After five and a half months, during which they played only three matches in domestic competitions and as usual won the double crown, Buducnost Bemax handball players are returning to the biggest stage.
At the beginning of the 31st edition of the Champions League, Bojana Popović's team will meet Bitigheim, which lost only one point on the way to the Bundesliga title last season.
"Blues" had a lot of problems during the preparations, because, at least on paper, they were the biggest reinforcements Kalidiat Niyakata i Noemi Khafra just joined the team after the serious injuries they arrived at the club with, and the first goalkeeper was also out of action Armel Atingre. By the way, Buducnost finished the preparatory period without a win, with five defeats (two very convincing) and a draw.
Bittheim is in a much different mood waiting for today's duel in "Bemax Arena" (14 p.m.), because in the preparatory period he recorded only wins and a draw with one of the favorites to win the Champions League, Metz (the French team yesterday in the middle of Hungary defeated the European vice-champion Ferencvaros by as many as 38 :25).
By the way, he easily won the German Super Cup and defeated Solingen 43:20 at the start of the Bundesliga four days ago.
"Bittigheim is the team that runs the most in the Champions League, their game boils down to that. Positionally a little attacking and I think we can solve that, but the key is to prevent the transition of the rivals. He won the German Supercup, he plays well in the championship as well, so he is in a good rhythm, and the team has been together for three seasons. We analyzed it for two months, it will be difficult, but we want to win at the start", said Popović.
4 Budućnost and Bitigheim have played so far, and the team from Podgorica leads 3:1 in victories. In the 2019/2020 season. was 34:28 and 30:23 for the "blues", and two years earlier 32:24 in "Morača", i.e. 27:21 for the Germans in the "MHP Arena" in Lidwigsburg
The head of the professional staff, who signed a new three-year contract on Thursday, announced that there will be a Hungarian and a French woman in the team.
"I still don't know how much Hafra and Nijakate will be able to contribute to our game, because they took a long break after injuries. The most important thing is that they have the desire and I'm sure they will improve their form as the season progresses. However, both of them took a break for nine months, they didn't play preparatory games, so we don't even know what to expect from them," emphasized Bojana Popović.
In the four duels so far, Budućnost defeated the team from the province of Baden-Württemberg three times.
"We have to be concentrated in attack and play a good game. The first match of the season is always difficult, especially for us, because we don't have many preparatory matches. Bittheim is the favorite, because he has been together for three years, there are more players in the rotation, but on the field we will show that we can play against him", said the captain Milena Raičević.
Compared to last season, Buducnost changed a lot - they left Matea Pletikosic, Ilda Kepic, Nataša Corović, Nina Bulatović, Jovana Kadovic i Gordana Marsenić, and in addition to Nijakata and Hafra, Turkish women arrived Neslihan Čališkan and Germany Anne-Katherine Giegerich, as they returned Tanja Ivanovic, Anastasia Marsenić i Anastasia Babović.
One of the biggest supports, as in previous seasons, will be the left wing Ivona Pavićević.
"Fightingness and great desire will be our main assets, that's the only way we can get a good result." A difficult opponent awaits us at the start, Bittheim is an excellent team with great individuals. In attack, we have to be stable and make as few technical mistakes as possible, the most important thing is to stop their transition. I am sure that we will fight and that the greater desire to win will prevail", emphasized the 27-year-old woman from Podgorica.
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