Bulatović: Defence will be our main weapon

For the first time in the club’s history, Budućnost will start the season as defending champions of the EHF Champions League. The success achieved back in May against Győri Audi ETO KC will remain written forever in the history books of Montenegrin handball.

But due to big changes to the team over the summer, Budućnost won’t have the same ambitions in the coming season as they did last term.

Ahead of their first match against Zvezda Zvenigorod, ehfCL.com spoke to their central back player Anđela Bulatović.

ehfCL.com: Bojana Popović and Maja Savić have retired from their playing careers, while Katarina Bulatović, Ana Đokić, Sonja Barjaktarović, Ana Radović and Dijana Jovetić have left the club. Some young and talented players have come to Podgorica such as Claudine Mendy, Katarina Ježić, Jelena Živković, Jelena Trifunović, Katarina Bralo, while Biljana Pavićević has returned to Podgorica. What can the fans expect from the new team of Budućnost?

Anđela Bulatović: They can expect us to be a fighting team like in previous years, which is characteristic for all teams from the Balkans, who all have strong character. We have a rejuvenated team, but we don’t have a great outside shooter, but I hope we can compensate that with some other things. I hope we will be more patient in attack, and play until the real goal chance. However, the primary objective is to have a solid defence, and not to allow the opponents to score easy goals. The players who have come to Budućnost are quality players and I think defence will be our main weapon, to give us the opportunity to go for easy goals from fast counter attacks.

ehfCL.com: Who are the big favorites in your group to go through to the Main Round? Can Budućnost be one of those two teams?

Anđela Bulatović: I sincerely hope that we can go into the Main Round, I want that with all my heart. It is important that everybody is patient, and we hope that we get great support from our fans from first minute to the last. I think it would help the whole team, not only me and the others who experienced last season, but especially those who came this summer. This season we maybe don’t have enough players to rotate the team regularly, and it might be exhausting for us. In my opinion, Zvezda Zvenigorod is the best team in the group if we see the individual players quality, though all the other teams a very good, especially Viborg HK. Last season, although we had such a great team, we struggled against Thüringer HC, especially in the first game. So, against all of them we will have to give 100 per cent.

ehfCL.com: On Saturday night in Morača Hall, Zvezda Zvenigorod is the first opponent in the group phase. What do you expect from this match?

Anđela Bulatović: We didn’t get a favourable draw - I think it’s always better to play your first game away from home, as it’s easier to break the ice. But maybe it will spur us on to get a good result.
We’ve done our homework on Zvezda, like we do for all teams, because we do not want to have surprises. We will pay special attention to our defence, how to stop their backs, wings, pivot. Their coach, Croatian Zdravko Zovko, has introduced some changes to the classic Russian team. They have some new players too, and they probably also need time to put all the pieces together. I think that with good defence and counterattacks we can deal with them.

ehfCL.com: In your opinion, who is the favorite to win this year's EHF Champions League?

Anđela Bulatović: I think it’s Győri Audi ETO KC, first of all. Although, Oltchim Râmnicu Vâlcea has an outstanding team.

ehfCL.com: Although you are not the oldest in the team (Clara Woltering is 29), at the age of 25 you are Budućnost’s most experienced player in the EHF Champions League, having played in European’s top club competition since 2004. How does it feel, what is your responsibility?

Anđela Bulatović: I didn’t think about it, but now somehow I feel the oldest. However, I have practiced and played with half of the team for a long time, so it’s not a problem. Yet, at 25 I’m not so old! The start the EHF Champions League might affect me differently, because I’ve been through this several times. So, for me there will be no excessive nerves, like the players who are new to the EHF Champions League experience.

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