After more than a decade, Montenegro welcomed two representatives in the water polo Champions League, but they will have to wait for their first victory...
Maybe in the first round the defeats came with a good game, but the second round was far more positive - Primorac had no chance against Savona in Kotor (18:12), as well as Jadran m:tel in the duel with Barceloneta in Trebinje (16:8 ).
"We had a different plan, we wanted to test them with every decision they made in attack and defense, to try to keep the tie as much as possible," said coach of Novljan, Vladimir Gojković.
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His boys only succeeded in the first half against one of the favorites of the Champions League.
"I think, first of all, that in these games our players can only grow and learn - there were certain positive things in that segment. I believe that we can learn a lot from each game in the Champions League and grow as a team." added Gojkovic.
Aleksandar Ivović believes that the game of Jadran was of high quality during the first two quarters.
"We wanted to impose a more aggressive rhythm and it looked good until the middle of the game. With the score 4:4, they gave us two too easy goals, which usually breaks such matches, they were two individual mistakes," says Ivović.
He emphasizes that this certainly does not diminish Barceloneta's victory.
"Even before the game, we knew that he was the clear favorite - it is also for a club that is projected to go to the very end of this competition. On the other hand, our ambitions cannot be measured with theirs," added Leka.
Kotor, the city of European water polo champions, welcomed the return of the Champions League after 14 years, but there was not much to be happy about at the "Zoran Džimi Gopčević" swimming pool.
"It is inadmissible that we concede so many goals at this level of the competition," says the coach of Primorje, Vjekoslav Pasković. "Maybe there was a certain spasm because this is the first game after 14 years in the Champions League in this pool, but it is a segment that worked very poorly and we will have to pay attention to that."
The strategist who brought Primorac the title after many years of fasting, expects better performances from his boys.
"We have several players who are playing in the Champions League for the first time, but in any case this is just the beginning of the season and I'm sure it will get better in this pool as the season progresses," added Pasković.
Champions League nights have returned to Kotor.
"Special emotions bind me to this pool. We have always been supported by the audience and now there were quite a few people. I thank them and tell them to continue to support these young guys," concluded Pasković.
In the next round, in two weeks, Jadran will play against Vaša, while Primorac expects a duel with Sabadell.
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