Sixteen wishes, and only two tickets for the elite - tomorrow (Wednesday) the Budva volleyball players will start the battle for placement in the Champions League.
The Montenegrin champion's rival at the start of the qualifiers will be the Yugoslav and Croatian giants Mladost from Zagreb - the first match will be played from 18 p.m. in the Mediterranean Sports Center.
"We have a tough match and a team of extremely high quality waiting for us, but what I can promise is that we will give the maximum in order to reach the goal, which is victory," Budva coach Miljan Bošković studied.
The club from the Adriatic coast is not a favorite, but it will have its trump cards, especially after the latest reinforcements that arrived in Budva - Miloš Ćulafić, the former correctional officer of Montenegro, Vojin Ćaćić, until recently the captain of our national team, and Luka Babić, the middle blocker.
"This year, we are a much more experienced team, because the arrival of Ćaćić, Ćulafić and Babić is a big plus for the Budva team, given that these are guys who have played abroad," Bošković emphasized.
However, the goals remain as they were before...
"The plan for the next season is almost the same as for the previous one - our focus is on young players from our volleyball scene, investment in them and progress in Montenegrin men's volleyball," the coach of Budva is clear.
The people of Budva expect support from the stands.
"We play at home, and then the match has even more enthusiasm - so I would invite all those who are able to attend and support us in the first match, because it is of great importance to us", Bošković concluded.
The return match against Port Mladost, the team that was the champion of Yugoslavia 17 times and Croatia 21 times and played in the Champions League final three times (1964, 1984, 1985), is scheduled for next week.
If Budva goes further in the 2nd round of the qualification, they will play against the better team from the duel between the Hungarian Kaposvar and the Austrian Hippo Tirol.
Only two teams from the qualifiers will advance to the group stage of the Champions League, while the remaining 14 expect to move to the CEV Cup.
Bonus video:
