Big rivalry between Zagreb and Celje will from Tuesday get a whole new dimension as they will for the first time face-off against each other in SEHA Gazprom League. During the week behind us Zagreb lost against Kielce at home and Celje have managed to grab a point away in Brest but duel scheduled for Tuesday (19.00 CET, Sutinska vrela sports hall) will be something completely different. 

Zagreb are so far in a better position with six wins, draw and a loss in eight matches. Celje on the other side have five wins and four losses in nine encounters. History books also have something to say about this subject with two rivals meeting 17 times in Champions League. Zagreb have managed to grab 9 wins and a draw but in their latest clash Celje have managed to come out on top winning it with 30:28 in Zlatorog which puts them above Zagreb on CL’s table. Celje have so far managed to win only one point in Zagreb and even that was 16 years ago in Champions League (22:22).

Silvio Ivandija, PPD Zagreb coach:

We've managed to recover well after Kielce and we're ready for the new encounter. Our next opponent is a good team which has already managed to beat us once this season so motivation will surely be on a high level. Celje are able to keep the high tempo running throughout the whole match and we'll have to prepare well for that in order to deliver a good performance tomorrow.

Leon Susnja, PPD Zagreb player:

We've had enough time to recover and now only thing left to do is prepare well for the encounter, do everything we can to stop their fast transition and play a quality match in front of our fans.

Branko Tamse, Celje PL coach:

Another tough away match is ahead of us. Zagreb will be additionally motivated playing against us with their new coach on board who has changed some things in their game. It will be a hard match for us especially coming right after the clash in Brest so now we'll give a chance to show what they can to some of our players who usually don't get much minutes but that doe not however mean we're going there to lose it. We want to win every match and that is possible only with well prepared players which is why we have to focus on that process ahead of this clash.

Tilen Kodrin, Celje PL player:

It is important to recover well after the match in Belarus and an exhausting trip back home. In case we want to reach a win in Zagreb we'll have to play a good game. We know them well back from our this season's duel in Champions league but we still have to see and focus on things that are changed in their game with new coach on board.