FLASH QUOTES

Champions League – Rounds 4-7, Day 4

Group A, Round 7

CN Marseille (FRA) v Jug Adriatic Osiguranje Dubrovnik (CRO) 15-13

Milos Scepanovic, coach, Marseille: “It is a huge and important victory both for the club and the French in general. It will give a boost to our self-confidence and provide extra motivation for the future. Even back in December I knew that we had quality and that the results would come eventually I just didn’t know when. I also just hope it didn’t come too soon. I lead a really great team of players and I hope they will understand the difference.”

Vladan Spaic, player, Marseille: “It was a difficult match like all the others at this tournament. In December, we played well but ended up without a win, now we're up to seven points. Our quality finally started to show itself. We work really hard and that started bringing results. Three more tough matches are up the next time. It would be a great thing for French water polo if we are able to qualify for the Final 8.”

Vjekoslav Kobescak, coach, Jug: “We were tired today, in fact both teams were and that was visible. The better team won. We struggled a lot and spent too much energy chasing them but everything is still up to us, looking forward to the Final 8.”

Loren Fatovic, player, Jug: “It was a very difficult match, the last at this tournament. We showed character while coming back from 4-9. At the end we even had an extraman but failed to score for a tie. Our defence was bad today. We have five victories so far and these losses shouldn't matter too much. We still have our fate in our hands.”

Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE) v Spandau 04 Berlin (GER) 8-8

Theodoros Vlachos, coach, Olympiacos: “At the end one point is very important. Ultimately we survived because we were empty and without energy. It was much different from the first round. I have 8 players that have played 12 games in 20 days plus travel days. This is not human, they are not machines. I don't think this is what the friends of water polo want to see. Recco and Ortigia were much fresher this time. Others struggled. We need 3 more points to secure our place in the Final 8. Our problem right now is that the Greek government is shutting down national championship for the next two weeks. Apart from the Champions League, we haven't played an official match as a club since November.”

FLASH QUOTES

Konstantinos Genidounias, player, Olympiacos: “We are really tired but that cannot be an excuse. This is our job and we had to win regardless to be 99% sure for the Final 8. At the end one point is not bad but I am not pleased. We have to save more energy for the next round. We did mistakes we shouldn't have. Others are tired too. One point is fine but we need 3 more to be 100% certain for the Final 8.”

Petar Kovacevic, coach, Spandau: “It was a match much like the one with Marseille. We were three goals up but failed to close the match. At 6-3 we had an extraman to pull away with 7-3 but instead conceded a goal for 6-4. After that we lost our game, had a brief blackout. It's too bad, I think we deserved to win today. All in all, I'm satisfied, we are still in the game for Final 8. We will analyse this and prepare for the next bubble.”

Denis Strelezkij, player, Spandau: “It was a great game, we played well. We made a few mistakes in defence but we were better than the last time. We trained a lot. We must improve and practise more.”

Pro Recco (ITA) v CC Ortigia (ITA) 10-3

Gabriel Hernandez, coach, Recco: “I am satisfied to have four wins in a row. Up until 7-0 we played fully concentrated, later came a little lapse. They are a good team that never gives up. Our extraman was good. For the last bubble we must be at our maximum. We will see how the other teams can recover and prepare after Rotterdam and this tournament. Definitely, both took its toll.”

Francesco Di Fulvio, player, Recco: “Four wins in as many days – I am satisfied. It was important to win. We are continuing to grow as a team and build our game. I think the other teams will come better prepared for the last bubble as it will be the last chance to qualify for the Final 8.”

Stefano Piccardo, coach, Ortigia: “It is always a pleasure to play against Recco regardless of the loss. They are one of the best teams. We have to play differently next time, build our game from good defence, speed up our transition. In the end I am satisfied that we managed to limit them to 10 goals. Before, we used to concede 15-16 so it is an improvement. We will see how the last tournament will look like. This time some teams suffered more since their players had to play the Olympic Qualification Tournament. The Italians were lucky in that sense, having previously qualified.”

FLASH QUOTES

Simone Rossi, player, Ortigia: “This was a match impossible to win but we did try to give our best and stage a good fight. It is difficult to play against them. The referees didn't help by allowing a very physical game which goes in their favour. We have to do better next time. There are three very important matches ahead of us in the last round.”

Group B, Round 6

AN Brescia (ITA) v Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO) 14-6

Alessandro Bovo, coach, Brescia: “Again, I’m satisfied with our performance, today we tested our M zone, we managed to go for counters but we had some bad shots and bad passes, that’s all I can find on the negative side. Tomorrow is our big match against Ferencvaros, now we have to rest and be ready for that contest.”

Christian Presciutti, player, Brescia: “It was a good game for us, it went the way we expected. We were playing our game in order to improve as a team to be in the best shape for the most important game which is due tomorrow against Ferencvaros. And I think we are ready.”

Dejan Stanojevic, coach, Dinamo: “Today my players could see how a really great team covers the spaces in the most effective way. The Brescia players did a fantastic job, that was a lesson we should learn from. In fact, I’m more like a psychologist here than coach now as I have to keep up my players’ motivation as after the first day’s loss they were really sad and after that we faced the three top teams without much chance. I explained them that a very small percentage of the world’s population is fortunate enough to be a professional athlete so they have to appreciate themselves in this role. They can lose a match but they need to go on and be ready for the next one but at the same time they have to learn, grow, improve based on the matches they played. They are one-on-one against some of the world’s best players so this is the best place to see where they are and what we need to do to try to reach at least a similar level. This is what separates the real professionals from the ones who just want to be or act like professionals.”

Beka Kavtaradze, player, Dinamo: “For our team, every game is important. We tried to prepare the best way but it’s delicate in this period of the pandemic. We had some bad situations today and we’ll have to analyse those and correct them. It’s not an easy series to play with Ferencvaros yesterday, today Brescia and tomorrow Barceloneta. We try to be ready for our last match.”

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Zodiac Atletic Barceloneta (ESP) v Waspo 98 Hannover (GER) 12-8

Jesus Martin, coach, Barceloneta: “There is no easy matches in the Champions League, today was another proof of that. We played well in the first half, I saw good things both in offence and defence but in the second half of the third period our level dropped and Hannover reacted immediately. It was good to see that we could also respond in the fourth so it was another good win. Felipe Perrone contacted a minor injury yesterday that’s why we chose to rest him but it’s not a serious problem, just four stiches above his mouth.”

Alberto Munarriz, player, Barceloneta: “Hannover has some very good players and they are playing much better now than in December while our team is not in the same shape as we were in back then. This game was very important for us as we wanted to get three points. We played in some phases very well in defence but we also failed in some situation. At the end, we had to win and we just did that so it’s all good.”

Karsten Seehofer, coach, Hannover: “Congratulation for Barceloneta, they are great, it’s as simple as that. We tried our best and today we didn’t give up for a single moment unlike yesterday when we ended up with 19 goals from Brescia. We did what we could even though we rather let Petar Muslim and Jon Winkelhorst sit out and have some rest today and use U20 players instead. This also had an affect on why we fell back in the fourth period but all in all it was a good effort from the team and the players. Most of them had a tiring tournament in Rotterdam, then this was the third game in three days, you have to consider this when you talk about this game.”

Darko Brguljan, player, Hannover: “In general, we can be satisfied because we had some chances after 6-4 and 9-7. We are playing a good tournament and now this is a different Waspo than it was in December. We are in better condition now so we are doing a good job. Tomorrow we’ll have our big match against Jadran and I anticipate that the chances are 50-50.”

FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN) v Jadran Herceg Novi (MNE) 12-5

Zsolt Varga, coach, Ferencvaros: “It was important to keep our composure and continue the disciplined game we had shown in the previous two days. Today our defensive efforts made me really happy, we were tight and moved well in almost the entire match and this is something we can build on tomorrow against Brescia and in the coming weeks.”

FLASH QUOTES

Vendel Vigvari, player, Ferencvaros: “It’s not easy to play in the Champions League in such a young age. I was struggling over the first two days so I had to turn into myself last night and think over a couple of things. Besides, I could to ask my coach some advice and he helped a lot and I also received some supporting messages, including one from my team-mate who cannot be with us this time, it meant an awful lot. Thanks to these, I could renew myself and left all the bad things behind. I think the team is on the rise despite we have a really hard season. What can make a difference tomorrow against Brescia is that our game is more composed, more straight and cleaner which was not the case in December. That can help us to achieve a better result this time.”

Petar Radanovic, coach, Jadran: “It was another great experience to play against the top team, the reigning champion. Of course, they are not only better individually, but also had more weight and more power and that is something a young team like ours could not really handle. Today our strength was enough for almost two periods to keep on with Ferencvaros, this is the reality we have to accept that. Of course, we are aware that the Final Eight can move from Hannover and the fourth spot in our group may become available for any of the three teams. It’s a nice goal and we want to achieve that but as of now it is much more important to see my players improving game by game, learning their lessons, gaining more and more experience. This is the biggest goal so it’s great that we can play here and meet these great teams.”

Marko Petkovic, player, Jadran: “This is the youngest team in the Champions League so we can be satisfied with today’s match too. Still, we didn’t play as well as in our first two matches. We have to focus on our important match against Hannover tomorrow which obviously the only game in this event where we can get points.”

4 March 2021