Luxembourg, October 19, 2017. With only one match taking place the whole of Europe was following and the home side of Maritza PLOVDIV came out eventual winners in a match that did not disappoint. LP SALO will take confidence in the fact that they competed for the majority and led for spells throughout the match. The two teams will face each other in Finland next Wednesday to determine which side will progress to the 3rd Round to play against the Russian team of Yenisei KRASNOYARSK.
Maritza PLOVDIV (BUL) vs. LP SALO (FIN) 3-1 (25-18, 25-20, 23-25, 25-21)
With all sets being close encounters there was a similar pattern to both of the first two with LP SALO being ahead by one point at each of the technical time-outs. It was from here however that the home team found another gear and in each case pushed on to take them to 18 and 20 points respectively.
In truth the third was a similar story again and the Bulgarian side even led 22-18 before LP SALO came back to steal the set and stay in the match 25-23. Order was resumed in the fourth set which followed a similar flow to the first two with Maritza PLOVDIV in control once the set reached the crucial climax and they secured an important 3-1 win over their Finnish opponents before they head north next week for the return fixture.
Ivan Petkov, head coach of Maritza PLOVDIV: “This was a very emotional match for us. I had told my players it would be a hard match, both because of LP SALO’s good level and because we are not in our optimal shape yet. We played this game with great self-confidence throughout the match with minor exceptions, which will give us the grounds for further evaluation of our performance.”
Tomi Lemminkäinen, head coach of LP SALO: “I saw it was an even game where we were always with the opponent until the second technical time-out. After that our attack got soft and we could not find anybody to kill the ball. We should be better in defence and serving, but we lost them today. I am particularly unhappy about our defensive play. Winning the third set was a really important sign for us, meaning that we can defeat this opponent. We will take good things with us back to Finland and prepare well for the second leg. We have to remember that we have really young players on our roster for the Champions League.”
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