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Axner: We'll play brutal defense

The visiting team strengthened their defense with Magnus Jernemyr (Barcelona) and they already had the best defense in the league without him. Malmo surprisingly defeated the current champions at season opening

Malmo played at a constant level throughout the match and defeated the current champions Drott in the first round of Elitserien. Although the champions were up by three goals at half-time, Andersson's team kept their rhythm and reversed the score in the final minutes of the match. They've won their first points in a dramatic finale.

- Lonn was the key to our success, he led us to victory - said Malmo's coach very bluntly.

Lonn is a 22-year old who played his first official match for Malmo and he fascinated coach Andersson with his one-on-one plays at the end of the match, when Drott started to stagnate. He couldn't dream of a better start of the season in his new club.

- I feel fantastic. We played according to the plan we agreed upon before the match - new left back was pleased after the match. Coach Andersson added:

- If he continues playing like this, he'll be able to pick his next club.

Today he has a new chance to prove himself as they play against Lugi. Everybody sees them as favorites for winning the title, alongside Kristianstad, which had the best defense in the league last season, and now they're even stronger. Magnus Jernemyr, a seasoned defense specialist, arrived from Barcelona.

- Many people were shocked by our win against Drott, but we have to keep calm and focus on the future. If we relax for a minute, we'll suffer a rapid loss - Malmo's coach is aware of the situation.

Malmo already played their first match, but this is the season opening for Lugi. There's no doubt that they're highly motivated for the upcoming away match, although motivation shouldn't be a problem in any of the matches because they've set very ambitious goals.

- Lugi didn't have a team of this quality for a long time, especially one that consists of mostly Swedish players - thinks visiting team's coach Axner, whose goal is to win the title, although he's aware it won't be easy:

- It's now or never. However, don't expect us to be like Kiel, which glides through the league. We're not ''machines'' like they are and we can't win even when we're not at our best.

Lugi have a different game style than Kiel. While the German team play very fast-paced, Lugi base their play on defense and patience. Last season they had the best defense in the league, but they still didn't win the title because they lost in the semifinals against Drott. They believe they can go a step further this year and Jernemyr, another defense specialist, should help them achieve that goal.

- I'm very pleased to be back in Sweden. I'll have much more close matches here and the training is much harder than in Spain - assessed the new Lugi player.

The offense will present a bigger challenge to the visiting team because it wasn't ideal in certain moments of the previous season. Coaches are not too worried considering the style of play they're trying to impose.

- It's impossible to expect efficiency considering the number of defense specialists we have on the team - says Axner.

Lugi's coach wants to increase efficiency with more simple goals. They focused on that segment in the trial period and we'll have to wait and see Malmo's reaction. Last season Andersson's team had a lot of trouble with Lugi's 6-0 defense and now they're facing an even bigger challenge.

- This season we'll play very brutal defense - concluded visiting team's coach.

Today's opponents have played two preparation games against each other and Lugi won on both occasions. Lugi conceded 26 goals in each of the two games. It is really hard to find a way in which the home team would achieve more at the start of the league, when the approach to defense greater. Lugi's coach Axner clearly announced that his team will play brutal defense. They want to show, from the start, that there is no coincedence that they want the title. They have a total of four defensive specialists, one of which is Magnus Jernemyr. He is an experienced Swedish national team member who arrived from Barcelona this Summer. Defense should definitely be stronger with him, than it was last season when Malmo scored 19 and 14 goals in their home games against Lugi. Compared to those matches, Malmo lost Eriksson, Skram and Thynell over the Summer. These three players created most of the problems for Lugi's defense. In their first match against Drott, the home team showed that they will play more towards the pivot Pecikoza in this season. However, that will hardly work today against a compact 6-0 defense. They scored 29 goals against Drott, a team that plays one of the fastest and most offense oriented handball in the league. Lugi is completely opposite and it is unreal to expect that it won't be seen on the result.
It should also be noted that Malmo had a lot more transfers over the Summer, while Lugi's squad remained almost the same and teamwork should be on their side.