Champions League: all results of December 15
6 min read
Five matches of 2021/22 CEV Champions League were played on Wednesday.
In Pool B, Turkey’s Ziraat Bankası Ankara have a perfect record after prevailing over Poland’s Projekt Warszawa in four sets.
Grobelny and Atanasov scored match-high 16 points, but MVP award went to Ter Maat (not at his best with only 39% in attack and 10% efficiency). It’s the second win for Ziraat in Pool B, Warszawa suffered their 2nd defeat.
In Pool C, Italy’s Cucine Lube Civitanova recorded the second win in as many games in the competition.
Only three days after losing the final of the FIVB Club World Championship to Sada Cruzeiro, they bounced back and reached a straight-set victory over Slovenia’s OK Merkur Maribor. The team coached by Gianlorenzo Blengini traveled more than 9,500 km in the last 72 hours and came to Slovenia without Juantorena and Zaytsev, but no problem, as Cuban Robertlandy Simón made 20 points, including 8 of Lube’s 16 winning blocks and four aces! And also a monumental 89% in attack.
Ricardo Lucarelli Santos de Souza, outside hitter of Cucine Lube Civitanova: “It was a great win, we played very well in the first two set, while in the third one we did some bad mistakes in the crucial moments. Good that at the end we fixed the situation and won the game 3-0. We are very happy for this result, we got our goal. We’ve been included in a very strong pool so every point can make the difference“.
Sebastijan Škorc, head coach of OK Merkur Maribor: “First CL game at home in front of full venue against runner-ups of European and World Championships, and we played well. The quality of course was on the other side of the net, but the opponent’s lineup showed no less than respect to our team and the spectators in Dvorana Tabor. Congrats to the Cucine Lube, which is with no doubt one of the candidates for the final trophy.”
Uros Pavlovic, middle blocker of OK Merkur Maribor: “It was a good match. We expected a game like this. They started to push us at the beginning of all sets and that’s why they won this match today.”
In Pool D, Russia’s Zenit Saint Petersburg had an easy job in Serbia against Vojvodina NS seme Novi Sad, serving 11 aces as a team.
Tuomas Sammelvuo, Head coach of Zenit Saint Petersburg: “Today, we served very well, with very few mistakes and a lot of aces. We played a good middle part of the game. Then, as it happens many times, when you win the second set so easily, the beginning of the third set is very dangerous, but we are happy that we came back. We move game by game, our focus now is on our next game in the Russian Super League, then the Russian Cup. In January, we will think again about CL. We want the first place in the group, but it won’t be easy.”
Slobodan Boškan, Head coach of Vojvodina NS Seme Novi Sad: “Our opponents deserved the 3-0 win. We were competitive only in the first and in the third set. We realized in the third set that we can play against them for real. It is very good experience for us, congratulations to Zenit for the win.”
On the same Pool, Germany’s Berlin Recycling Volleys earned a hard-fought triumph over Portugal’s Sport Lisboa and Benfica (3-1) and now both Zenit and Berlin are at 2-0.
Timothée Carle MVP and player of Berlin Recycling Volleys: “This was not an easy match for us, but we didn’t expect anything else. We went into this match incredibly focused and had a perfect start. In the third set, Benfica served much better and defended strongly, but we were able to respond and showed the necessary reaction in the fourth. We want to go as far as possible in this competition, and so these were three very important points for us today.”
Benjamin Patch, Player of Berlin Recycling Volleys: “This was a really good match where both teams fought hard. In Volleyball, when you lose a little bit of energy, it’s hard to find it again. At this point, Benfica caught us with strong serves. But we proved again how we can stand together as a team and fight back. At the end of the third set, I had slight physical problems, but I’m even happier that I was able to make my contribution to this victory again in the fourth set. These six points from two matches are the start we wanted.”
Cedric Enard, Head coach of Berlin Recycling Volleys: “It’s an important victory, for sure. I was expecting this type of game, a tough one. Benfica always plays with this good mindset, the coach using every player in the team, so it’s something you have to adapt to. I’m happy because of our reaction in the fourth set was very good, and we start to be dominant in the game like in the two first sets.”
Lucas França, Player of SL Benfica: “We knew the quality of the Berlin team. The first two sets weren’t good for us, but we had nice reaction, and it was possible to come back in the third set. However, they played very well in the fourth set. We gave our maximum to win, but it wasn’t enough”
In Pool E, Italy’s Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia took advantage of a dreadful form of the French champions AS Cannes, which are last-placed in the home league, to beat them with a clear 3-0.
Despite Rychlicki’s absence (COVID),
Ter Horst made an excellent game with 14 points and 61% in attack. Double digit also for Plotnytskyi, 10 points including 3 of Perugia’s 8 aces, with coach Nikola Grbic who gave space for almost all his players, icluding Dardzans (author of 1 ace and 2 attacks) and Mengozzi who made his debut in Champions League at 36!
Stefano Mengozzi, Middle Blocker for Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia: “It was exciting to debut in the Champions League at the age of 36, I’m very happy. It could have been a difficult match if we hadn’t faced it in the right way, instead we were good at starting immediately strong by imposing our play and pushing the serve.”
Danijel Koncilja, Middle blocker for AS Cannes Dragons: “I loved played against Perugia. It gave us a lot of energy and we don’t play everyday against a great team. We hoped to win at least a set and it was a good match.”
Eric Rouer, Assistant Coach of AS Cannes: “For us it was a great game with no pressure, we saw great faces on the game. We hope that this is the beginning of a new chapter with our new coach, we saw that something changed. Perugia is a great team and we did a very good game.”
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🏐| CEV Champions League 2021/22 – Pool Stage – Day 2 First Leg
🏐| POOL A
| December 14, 2021
• Knack Roeselare (BEL) – Jastrzebski Wegiel (POL) 0-3 (18:25, 20:25, 23:25)
| December 16, 2021
• Hebar Pazardzhik (BUL) – VfB Friedrichshafen (GER) 3-2 (25:13, 18:25, 22:25, 25:11, 15:12)
| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
Jastrzebski Wegiel (POL) 6
Knack Roeselare (BEL) 2
VfB Friedrichshafen (GER) 1
Hebar Pazardzhik (BUL) 0
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🏐| POOL B
| December 14, 2021
• VC Greenyard Maaseik (BEL) – Dinamo Moscow (RUS) 0-3 (20:25, 22:25, 18:25)
👉🏼 December 15, 2021
• Projekt Warszawa (POL) – Ziraat Bankasi Ankara (TUR) 1-3 (21:25, 25:21, 18:25, 21:25)
| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
Ziraat Bankasi Ankara (TUR) 6
Dinamo Moscow (RUS) 5
Projekt Warszawa (POL) 1
VC Greenyard Maaseik (BEL) 0
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🏐| POOL C
| December 14, 2021
• Lokomotiv Novosibirsk (RUS) – Grupa Azoty Kedzierzyn-Kozle (POL) 1-3 (19:25, 25:21, 24:26, 23:25)
👉🏼 December 15, 2021
• OK Merkur Maribor (SLO) – Cucine Lube Civitanova (ITA) 0-3 (18:25, 16:25, 24:26)
| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
Cucine Lube Civitanova (ITA) 6
Grupa Azoty Kędzierdzyn-Kozle (POL) 6
Lokomotiv Novosibirsk (RUS)
OK Merkur Maribor (SLO)
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🏐| POOL D
👉🏼 December 15, 2021
• Sport Lisboa & Benfica (POR) – Berlin Recycling Volleys (GER) 1-3 (19:25, 16:25, 25:15, 19:25)
• Vojvodina NS Seme Novi Sad (SRB) – Zenit Saint Petersburg (RUS) 0-3 (22:25, 13:25, 20:25)
| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
Zenit Saint Petersburg (RUS) 6
Berlin Recycling Volleys (GER) 6
Sport Lisboa & Benfica (POR) 0
Vojvodina NS Seme Novi Sad (SRB) 0
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🏐| POOL E
👉🏼 December 15, 2021
• AS Cannes Volley Ball (FRA) – Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia (ITA) 0-3 (15:25, 22:25, 18:25)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
| December 16, 2021
• Itas Trentino (ITA) – Fenerbahçe HDI Istanbul (TUR) 3-0 (25:21, 25:22, 25:17)
| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia (ITA) 6
Fenerbahçe HDI Istanbul (TUR) 3
AS Cannes Volley Ball (FRA) 0
Itas Trentino (ITA) 0
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