Portuguese titleholders Benfica Lisboa came very near to qualifying to the 3rd Round of the 2020 CEV Volleyball Champions League:
they ran over Champions League debutants OK Budva from Montenegro at home in the first leg of the 2nd Round: 3-0 (25:15, 25:17, 25:18). Benficaâs attack was so successful that it left rivals without a single block throughout the entire match. Numbers donât lie and they say that Benfica had a 75% teamâs attack success rate and 75% positive reception. It was by far better output in both fundamentals compared to the Montenegrin side: 55% attack and 60% reception.
Austrian international Peter Wohlfahrtstätter was top scorer for Benfica with 13 points, while libero Ivo Casas made 80% reception (15 digs, 53% excellent). The opposite from the Dominican Republic, Henry Omar Tapia, scored as many as 44% of all of Budvaâs points: 22 points.
Marcel Matz, head coach of Benfica LISBOA: âIf we evaluate the numbers, it was an almost perfect game. We gave the team from Montenegro only a little chance. Of course, they will try to reverse the situation at home, but we will come as the team with a very strong service and attack. I really enjoyed the game, I think we had some problems in block, more precisely we couldnât stop their opposite. He scored a lot of points. But it is difficult for one player to do everything alone. We successfully neutralised other players, so he couldnât win the game by himself.â
Raphael Thiago Oliveira, player of Benfica LISBOA: âI think it was a game where we were able to set the pace, we put pressure on our opponents throughout the whole match. Our team worked hard for this win and we are going to keep on working to save the result at their home.â
Vladimir VasoviÄ, head coach of OK BUDVA: âIt was a great night for the hosts, they played much better than us. This is not the real value of my team, I hope we can play much better next week.â
Byron Ferguson, player of OK BUDVA: âWe had a poor game, but LISBOA played a very good match. They have many experienced players, but we still have the chance to play better. We will prepare for next week and we will see what we can do.â
2020 CEV Volleyball Champions League â 2nd Round (1st leg)
November 5:
Benfica Lisboa (POR) â OK Budva (MNE) 3-0 (25:15, 25:17, 25:18)
November 6:
Shakhtior Soligorsk (BLR) â Ford Store Levoranta Sastamala (FIN) 3-0 (29:27, 25:22, 25:13)
C.S. Municipal Arcada GalaČi (ROU) â Vojvodina NS Seme Novi Sad (SRB) 3-0 (25:23, 25:17, 25:21)
November 7:
Mladost Zagreb (CRO) â SK Zadruga Aich/Dob (AUT)
Source and photo: cev.eu