Another match between two national vice champions. Croatian NEXE are hosting a team from Macedonia - Metalurg, in their last match in 2017 on Sunday (20.30 CET) in King's Tomislav sports hall. NEXE has not won a match in the SEHA -Gazprom league for over 100 days. Last time they did, it was on the 5th of September against Vojvodina in Nasice (33:28).

A few days ago, team from Novi Sad had their revenge over NEXE for that that defeat in their sports hall. After that match NEXE’s coach Hrvoje Horvat said that ‘his team is in the Christmas mood. They are gifting points to other teams’. So, his team wants to end that bad streak and finish the year of 2017 with a victory. But it will not be easy, since Metalurg have five points more than the Croatian team. With another three points they will consolidate their position.

It is interesting, when you compare two teams who participate in the SEHA - Gazprom league from the beginning (Metalurg did not play in the 2015/2016 season), NEXE has got a better head to head score. Metalurg won against NEXE for the first time in the fourth season of the SEHA - Gazprom league- 2014/2015. But this season Metalurg won in Skopje- 29:22. If we consider tradition and the fact that NEXE play ‘hot and cold’ the entire season, it could be an interesting match with Christmas spirit before the break. 

Hrvoje Horvat, NEXE coach:
Metalurg is a team with a good reputation. They have lots of members of national teams like the very talented left back from Croatia- Halil Jaganjac. Because of their reputation they can compete with much better team than NEXE and they can beat them. They have a few remarkable results in both SEHA-Gazprom league and Champions league. So it will be a difficult match for us. But I hope that we will enjoy help from our fans. They have a lot of patience with our team this season. So, I hope that we will thank them by playing a good match. When we talk about the situation in our team: we are still without Gadza and Srsen. Also I would like to congratulate our players Patrik Leban, Sasa Barisic-Jaman and Kristian Pilipovic who got the call from the coach of their national teams for participating in the European champions in Croatia.

Marko Mrdjenovic, NEXE player:
We know Metalurg very well, their system and their work during all these years. They play very disciplined and concentrated. Their matches are always very dramatic and the question of the winner is decided in the last five minutes of the match. So we need help from our fans. Their support can be crucial in that moment.

Aleksandar Jovic, Metalurg coach:
A win would be a great way to finish this half of the season, although we know it will not be easy against Nexe. The last match against Dinamo was played the way it should have been and I expect the same from my players once again. That is even more important than winning points from this match.

Halil Jaganjac, Metalurg player:
The most important thing for us is to be concentrated throughout the whole match. We need to fight to be on the necessary high level. That is our priority; if we do the things we need to on the court, the result will come. We definitely want to finish this half of the season with a positive result.