BSU hosting reigning European champions Vardar

Beijing Sport University

Beijing Sport University will on Tuesday (17.15 CET) in Zagreb welcome reigning both European and SEHA League champions Vardar. With 3-1 score Vardar are currently positioned second in SEHA Group A – right behind Motor Zaporozhye who have 4-1 and were the only team to defeat Macedonians in the regional competition so far this season. 

BSU are on the other hand the only team which still has not managed to record a SEHA victory. They are 0-5 but have managed to make quite the progress playing against some of the best European teams in the regional competition. Playing against two-time EHF Champions League winners ‘Red&Black’ will most certainly prove to be another huge experience for Vlado Sola and his players. 

Vlado Sola, Beijing Sport University coach:
I can say we've been preparing for this one for almost a month. A few new players have also arrived but unfortunately not all of them will actually be able to play on Tuesday. What I however expect from the game tomorrow is for us not to allow Vardar to leave us as far behind as they did in our premier encounter of the season. Back then we lost by 13 goals and this time I would really be satisfied if we managed to finish the game with only a single-digit deficit. I feel like we’ve made progress in various aspects of the game such as fitness, tactics and technique in the last few months which is why I expect this to be a good match.

Cao Yue, Beijing Sport University player:
Despite of the fact we’ll play a really high-quality opponent on Tuesday we still have to give our best. During the preparation period for this one we changed a lot of things – we will try to be more active and aggressive both in attack and defense which will hopefully take our game to the next level. We’re playing much faster now than we did back in the beginning of the season and I expect us to show it against Vardar on Tuesday. 

Eduard Koksharov, Vardar coach:
BSU may be looking like an outsider but we never underestimate our opponents. We want to deliver the best possible performance against a team which is obviously growing and rising from week to week. We however do have some injury problems and as a result of them Pavel Atman and Stas Skube will not travel to Zagreb but despite of that, I assure you, everyone else will do their best for us to win this one. 

Dimitar Dimitrioski, Vardar player:
In our premier encounter against BSU in Skopje a lot of younger players were given a chance to prove what they’re capable of. I don’t consider them outsiders either but a young team which is here to learn and which is, by the way in my opinion, on the right track. I believe us younger players will once again be given a chance to show what we can do and we will all do our best to secure another win for Vardar.