Zaporozhye – Veszprém pregame statements

MVM Veszprém is going ahead in the Champions League. The knockout phase has begun; the Hungarian champion team is going to play against Motor Zaporozhye in the 1/8 final. The first game is going to be held in Ukraine on Saturday, at 5 pm (at 6 pm according to local time). Live broadcast on Sport 1. We made an interview with Coach Xavi Sabaté and Péter Gulyás about the upcoming game.

 

 

Xavi Sabaté: Zaporozhye is a strong team which became the group winner in the Champions League and is full of excellent players. They have a strong defensive system and their fast breaks led by their wings and their other players are killing. The team has two excellent playmakers, Malasinskas and Pukhouski. Besides them, there is the outstanding right back Shelmenko and there are two great left backs, namely Zhukov and Burka; moreover both of their pivot players are really big. We respect them and we are trying to prepare for the game against them as hard as we can. This match is going to last 120 minutes but we would like to gain great achievements in the first game. Because of their excellent defensive strategies, we must be very organized in offense and try to make the best of shooting positions to defeat their goalkeepers. I think our team is getting better and better. The period after the European Championship was quite hard for us because the players who had been involved needed some time to recover and the others had a more burdensome period but fortunately it’s a thing of the past. We have our aims for the next ten and a half weeks; we have to be in our best form because this is the most important period of the season.

 

 

Péter Gulyás: Playing against Zaporozhye won’t be easy. Many people visit the matches in Ukraine and make a great atmosphere; actually they can prepare for this game with optimism because they gained victory in the qualifying contest. They have a great team full of tall and strong players so we have to take them seriously. Last time we suffered defeat as their guest team so we want to take revenge. There have been some changes in their squad, there are two new playmakers and a Russian back but I really hope we can show that we are the better team. As for me, I’m back again and I think I am getting in a good form; however I still should recover my strength.

 

Photos: Zsolt Melczer