Metalurg had to go through a great drama in Lucerne in order to secure participation in the group stage of the newly formed EHF Europa League. In the end, the team from Autokomand suffered one of the most pleasant defeats in its history, as Kriens’ victory of 22:21 was not enough to pass, after 26:24 in Skopje.
Metalurg coach Zoran Kastratović is satisfied with the fact that the primary goal was achieved in the first part of the season.
The group stage of the Europa League was our overriding goal, and we managed to achieve it. My players have shown great courage, which I must congratulate them on, as well as the management of the club, which provided us with the conditions to achieve this success. We prevented Kriens’ fast play when that was most important. We also had the excellent support of the Dupjačane goalkeeper, and the great support of numerous Macedonian fans in the stands certainly meant a lot to us – said the Metalurg strategist after the match.
Goran Perkovac (58) has something to regret after the elimination of his Kriens in a duel with Metalurg. The Swiss team had the last attack in the return match, from which it could secure the passage to the group stage, but Belarus Harbuc ended the poorly organized action with the player by breaking through, fortunately for the guests.
Even before the visit to Skopje, the Croatian expert said that the elimination of Metalurg would be an enormous success for the team from Lucerne, which was very close to such a success.
This is a great pity, guaranteed ten matches in the group stage of the Europa League would mean a lot to our young team. We had an opponent in our hands, and then we beat ourselves. We made a lot of mistakes and allowed them too many easy goals. In games like this, you have to play much calmer – said coach Perkovac after the return match in Switzerland.
