Luxembourg, September 17, 2019.  With another competition day at CEV EuroVolley 2019 Men completed, two more team joined the ranks of the eighthfinalists. On Tuesday, the Netherlands and Turkey emerged victorious from their pool matches and booked their tickets to the next round. Already with reserved spots among the last 16 are Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Poland, Russia, Serbia and Slovenia. Six more vacancies will be distributed over the following two competition days. North Macedonia dropped another sensation in Ljubljana by delivering a huge 3-1 upset of unbeaten home favourites Slovenia.

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Click here for a comprehensive TV schedule of the matches due to take place on Wednesday, September 18.

Pool A
•    Despite a great display of energy, Greece lost to Portugal in four sets and are almost eliminated from EuroVolley 2019, but not quite just yet. In Wednesday’s match with Romania, Portugal will need to win two sets to advance to the eighthfinals. If the Romanians win in straight sets, they are the ones to advance. However, if the result is 3-1 to Romania, then all three teams – Greece, Portugal and Romania – will have equal number of wins, points and set ratios and it will be down to the point ratio to decide who goes through.
•    Greece’s Athanasios Protopsaltis was the best scorer of the match on 22 points, including two aces and two stuff blocks. On the Portuguese side, Marco Evan Ferreira reached 19 points, of which two stuffs and one ace. His brother Alexandre contributed another 17 to the victory.
•    After a slow start, Italy defeated Bulgaria in four sets, to stay unbeaten in four matches, on equal foot with hosts France before the two powerhouses engage in a direct battle for the first place in Pool A on Wednesday. Bulgaria finished the pool in third place.
•    Bulgaria's Tsvetan Sokolov topped the scorers' chart of the match on 22 points, Italy's Ivan Zaytsev and Osmany Juantorena delivered 21 and 20 points, respectively.

Match Centres:
GRE vs POR 1-3 (25-19, 21-25, 23-25, 17-25)
ITA vs BUL 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-17)


Italy’s Ivan Zaytsev spikes against Bulgaria

Pool B
•    In a crazy rollercoaster match Spain won the Pool B battle for survival with Austria in five sets to register their first win of the tournament and save a shot at making the next round. Coach Michael Warm’s men fought bravely, but had to accept their fourth consecutive loss to fall out of contention.
•    The scoring race between the two opposites was won by Austria’s Thomas Zass, who reached the 30-point mark. Spain’s Andres Jesus Villena scored “only” 24 times, including four of his team’s impressive 17 stuff blocks.
•    Belgium mastered a straight-set victory over Slovakia to up their win-loss record to 4-0 and secure a top-two finish in Pool B. The Slovaks now stand at 2-2, with two of the pool’s eighthfinal quota still up for grabs between them, Germany and Spain.
•    Belgium’s Tomas Rousseaux topped the match scorers with a total of 17 points to his name. Captain Tomas Krisko tallied 10 points for Slovakia.


 
Match Centres:
AUT vs ESP 2-3 (23-25, 28-26, 23-25, 25-23, 11-15)
SVK vs BEL 0-3 (23-25, 20-25, 15-25)


Spectacular save by Spain’s Andres Jesus Villena

Pool C
•    North Macedonia silenced the crowd in Ljubljana by delivering a huge 3-1 upset of unbeaten home favourites Slovenia. A day after the team of coach Nikola Matijasevic took their maiden EuroVolley victory, they did it again to double their tally and finish the pool on a 2-3 win-loss record. Now their survival depends on Turkey defeating Finland on Wednesday. Slovenia dropped to 3-1 and, if they want the first place in the pool, they need the three points against Russia on Wednesday.
•    North Macedonia’s Nikola Gjorgiev top scored with 24 points, while Alen Pajenk claimed 19 for Slovenia.
•    Turkey booked their ticket to the eighthfinals with a 3-1 victory over Belarus, their second in four Pool C matches. Even if they lose to Finland on Wednesday, they will be above the cut-off line for the next round. Belarus, on 1-4, have cemented themselves bottom of the pool table.
•    Adis Lagumdzija topped the scorers’ charts with 29 points, including two aces and two blocks, followed by Belarus’s Artur Udrys with 21 points (three blocks, one ace).
 
Match Centres:
SLO vs MKD 1-3 (24-26, 28-30, 25-19, 24-26)
TUR vs BLR 3-1 (25-21, 26-24, 20-25, 25-19)


Triumphant Nikola Gjorgiev rejoices with the Macedonian flag

Pool D
•    In the first Pool D match played in Amsterdam, unbeaten Poland shut out Montenegro to claim their fourth win of the tournament, while the Balkan side dropped to 1-3, but still with a realistic chance to advance if they win against Czech Republic on Thursday.
•    Three players, Poland's Dawid Konarski (13 points) and Aleksander Śliwka (11) and Montenegro's Marko Vukasinovic (10), reached the double digits.
•    Estonia caught the Netherlands by surprise in the first set, but then the home team turned things around to a four-set victory, which guaranteed them a place in the eighthfinals. The Dutch are already on a 3-1 record, while Estonia, on 0-4, no longer have a shot at the last 16.
•    Nimir Abdel-Aziz hammered away 27 points, including three aces and two blocks, towards the Dutch victory. Robert Täht was once again Estonia’s top scorer, on 15 points.
 
Match Centres:
MNE vs POL 0-3 (10-25, 17-25, 19-25)
EST vs NED 1-3 (25-22, 19-25, 19-25, 20-25)


The Dutch team celebrate after their victory over Estonia