PSG Head Coach Stefan Madsen Returns to Aalborg as EHF Champions League Enters 24-Team Era

The 2026/27 EHF Champions League Men season begins this week under a radically expanded format, but the most compelling storyline of the opening round is deeply personal. On Wednesday, September 9, Paris Saint-Germain Handball travels to Denmark to face Aalborg Håndbold at the Sparekassen Danmark Arena. For PSG's head coach Stefan Madsen, the match marks an immediate return to the club he transformed into a European powerhouse.[1][3]

Madsen's legacy in Aalborg is monumental. Across six seasons at the helm, he guided the Danish side to four domestic league titles and two EHF Champions League finals, reaching the ultimate stage in 2021 and 2024. He departed Aalborg in the summer of 2024, spent a highly successful season with Al Ahly in Egypt, and took the reins in Paris in July 2025. Now, he brings his French champions back to the 5,500-seat Gigantium to face the squad he built.[1][4][6]

Adding a layer of tactical intrigue to the fixture is the man standing on the opposite sideline. Aalborg is now managed by Simon Dahl, who served as Madsen's trusted assistant coach during their most successful campaigns. The two remain close friends and frequent collaborators, speaking regularly throughout the season, though both admit the phone lines have been noticeably quiet in the build-up to Wednesday's clash.[5]

"It will be a special match for Stefan Madsen, who will be returning to a venue and a crowd he knows particularly well," PSG noted in their official preview. The Parisian side arrives with significant momentum, having recently claimed the Trophée des Champions against Montpellier, but they are well aware of the threat Aalborg poses on home soil.[1]

The two sides are intimately familiar with each other's current form, having met in a high-intensity pre-season friendly in Aalborg just weeks ago on August 21. Aalborg emerged victorious in that encounter, securing a 36-34 win. Despite the loss, Madsen described the performance as a "step in the right direction," while PSG centre-half Luc Steins emphasized that the grueling 60-minute battle provided the exact preparation needed for the European campaign.[1]

The stakes for Wednesday's opener are magnified by the EHF's new competition structure. The Champions League has expanded from 16 to 24 teams, divided into six groups of four. Under this unforgiving format, only the top two teams from each group advance to the main round, while the third- and fourth-placed teams drop into the EHF European League.[2][3]

"With the introduction of the new playing system, the number of teams on the starting grid... has increased," the European Handball Federation confirmed following the draw. Because points earned against fellow advancing teams carry over into the main round, a victory against a heavy hitter like Aalborg or PSG is doubly valuable. There is virtually no margin for a slow start in a six-match group phase, meaning both clubs must treat this opening fixture with knockout-stage intensity.[2][3]

Aalborg will rely heavily on their formidable home support and a roster that still bears Madsen's fingerprints, including world-class goalkeeper Niklas Landin and rising star Thomas Arnoldsen. PSG counters with the blistering pace of Steins and a deep, experienced squad desperate to capture the club's elusive first Champions League title. For both Madsen and Dahl, the chess match begins at 18:45 CEST.[1][4][6]