Leader arrives along the Sava River
Saturday ahead of us brings five matches of the 9th round of the Premier League. One game has been moved to Monday (December 9th), but the matches that are in the spotlight of the Croatian public are scheduled for Saturday. Among them, two matches between our clubs, while the remaining one is also the derby of the entire round. Let's start with that.
Mladost welcomes Novi Beograd
On Saturday evening (8:30 PM), on Arena Sport 6 cameras, the leading team of this league arrives at the Sava swimming pool, defending champions from the previous season, a team that has achieved 17 victories in 17 matches this season. One of those victories earned them the national cup a week ago. This says it all about the opponents of the Frogs. A serious, strong, well-rehearsed team. Although Novi Beograd had more 'star-studded' line-ups in the past, it is not noticeable in the water. On the contrary.
That is one of the better teams in the entire Premier League. We are playing at home, so we have an additional commitment to perform the best we can and defeat them. We have been preparing for them even before our last European match against Duisburg last Thursday. Three points from that match would be important for us. We are doing well in the Premier League, but against such strong teams, we must win at home. Our desire is to win away as well, but the obligation at home is even greater – thinks out loud Matias Biljaka.
It's not a mistake in the title. It's not about a wrongly written name of the club from Zagreb but rather about the match between Primorje EB and Jug Adriatic Insurance. These are two clubs that provided half of the under-19 national team that won gold at the Under-19 European Championship in Burgas, Bulgaria, this summer.
The Primorje team never easily surrenders points in their home of water polo. In fact, in the previous round of the Premier League, when Novi Beograd visited Rijeka, the distinguished guests were on the verge of defeat, and they only secured a minimal victory 2 seconds before the end.
Last week, we had some intensive training sessions, we prepared specifically for this upcoming match. At that time, we focused more on strength exercises, but this week we analyzed Jug's game more, we prepared tactically. We are ready – briefly and clearly states the center of Rijeka, Viktor Tončinić, one of the European champions under 19.
As for the people from Dubrovnik, regardless of the injury problems they faced (Joković underwent surgery on his left wrist, Kržić suffered a broken nose, Prkoča has a groin injury), there is a great atmosphere in Gruž. They won the Cup and in the last round of the Euro Cup, they defeated the strong team Brescia, securing a place in the European Round of 16. It could be very interesting at Kantrida.
Marelja against his former club
It's not the first time, but it's always worth noting. Jadran, led by Jure Marelja, travels to the coach's hometown to play against his former club and the team he once coached before the Split squad. The match Solaris - Jadran is seen by the people of Šibenik as an opportunity to stay in the middle of the table, while the team from Jadran is determined not to lose pace with the leading Novi Beograd.
