The most prestige European volleyball Cup is heading to playoffs. Trento, Kazan, Macerata, Belchatow, Friedrichshafen, Rzeszow are the winners of the pools.
Night with a total of 12 matches concluded the League Round of the 2009/2010 CEV Indesit Champions League and the starting field for the Playoffs 12 is finally completed. The Drawing of Lots is scheduled for Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m.
Playoff 12 teams:
TRENTINO BetClic and Dinamo MOSCOW (Pool A), Zenit KAZAN and CSKA SOFIA (Pool B), Lube Banca Marche MACERATA and Hypo Tirol INNSBRUCK (Pool C), PGE Skra BELCHATOW and Knack Randstad ROESELARE (Pool D), VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN and Panathinaikos ATHENS (Pool E) and last, but not least, Asseco Resovia RZESZOW plus ACH Volley BLED that qualified from Pool F. Olympiacos PIRAEUS will also make it to the Playoffs 12 as the best third-ranked team of the prelims.
whereas four more clubs (CAI TERUEL, TOURS VB, Noliko MAASEIK and CoprAtlantide PIACENZA) will be moved to the Challenge Round of the CEV Cup.
Pool A
Russian Dinamo MOSCOW defeated tonight Jihostroj CESKE BUDEJOVICE in three sets and in just in 1 hour and 10 minutes. The Russians did their job magnificently as they needed to score a 3:0 to make it to the Playoffs 12.
Olympiacos PIRAEUS of Greece defeated defending champion TRENTINO BetClic tonight in Italy but the titleholders seized anyway the qualification for the Playoffs 12 as the final leader of Pool A. “TRENTINO is the world champion and we are proud to be the only team that has seized the night here at the PalaTrento. We played an intensive match and I am proud of my players” said the head coach of Olympiacos Anders Kristiansson.
Pool B
CSKA SOFIA completed tonight a triple victory at home, this time with an amazing 3:1 against Russian stellar team Zenit KAZAN. The hosts came without coach Vladimir Alekno and featured assistant Alexander Serebrennikov on the bench.
Unicaja ALMERIA really wanted to make it to the Challenge Round of the CEV Cup and to show a high quality Volleyball tonight against TOURS VB. Not even the defence or the block of the Almerian team was enough to stop the French opposite, Czech David Konecny, who was the real star of his team tonight. The tiebreak ended in favour of Unicaja ALMERIA and the local fans.
Pool C
Hypo Tirol INNSBRUCK advances for the first time ever to the Playoffs of the CEV Indesit Champions League. Although the team of head coach Stefan Chrtiansky lost today’s game against Lube Banca Marche MACERATA, the club celebrated the biggest success in its history.
Montenegro’s Budvanska Rivijera BUDVA was expected to perform a miracle tonight and win against Noliko MAASEIK with a 3:0 to continue its campaign in the European Cups. However, the local heroes lost 1:3 against the Belgians and will not make it even to the Challenge Round of the CEV Cup. Belgian coach Vital Heynen said after the match: “We know very well Inoslav Krnić who played for us a few years ago and expected the match to be difficult, but tonight we were definitely the best ones on court”.
Pool D
PGE Skra BELCHATOW defeated tonight Spain’s CAI TERUEL 3:0 to close the group phase of the CEV Indesit Champions League with only one loss. “It looked good, we played ok. Our form is getting better and better.” PGE Skra’s captain Mariusz Wlazly said.
The mission at the start of the match was clear for Knack Randstad ROESELARE: a victory against the Serbian opponent Radnicki KRAGUJEVAC was needed to qualify for the Playoffs 12. Knack Randstad accomplished its mission with a quick 3:0 victory. Belgian head coach Dominique Baeyens stated: “We secured our qualification in the away match last week in Spain. Knowing that TERUEL had lost its last match in Belchatow gave real wings to my guys. In this last match we could put the cherry on the cake.”
Pool E
The Italians of CoprAtlantide PIACENZA outclassed tonight VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN of Germany in three sets and, as they benefit of the clear victory of Panathinaikos ATHENS in Greece against JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel S.A., will move to the Challenge Round of the CEV Cup as one the best third-ranked teams in the prelims. The visiting coach Stelian Moculescu did not line-up his best players but nevertheless PIACENZA tried to play at its best to continue the campaign in the European Cups.
Panathinaikos ATHENS concluded its campaign in the League Round in great fashion this afternoon with a rapid 3:0 victory against JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel S.A. to advance to the Playoffs 12 of the Champions League. Stelios Kazazis commented: “Congratulations to everybody. I have to mention that this is a very big achievement for my team. In six matches played in the prelims, only twice we had are complete roster at my disposal”.
Pool F
For the delight of the home fans PARIS Volley defeated tonight ISTANBUL B. Sehir Belediyesi of Turkey in four sets. BLED lost tonight in four sets with RZESZOW, the defeat of ISTANBUL B. Sehir Belediyesi in France against PARIS Volley opened the way for the local heroes to make it to the next round.
Champions league results and ranking
from CEV