#ChampionsLeague: The Superfinal is Kazan-Lube!

Osmany Juantorena makes 92% attack against Skra Belchatow, and Lube Civitanova go to CEV Volleyball Champions League finals for 2nd year in a row (the third time in the club history).
After recording a 3:0 win in the 2019 CEV Champions League semifinals first leg against PGE Skra Bełchatów in Poland, Cucine Lube Civitanova needed to claim two sets in the rematch in front of their fans to be sure of the qualification to the Super Finals in Berlin scheduled for May 18, and they did it already in the first two sets without any difficult. 25:15, 25:20, 27:25 are the scores, and the italian team stay unbeaten in the competition with a 10-0 record.
Interesting the Osmany Juantorena’s performance in attack: 12 points with 92% excellent attack (12/13). Mariusz Wlazły scored 11 points for Skra Belchatow.

Robertlandy Simon, middle blocker of Cucine Lube Civitanova: “I am very proud of the team and so happy for the club. We reached the qualification for the Super Final after defeating very strong opponents – both during the pool phase as well as in the quarterfinals and semis. Now we will work very hard to approach the Super Final in the best possible way. Only one step is missing and we want to make it.”

Roberto Piazza, head coach of PGE Skra Belchatow: “Cucine Lube Civitanova performed great volleyball especially with their serves and reception, putting my team constantly under pressure. They deserved to claim the qualification for the final in Berlin.”

•••

Lube will face Zenit Kazan in the Super Finals in a rerun of the last season’s gold medal clash!
Nightmare continues for Perugia, in fact Zenit Kazan knock them out for the third time in a row!
Also the russian side have confirmed its spot in the Super Final of Berlin and it’s going to be their fifth final in a row.
The reigning champions will also have a chance to win the fifth consecutive trophy.
About the game, Perugia had a much better start, taking the first set 25-22. It was an important sign for the home team, that they have to wake up.
It was a very high-level battle between these two sides. Fortunately for the home fans, Zenit Kazan won the next three sets with two points of difference each for a huge celebration of the victory.
This is another blow for Perugia: they’ve been knocked out from the Champions League for the third time in a row after a game against Zenit Kazan!
Maxim Mikhailov was the best scorer in the home team with 17 points, while Earvin Ngapeth added 14 and Matt Anderson 13. Artem Volvich ended the game with the perfect attacking performance: 7/7.
Zenit Kazan setter Alexander Butko suffered a serious ankle injury at the outbreak of the first set, but he still managed to play solid until the end of the match.
Aleksandar Atanasijevic had 24 on the other side, while Wilfredo Leon ended the game with 18.

Earvin Ngapeth, outside hitter of Zenit Kazan: “I am happy. I moved to Zenit Kazan for the sake of the Champions League and I really want to win this competition. The whole team played great. Not everything has worked out well for us this season, but in the semi-finals with PERUGIA, we finally showed a top performance. We managed to play our game and I am so happy now.”

Vladimir Alekno, head coach of Zenit Kazan: “We are going to the final. We have a real team. Our players are not afraid of running into and jumping over the billboards, playing with injured ankles, they are always ready to put up a fight in any situation. It is the most important thing.”

Lorenzo Bernardi, head coach of Sir Colussi Sicoma Perugia: “The game was very tense and hard, as expected. Every single point counted – one successful defence or block. I am proud of my players who did so well with one of the strongest teams in the world. Leon is only part of the team, he cannot win alone.”

2019 CEV Men’s Volleyball Champions League semifinal – 2nd leg:

Zenit Kazan – Sir Colussi Sicoma Perugia 3-1 (22:25, 25:23, 25:23, 26:24), 1st leg 3-2

Cucine Lube Civitanova – PGE Skra Bełchatów 3-0 (25:15, 25:20, 27:25), 1st leg 3-0

Source and Photo: CEV.