Four CEV Champions League matches were played today.
In Pool B, Maaseik surprisingly defeat a Ziraat without Tuinstra and Bulbul, who thus sees the chances of passing the turn as one of the best second reduced to almost 0.
On the other hand, this result will help Maaseik boost morale but nothing more than that as they lost all chances of progressing to the playoffs.
Jan Martinez Franchi, player of VC Greenyard Maaseik: “It is a new Maaseik. We are really happy. Finally, victories are coming – not only in the national league, but also in the Champions League. I am very proud of our team. Ankara is a great team and it was hard to win with them, but we totally enjoyed it. It was very special to score last point, even if it was not important who – we had to score this point and win the game.”
Arslan Eksi, captain of Ziraat Bankasi Ankara: “It was a nice game for Volleyball fans. We knew that Maaseik plays good at home, we were expecting it. They served much bettter today and we had problems with reception. Anyway, we played tie-break, but some decisions I made maybe were not the best choice, but it’s Volleyball. We lost and we will try to win against Dinamo Moscow to qualify. It will be difficult for us, but we will try our best.”
In Pool C, as expected, easy 0-3 between the modest Maribor and defending champions ZAKSA, with 6 aces from Semeniuk.
The rulers of the CEV Volleyball Champions League ZAKSA returned to the action after a long break in an impressive style.
The dominance of the titleholders is best confirmed by the result of the 2nd set: 25-11.
Kamil Semeniuk top-scored the winning side today with 16 points, including 6 aces, while Krzysztof Rejno set up 4 blocks.
For the players of ZAKSA, it was the first match in any of the competitions after a two-and-a-half-week break due to COVID-19. However, the most important game of the week is still ahead of the PlusLiga side. In 4 days, it will face Lokomotiv Novosibirsk, and a 3-point victory against the Russians will bring ZAKSA closer to the quarter-finals.
Sebastijan Škorc, Head coach of OK Merkur Maribor: “Our reception today was not so good, but otherwise, we played at about 90 % of our capabilities. We gave our hearts, we gave our everything, but it simply is not enough against the team who won the Champions League last year.”
Rok Bračko, Player of OK Merkur Maribor: “We knew who we were competing against. In the second set, we didn’t start strong, but at the end of the match, both teams showed their best capabilities. I believe we showed our best game.”
In Pool D, convincing victory for Zenit St. Petersburg that, even without Kobzar and Urnaut, left only 50 points to Benfica (without Gaspar) to level with leaders, Germany’s Berlin Recycling Volleys, at 9 points.
Fedor Voronkov finished as top scorer with 14 points.
Victor Poletaev, Zenit player and MVP: “Benfica is a great team, it has a great history. It’s not easy to play against them, but we made a great game with just a few mistakes.”
Tuomas Sammelvuo, Zenit head coach: “We were very focused and concentrated. In the beginning of the game, Benfica were very emotional, they did a lot of mistakes there. Benfica is not only a Volleyball team, they have a great history, so for us, it was great to be here, and it gave us an extra motivation for this game.”
Ivo Casas, SL Benfica player: “It was clear that the physical aspect made the difference today. They did very few mistakes – something that it’s not normal, even at this level. They caused us a lot of problems“.
Marcel Matz, SL Benfica head coach: “Our performance was not bad today, but they played better. They are very strong defensively and have a good team, with good players and great skills.”
In Pool E irrilevant match between Cannes and Fenerbahce with victory at tie-break of the guests, also thanks to the effective entries from the bench by Gurbuz and Unver.
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🏐| CEV Champions League 2021/22 – Pool Stage – Day 5
🏐| POOL A
| Wednesday 9th February
• Knack Roeselare (BEL) – VfB Friedrichshafen (GER) 3-2 (25:20, 14:25, 20:25, 31:29,15:11)
| Thursday 10th February
• Hebar Pazardzhik (BUL) – Jastrzebski Węgiel (POL) 1-3 (28:26, 23:25, 19:25, 16:15)
| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
Jastrzebski Węgiel (POL) 12
VfB Friedrichshafen (GER) 5
Knack Roeselare (BEL) 2
Hebar Pazardzhik (BUL) 2
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🏐| POOL B
👉🏼 Tuesday 8th February
• VC Greenyard Maaseik (BEL) – Ziraat Bankasi Ankara (TUR) 3-2 (25:19, 23:25, 25:22, 25:19, 13:25)
| Wednesday 9th February
• Projekt Warzawa (POL) – Dinamo Moscow (RUS) 0-3 (20:25, 23:25, 13:25)
| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
Dinamo Moscow (RUS) 11
Ziraat Bankasi Ankara (TUR) 10
VC Greenyard Maaseik (BEL) 2
Projekt Warzawa (POL) 1
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🏐| POOL C
👉🏼 Tuesday 8th February
• OK Merkur Maribor (SLO) – Grupa Azoty Kędzierzyn Kozle (POL) 0-3 (19:25, 11:25, 21:25)
| Wednesday 9th February
• Lokomotiv Novosibirsk (RUS) – Cucine Lube Civitanova (ITA) 1-3 (25:21, 23:25, 22:25, 20:25)
Recovery of Day 4 @ Novosibirsk
| Saturday 12th February
• Grupa Azoty Kędzierzyn Kozle (POL) – Lokomotiv Novosibirsk (RUS)
| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
Cucine Lube Civitanova (ITA) 11
Grupa Azoty Kędzierzyn Kozle (POL) 7
Lokomotiv Novosibirsk (RUS) 3
OK Merkur Maribor (SLO) 0
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🏐| POOL D
👉🏼 Tuesday 8th February
• Sport Lisboa e Benfica (POR) – Zenit Saint Petersburg (RUS) 0-3 (16:25, 18:25, 16:25)
| Wednesday 9th February
• Vojvodina NS Seme Novi Sad (SRB) – Berlin Recycling Volleys (GER) 0-3 (25:27, 20:25, 23:25)
| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
Berlin Recycling Volleys (GER) 9
Zenit Saint Petersburg (RUS) 9
Vojvodina NS Seme Novi Sad (SRB) 3
Sport Lisboa e Benfica (POR) 0
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🏐| POOL E
| Tuesday 8th February
• AS Cannes Dragons (FRA) – Fenerbahçe HDI Istanbul (TUR) 2-3 (19:25, 25:19, 25:19, 13:25, 9:15)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
| Thursday 10th February
• Trentino Itas (ITA) – Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia (ITA) 0-3 (18:25, 21:25, 23:25)
| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia (ITA) 12
Trentino Itas (ITA) 9
Fenerbahçe HDI Istanbul (TUR) 5
AS Cannes Dragons (FRA) 1
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