betprepare.com

Lowen still hoping for the top spot in the group

On Sunday they're up for an important championship away game against Fuchse, and in the Chapions League they have one point less than Vardar for whom the Saturday game in Brest is the last serious obstacle until the end. Celje will make their destiny in a direct clash in the Arena in the last round

MT Melsungen

With the way the matches developed last weekend, it became clear that Zagreb and Celje will decide who will be the last participant of the round of 16 of this group in a direct clash next week in the Arena. If Celje would win here and Zagreb would get defeated in Hungary, they would have the luxury of being able to go through with a minimum defeat (30-28 in the first leg).

In Skopje the Slovenian team didn't stand a chance, despite the fact that the final 35-30 wouldn't suggest that. Vardar were strong from the start and they calmly controlled the situation, and in the fourth head-to-head this season they confirmed that at this point they're above Celje.

- We're aware that Lowen are a very good team, capable of beating anyone. They're arriving to Celje with ambitions of winning the first place and they won't leave anything unattended - said Tamse in the preview of today's match.

- Still, we can play with them, which we've shown in Germany. We have to play our role, be good in the defense, and in the offense transitions, then we can be competitive.

Lowen continue their chase for Vardar, they're waiting the Macedonian team to stumble, in order to take the first place and earn a direct pass into the quarter-finals. Vardar's away match in Brest in a few days is the last realistic chance, but Meskov was a tough nut for many this season so they have something to go on. In order to buy that chance, the Germans here have to win and not allow the same thing that happened to Kielce who recently spilled a won match.

- It would be nice to pass into the quarter-finals, like the group winners. However, we can no longer control our destiny. We have to fulfill our tasks, win the remaining two matches - said Jacobsen whose team  in the last match beat Meskov with a minimum difference, breaking them in the match final.

- Seven-on-six worked well, I wasn't pleased with six-on-six. We didn't offer a good match.

n the last few weeks the full focus on the Champions League, for Lowen this is the third in a row in this competition, but on Sunday they're up for a tough away game in Berlin (travelling directly from Celje).

- We can't fail there. The way Flensburg are playing at the moment, it could be fatal in the title race - Jacobsen is aware.

Lowen so far won eight matches in the Champions League, but seven were in the range of three goals of difference. Interestingly. the most convincing win is from the away game against defending champions Kielce. Jacobsen still has a lot of roster probelms. Du Rietz, Abt, Manaskov are still out. Steinhauser could return, but they also have Petersson's potential absence (flu). Taleski has no right to play in the Champions League.