Foreshadow: Vardar – Veszprém

MKB-MVM Veszprém is playing in Skopje again on Saturday, at 8:15 pm. It will be the 4th but probably not the last match against Vardar Skopje. Our last game in SEHA League regular season will be broadcasted on Digi Sport2. Christian Zeitz will not play since he got a red card and a one-match suspension in the game against PPD Zagreb.

 

 

In this season of SEHA League, first we played against Vardar at home and gained a glorious triumph (31-23), however we knew that it would not be always like this. In Champions League we got into the same group and in this tournament the first clash was in Skopje on November 15 when we were able to win after a dramatic end game (23-24). One week later there was a rematch in CL, we hosted the Macedonian team and we won again (32:24). This Saturday the rematch of the SL regular season match will be in the Macedonian capital.

 

Vardar finally had the 2nd place behind us in group C often called the “death group”. They took the last chance and defeated Rhein-Neckar Löwen in an away match (28:35). In CL their opponent among the best 16 will be Orlen Wisla Plock. In the hardest tournament, their most successful player is the Russian Timur Dibirov who is the 2nd in the scoring list with his 69 goals leading by 2 before the Veszprém’s left back Momir Ilic. (The 1st is still Kiril Lazarov from Barcelona with his 79 goals.)

 

 

Like us, they are also facing their last SL regular season match. They have 14 victories and 3 defeats since besides Veszprém they were defeated by Brest (30:22) and Zagreb (25:22). Their most productive player in SL is Dobrivoje Markovic with 64 goals.

 

With regard to the payoff, Vardar Skopje’s 2nd place is assured like our 1st place so the scores are not essential for either of us. However, as Coach Ortega said a Veszprém – Vardar game is always interesting. Moreover, considering the upcoming SL Final Four – placed in Veszprém - this game can be especially interesting because both teams are semifinalists and have a big chance to get into the final.

 

 

Photos: Zsolt Melczer