It has become a tradition for SEHA - Gazprom League’s opening round to bring us Croatian derby, derby between the teams which have been a part of the League from its very beginning - PPD Zagreb and Nexe. Team from Nasice is still waiting for their first win against Zagreb and considering the fact that Croatian capital will host their premier face-off of the season it is clear to say ‘Lions’ do have favorite bargain on their shoulders in this one. However, in last season’s Croatian Cup edition, Nexe have managed to come very close to PPD Zagreb and it will be quite interesting to see whether they’ve managed to build on that momentum even with almost completely changed roster from last year.

Kasim Kamenica, PPD Zagreb coach:
I don’t feel much changed when comparing Zagreb and Nexe and their strength of course from the end of the last season. We clearly are favorites in this one just like we’re favorites to reach a better position on League’s table after the regular part of the season. What is new is that fact that they went through a smaller rebuild process and their will to prove themselves on the court is quite visible. In our latest encounter in Nasice things worked unbelievably well for us and there is no reason for us to think it will be as easy this time. We’ll play without two important players - David Miklavcic who is ready to undergo should surgery as well as Damir Bicanic who injured a thumb on his stronger hand. 

Josip Valcic, PPD Zagreb player:
Preparations were really tough but I know we’ll play best we can against Nexe and enter the season in the best possible way. I believe we’re poised for a successful season.  

Hrvoje Horvat, Nexe coach:
Preparations are over and the time has come for a more interesting part of the season to start. We have an almost whole new team with nine players leaving Nasice during the summer and nine arriving. We'll surely need time because during the off-season we've demonstrated good and bad things. In our SEHA opener of the season we'll look to show a bit different handball than we used to play last season. Our goal is to deliver best performance we can from round to round as well as to grow every day. We know everything about PPD Zagreb which likes to play tough defense and run a lot in the transition. We must play well-organized defense in order to grab some points.

Marko Mrdjenovic, Nexe player:
Another SEHA - Gazprom League season is ahead of us, a season which Veszprem won't be a part of which will surely boost chances for other teams to catch a place on F4. We've experienced quite a lot roster changes during the summer and this match will tell us a lot about where we are at the moment as a team. This will be a match of old rivals in which Zagreb will definitely have a favorite role. We will however not surrender and give our best to go for three points just like in every other match ahead of us.