a 4/9  in the first round and he is currently not looking good, he and the whole back line with him, Narcisse and Kopljar. 

Last season Dinamo Minsk proved that they are a serious team on the European level and the club's management wants to continue the same way this season as well. The team that almost defeated Barcelona in Blaugrana, won against Zagreb in Arena and Funchse at home, will again be playing against strong European teams. 

- It is a difficult group and we can't be overly satisfied. Barcelona and PSG are definitely favorites, and we will fight the other three clubs for a chance to play in the second round. The clubs from Macedonia will probably be our two main opponents, although it is not clear what can be expected from the Swiss - Vadim Bogdanov said. He also commented on the fact that Dinamo is, once again, in a group with Barcelona: 

- It is a rather rare situation, but anything can happen. For example, when I was in St. Petersburg, we often played in a group with Zagreb. 

The first game is bringing a difficult test, a trip to Paris to play against a team which, analysts believe, belongs to the competition favorites. Even though it is never a good time for this kind of games, it is certain that it is better to play these away games at the start of the season, while most of the teams are still not playing at their highest level. PSG is definitely one of them, they had a slow start of the season and reached their first relevant win of the season in a dramatic finish against Chambery only a few days ago (before that they won the third place match in the Supercup). Dinamo Minsk will try to take advantage of the moment in order to reach important points which would push them ahead of the rest of the competitors.

Belarus' team has had a lot of changes over the Summer and it will take some time before the players adopt all of coach Denic's ideas. He is known as an expert who prefers faster game and transition and he will definitely try to use this weapon to surprise the French team. He will demand discipline in the defense, because PSG has quality players in every position.

- PSG is a new team, just like Dinamo. Several players came during the Summer. They are very strong individually, they have top-class players and we could have some problems in the defense. However, I think we are better as a team - Denic said. 

- They have a lot of stars, almost all players are leaders in their national teams. But they currently have the same problem as we do, they are still not playing well together - Bogdanov added. 

Denic can't count on pivot Babichev, who hasn't traveled to the French capital because of a shoulder injury. The rest of the team is ready to face the Europe's most expensive team which has a lot of expectations this season. An additional boost for Dinamo before the competition are two convincing wins in their domestic championship (40-22 and 32-22).

PSG haven't had a good start to the season. They have signed a lot of new players and it will take a while for them to fit in so that the club can start playing the way the Qatari owners want them to. Dinart's absence is clearly affecting the team, even though Gojun and Vori will surely play better as the season goes on. The opening matches have brought about a number of problems on defense. In both league matches they conceded 29 goals, Chambery scored 28 against them in the Super Cup, and against the Montpellier team full of youth players they conceded 27 goals. Last season Dinamo Minsk got a reputation of being a tough opponent, but they have also seen a lot of changes during the summer. New head coach Denic prefers a high-tempo game and Dinamo Minsk should be even better on offense this season. In the group stage last year Minsk have stayed under this line when they scored 24 at the Blaugrana and when they went without a goal in the final ten minutes of an unimportant away game against Pick Szeged. They were also under this line in the Last 16 against Metalurg (23 and 22 goals), but everyone knows how Metalurg likes to play. The team from Paris have amazing potential on offense and they rely on it to win games. In their home matches last season they managed to hold their opponents under this line only four times (never under 22), and that was against defensively oriented Ivry and Cesson, weak side Billere and Montpellier in the game after which Karabatic was arrested. If PSG plays the way they are able to, this game should be over with quite a few minutes left on the clock. That should result in a higher tempo in the last minutes, which would go in favour with this pick.