Gajic: “I have never lost against Montpellier”
Another Hungarian-French clash has been picked as Match of the Week in Round 10 of the VELUX EHF Champions League
After MOL-Pick Szeged played Paris Saint-Germain HB last weekend, this time Telekom Veszprém HC will be hosting Montpellier HB on Sunday at 19:00 hrs (live on ehfTV.com).
There are a lot of differences between playing for a top spot in a group and playing for desperately needed points. Montpellier have set some infamous records as defending champions this season and, with just three points, are seriously in danger of missing out on the Last 16.
Veszprém on the other hand do not have the same worries, but their achievements have also stayed well behind of their fans’ expectations.
For one Veszprém player, the clash with Montpellier will be a special one: right wing Dragan Gajic spent five years in the south of France before the Slovenian sharp shooter joined Veszprém in 2016.
“I know Patrice Caneyer and I know his philosophy, he will never surrender,” Gajic tells ehfCL.com. “They will come to Veszprém to grab two points. They have been unlucky this season, maybe they are not in a good shape right now and also the pressure builds up, but they will never surrender.”
Gajic is Veszprém’s top scorer this season, with 36 goals in 9 matches. He may have good friends in Montpellier and he will hug them before and after the match. But during the match, he will be their fiercest opponent.
Davis has changed a lot in a short time
In their first match this season in France, Montpellier lost by a single goal (30:29). It was Veszprém’s first match with new coach David Davis on the bench. Davis, a triple Champions League winner with Ciudad Real, has changed a lot at the Hungarian club in a short time, according to Gajic.
“It was a bit of a shock for us on the wings, as our play is now more focused on the centre and the pivot, but we all adopted well,” the right wing says. “We had to learn a lot, the system is different. We still have a lot to do, but in the last games we have proved we are on the right way. It looks like we found the path, we just have to continue for the moment and do things even better in the second part of the season.”
After five years with Montpellier, Gajic has meanwhile become a fans’ favourite at Veszprém. Still, he will never forget his old love.
“It is always interesting for me to play against Montpellier. I have spent five beautiful years there. I’m always happy to see my friends,” Gajic says. “It is already my fourth match against Montpellier and I have never lost one. I hope the strike continues in the Veszprém Arena. It is going to be an interesting match and I'm looking forward to it.”
Regarded as one of the title favourites again when the season started, things haven’t gone Montpellier’s way so far. No one expected the defending champions to get just one win from nine matches.
But Gajic would not call it an “awful” season for his former club.
“Maybe it’s not awful, they were a little bit unlucky in some matches,” he says. “They lack consistency, but they are still the champions. Everyone wants to beat them. The same goes for us. We want to win. We want to show it is hard to come to the top but even harder to stay there. We want these two points, we are very confident.”
Psychological advantage
The Veszprém right wing believes his team might have a slight psychological advantage.
“As a team we are growing. But that is always difficult to say,” Gajic says. “I’m sure that the most important thing we have to do is stop their transition. We have to take care of the ball when we are in the offence and run back fast to defend. We also have to shoot sharp, as they have great goalkeepers.”
Gajic praises Montpellier for having “the highest attacking speed in Europe” but believes Veszprém will have a good chance of beating them again when they can stop the French attack: “I think this will be the key.”
TEXT: Uros Volk / ew
|
