Test against Serbia for the round of XNUMX

The Montenegrin women's basketball team will play the last match in Group B of the European Championship in France and Spain at exactly noon in Valencia. The rival is Serbia, which celebrated in both duels, while the "reds" after the victory over Greece (70:55), were defeated by Italy (77:61).

Considering the difference in class compared to Greece, Italy should not have any problems to record an easy victory (18 h), but, nevertheless, a different scenario is also possible - Montenegro can theoretically be the first in the group, but also misses the playoffs! The winner of the group goes to the quarterfinals, the second-placed and third-placed teams to the round of XNUMX.

In the event that Montenegro loses to Serbia, and Greece defeats Italy by 16 points, the "reds" will miss out on the round of 33. Montenegro can be first in the group if they beat Serbia by 11 points. Also, there are two variants, according to which Jelena Škerović's team can finish in second place - the first variant is for Greece to beat Italy, and Montenegro to beat Serbia by any margin. Another variant is that Italy beats Greece, and Montenegro triumphs over Serbia by at least XNUMX points.

The "Reds", however, do not think about calculations, but they believe in the quality of Italy - the match with Serbia in that case will be a good test for the round of XNUMX.

- The expectation is that we fix the game. We used the day off and training to correct the mistakes we made against Greece and especially Italy. I expect us to raise the level and prepare for Monday and the round of XNUMX. Of course, we have to wait until the matches are over, to find out the name of the opponent. Against Serbia, I expect a fight and as few mistakes as possible. We have to respond to the rival's pressure on our playmaker, to accelerate the flow of the ball - said national team coach Jelena Škerović.

Serbia has recorded victories in both matches so far at the championship. Marina Maljković, the daughter of the legendary coach Božidar Maljković, celebrated against Italy after extra time, and then outclassed Greece.

- We are aware that Serbia is one of the better teams in this championship, and we will do our best. We are preparing for that game, but also for the deciding game in the round of 40 that awaits us on Monday. Nevertheless, let's go step by step, first Serbia. She, like Italy, plays pressing for all XNUMX minutes. We tried to prepare for it in training. We will try to correct all the mistakes, so that on Monday it will be easier for us to win the game that leads to the quarterfinals. We are satisfied, because our first goal was to pass the group, and we did that. Of course, we are sorry that we gave up against Italy in the third quarter, but I think we fought, we gave our best. We have nothing to regret - said Bojana Kovačević.