Dinamo Moscow prevail over Zenit St. Petersburg in 1st leg of historical Russian final of CEV Cup

Dinamo Moscow prevailed over Zenit Saint Petersburg in the 1st leg of the 2021 Volleyball CEV Cup final.
The long-awaited first encounter of all-russian final took place in Moscow. For the first time in the history of the second most important club competition in Europe, the face-off for the title featured two Russian clubs.
Because of that but also because both Dinamo and Zenit are title contenders in the home league, today’s confrontation was expected with particular interest.
The side from the Russian capital won in five sets: 26:28, 25:18, 20:25, 26:24, 15:9. Bulgarian Tsvetan Sokolov stood out in Dinamo with 25 points, including 4 blocks, while Ivan Iakovlev top-scored on the other side with 19 points, including as many as 7 blocks.
The rematch will take place in Saint Petersburg on March 25.

Tuomas Sammelvuo, Zenit Saint Petersburg head coach: “It was a very emotional game. We had our chances in the fourth set, but didn’t use them. In the tie-break, we made several mistakes on the serve and then Dinamo won several points. We should work on becoming better on serve and reception.”

Ivan Iakovlev, Zenit Saint Petersburg middle blocker: “It was a great game between two equally skilled teams. Yes, we lost, but we had our moments and we are positive about the next match. We will analyse this game and draw conclusions before the game at home.”

Konstantin Brianskii, Dinamo Moscow head coach: “Our opponent played with great motivation. They are a great team with many players who are part of the Russian national team. We made too many mistakes in the first set, but then we came back. In the tie-break, we were better. During the game we showed a better performance on serve, in reception and in attack.”

Pavel Pankov, Dinamo Moscow setter: “It was a close game but we want to thank our fans for the support, great atmosphere in the arena.”

| 2021 Volleyball CEV Cup | FINAL
| First Leg | March 17, 2021
• Dinamo Moscow – Zenit Saint Petersburg (26:28, 25:18, 20:25, 26:24, 15:9)

| Second Leg | March 25
• Zenit Saint Petersburg – Dinamo Moscow 1-3 (21:25, 25:23, 26:28, 24:26)

Source and Photos: CEV