At the start of the season, it seemed that Jadran Mtel and Primorac had a shot at making it to the Champions League quarterfinals. However, as the season has advanced, it has become increasingly evident that the Montenegrin teams struggle to compete with Europe’s elite.

Nevertheless, the team from Herceg Novi still has a chance to progress to the knockout stage, while the team from Kotor is left with just theoretical possibilities – they would need to win both their remaining away matches by a significant margin, which appears unlikely.

The fourth round resulted in a significant setback for Jadran, just before their first Bokele derby of the season, which is scheduled to take place today in Novi at 17:45.

Jadran suffered a heavy defeat, losing 9:3 to Marseille in Trebinje. With two rounds left, they sit on three points, three behind Marseille, and they have a poorer head-to-head record against them.

“Marseille deserved their victory. From the start, they were the superior opponent with an outstanding defense, and we only managed to score one goal until midway through the final quarter. We were outplayed – we need to evaluate this experience; we must improve,” stated Jadran’s coach Vladimir Gojkovic.

On the flip side, Primorac conceded 18 goals in their group for the second time this season in the Champions League – Savona was the first to exploit their defense, and Olympiakos followed suit, scoring 18:9 on Tuesday.

The Montenegrin champions have let in a total of 72 goals across four defeats, two of which ended in penalties…

“We cannot be pleased with our performances in the Champions League. Since the competition began, we have allowed far too many goals, which is unacceptable at this level. Teams like Olympiakos will capitalize on any opportunity you give them. We must learn from our mistakes; this team lacks experience in such matches, and I hope we can use this as a lesson for future games,” emphasized Dusan Matkovic, a member of the Montenegrin national team from Primorje.

In the upcoming round, Jadran will host Barceloneta, but the match will not hold much significance in the race for second place in the group if Marseille defeats Vasaš, who is the last opponent for the team from Škver. Meanwhile, Primorac still has away matches against Savona and Sabadell to contend with.

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