Confirmation came from the heart of Catalonia - that the good games and results from the Hungarian Kecskemet were no coincidence, the second European League tournament in Barcelona showed. Again, two wins and a loss, a total of four triumphs and two defeats, the balance by which the Montenegrin volleyball players kept second place, increased their advantage over third-placed Spain, but also increased the gap compared to the leading Czech Republic, which recorded all six victories.
Nikola Matijašević's team won the same opponents (Spain, Hungary) and lost to the same one (Czech Republic), as in the first tournament in Hungary. The victory against Spain, it's true, could have been more convincing, because Marković and his friends didn't use two match points in the fourth set, but it wasn't all the same and it wasn't easy to get a motivated host in front of the home crowd. After all, in the last match of the tournament, the Spaniards were the first to snatch a point from the Czechs, and they had the opportunity to win as they led 12:10 in the fifth set.
The Czech Republic was definitely a black point of this tournament for the "reds", not only because of the defeat, but also because of the game after winning the first set. Apart from the quality of the opponents and the absence of captain Milan Marković due to illness (although Gojko Ćuk was up to the task), it was obvious that the Montenegrin volleyball players were tired against the Czechs, after an exhausting five-set duel with Spain. That when they are not tired they present themselves in a better light, he showed at the end of the match with Hungary, in which Montenegro "cleaned up" the rival in a record 54 minutes...
"I'm very satisfied with the game against Hungary, after the lackluster performance in the last three sets against the Czech Republic. But, no wonder, we were definitely tired after the match with Spain, which ended late, and no one fell asleep before two or three hours past midnight. I think we showed our true face and recipe for the future against Hungary. We are also satisfied with the tournament in Barcelona, because we have two new victories on our account," Milan Marković, captain of Montenegro, told "Vijesti".
After Hungary and Spain, the "caravan" of Group B of the European League moves to Podgorica, which will host the third tournament from June 28 to 30. Given that there have been no major volleyball events in Podgorica for some time, the European League tournament will be an opportunity for volleyball fans in the capital to show how much they love this sport...
"In Podgorica, we will try to give our best again, so we will see how much and what it will bring us in the end," added Marković.
The volleyball players arrived in Podgorica last night, and already tonight they will train in "Morača". It remains to be seen what the situation is with the injuries of Aleksandar Milivojević and Miloš Ćulafić, or whether they will be able to help the team in Podgorica.
Matijašević: I can't wait to discover the Montenegrin audience
"In Barcelona, we made an extraordinary overture for Podgorica, I think it's a real invitation for our fans. I can't wait to discover the Montenegrin audience. I've watched it in many other sports, I've seen what kind of atmosphere is created in the hall. I really can't wait for Friday to come and the first match. I hope that the games we provided in Barcelona will "give an appetite" to that audience. I hereby invite them to come, they will not regret any of those three days," coach Nikola Matijašević told us.
Pajković: The European League is a complete success
Montenegrin volleyball players from the stands of the Olympic hall in Barcelona were cheered on for all three matches by the president of the Volleyball Association, Cvetko Pajković, and the members of the closest leadership, Dragan Drobnjak and Nenad Vujanović, "reinforced" with Vladimir-Vanja Popović, a former footballer of Buducnosti, Zemun, Železnik, Koma, but also an international player in Spain (Sporting Gijon, Malaga, Getafe). His knowledge of the Spanish language was useful to the members of the OSCG presidency.
"It's nice that we ended this weekend with a win, because the previous match with the Czech Republic was very exhausting, against the strongest team in the group, which also dominated against us. I think it's important that the team managed to psychologically play the match against the Hungarians at a high level, we really won the match with a quality game," OSCG president Cvetko Pajković told "Vijesti".
With four wins from six matches, in two tournaments, Pajković says that a good overture has been made for Podgorica.
"It would be very nice to fill "Morač" with these results as much as possible, because I think we have restored the confidence of Montenegrin volleyball. We showed that we can play with teams like Spain, the Czech Republic and Hungary. It showed that, although in a changed composition, we have a lot of young players who, with quality work, can cope with quality rivals and be the future of Montenegrin volleyball. I think the European League is a great success," Pajković added.
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