Sensation in Starligue: HBC Nantes sinks in Toulouse before hosting MHB next Sunday

Grégory Cojean et les siens ont perdu pied à Toulouse. MAXPPP – Jérôme Fouquet

Candidat au titre de champion de France, le HBC Nantes a été puni sur le terrain du Fénix Toulouse (35-29), dimanche 22 septembre lors de la troisième journée de Starligue alors que le MHB doit se rendre sur le parquet du "H" dimanche prochain.

It's the first sensation of this season in Starligue. Second last season just behind PSG and a candidate for the Starligue title this season, HBC Nantes sank on the floor of Fénix Toulouse on Sunday afternoon. While at the same time, Paris won in Dunkirk (39-31) to join MHB – and Toulouse therefore – at the top of the standings.

Four days after their first victory in the Champions League this season against Kielce (23-20), Grégory Cojean's men have never managed to be ahead on the scoreboard against Toulouse. Having equalised in the 20th minute after having closed a gap of four goals at the start of the match, the Nantais were already somewhat behind at half-time (19-15).

Starligue: the standings and all the results of the third day

But Danijel Anđelković's players never gave up, carried by a Feuchtmann (8 goals) – Nyembo (5) duo that was levitating on Sunday afternoon. The Toulousains thus delivered the coup de grace a quarter of an hour from the end with a 4-0 scored in a few minutes (30-22, 48th), before winning with a six-goal lead, they who had already beaten the MHB at the end of 2023 (33-29).

Mathé: “We want to win this match and be ambitious”

The blow is hard for HBC Nantes, while the MHB will be at the H Arena next Sunday for the first big clash of the season in Starligue, three days after a trip to Szeged in the European Cup.

For its part, Montpellier remains, on its part, on a resounding victory against Limoges, Saturday evening (32-26). "We knew that this match had a European flavor and that it was a first step to take in order to arrive with three victories in three matches before going to Nantes", explained the Hérault coach Erick Mathé on Saturday evening.

"We know that it will always be tough, the room will be boiling, he continued. We want to go and win this match and be ambitious. But I'm not a poker player and I don't go all-in on a single match. If we had to lose in Nantes and win everything else, I would sign right away."