Vardar - Metalurg 34:28 (17:15)

(Moraes 8, Dibirov 5 / Jaganjac 6, Kuzmanovski 4, Jagurinovski 4)

Danilo Brestovac, Metalurg coach:

In the end, a well-deserved win for Vardar. Our rotation is definitely not as strong and that’s what decided the match in my opinion. This was our first official match after the Super Cup against Vardar as well and I have to say I’m so far really satisfied with the way we performed. We have a really young team and it’s great to know we were in some periods able to play a competitive match against Vardar. Players however still need some time to get to know each other better.

Filip Kuzmanovski, Metalurg player:

We played well in the first half and in the second we were able to keep the result leveled as long as we were fresh. When we got tired we started making mistakes and Vardar knew how to take advantage of that and decide the encounter. We have a young team and a new coach who has a whole new system so I feel like we need a bit more time to adjust everything. There is definitely room for progress and I believe we’re up to a good season.

Roberto Garcia Parrondo, Vardar coach:

We played poorly in the first half, our defense was not as nearly as aggressive as it should have been. During the break I highlighted this to my players, that we simply won’t win games in case we don’t play our best throughout the full course of the game. Second half was a bit better but that’s for me just a minimum. We need to work and improve.

Martin Popovski, Vardar player:

This was our first official match of the season and I think we played two different halves. Attack was not so bad but we clearly must improve in defense. We’ll have to approach matches better in the future, especially because we have almost a whole new team now and a new coach which means we’ll have to work more in order for everything to function the way it’s supposed to.