Sunday 3 April, 16:30 hrs (local time)

PPD Zagreb and Meshkov clash for the first time in the SEHA - Gazprom Final 4 for third place on Sunday (3 April).

 After both teams suffered narrow defeats against the much-fancied Vardar and MVM Veszprem the biggest challenge for both teams will be to find that additional ounce of energy to leave Varaždin with a victory under their belts.

 Meshkov are the more unlucky of the two teams as they have been stopped in the final the past two years - against Veszprem in Hungary last season and against Vardar in Serbia in the 2013/14 season whilst Zagreb also made it to the final, but won, three years ago in Skopje against Vardar.

 Since then they only have memories of third place matches, beating Tatran Presov in Novi Sad and Vardar in the Veszprem Arena last season whilst Mehskov lost their only third-place match to date, against Metalurg in the 2012/13 season in Skopje.

Quotes from the pre-match press conference:

Sergii Bebeshko, Meshkov Brest coach:

"It would of course be better to be the coach of a team which will compete in final but what we have is the third place match against PPD Zagreb who we've lost to PPD Zagreb twice this season and we'll try everything to win tomorrow.

"It won't be easy with Zagreb playing in front of their fans which is always a big boost [for any team]. We were quite good yesterday and we'll do everything to repeat that performance again and take the third place which is really important for us in the SEHA - Gazprom League."

Ivan Pešić, Meshkov Brest goalkeeper:

"It was a good match for us yesterday, just a bit of luck was missing to meet our goal of qualifying through to the final.

"It is always hard to play against Zagreb especially when they are playing at home. In case we manage to repeat yesterdays’ performance I believe we can and if we do, we will win."

Andrija Nikolić, PPD Zagreb assistant coach:

"We believe we can once again beat Meshkov although our team is really tired from our match against Vardar. Hopefully with the fans behind us we'll manage to win and get third position here at the Final 4."

Tin Kontrec, PPD Zagreb player:

"With a bit more sports luck for both of us yesterday this could have been the press conference for the final but we have what we have.

"Of course I hope we'll manage to win tomorrow - it won't be easy but our goal is to leave the tournament with a victory."

Head-to-Head

Zagreb vs. Meshkov

Played:            11

Zagreb Won:    6

Draws:             0

Meshkov Won: 5

Goals:              279:278

2015/16 SEHA - Gazprom League: Meshkov vs. Zagreb 21:24

2015/16 SEHA - Gazprom League: Zagreb vs. Meshkov 28:24

2014/15 EHF Champions League: Meshkov vs. Zagreb 26:22

2014/15 EHF Champions League: Zagreb vs. Meshkov 25:23

2014/15 SEHA - Gazprom League: Meshkov vs. Zagreb 28:29

2014/15 SEHA - Gazprom League: Zagreb vs. Meshkov 21:24

2013/14 SEHA - Gazprom League: Zagreb vs. Meshkov 26:20   

2013/14 SEHA - Gazprom League: Meshkov vs. Zagreb 21:19

2012/13 SEHA - Gazprom League: Meshkov vs. Zagreb 30:25

2012/13 SEHA - Gazprom League: Zagreb vs. Meshkov 29:32

2012/13 SEHA - Gazprom Final 4 Semi-Final: Zagreb vs. Meshkov 31:29