Paris, France, September 27, 2019.  In front of over 12,500 spectators cheering from the tribunes of the magnificent AccorHotels Arena in Paris, Serbia battled it out against home favourites France to emerge with a five-set victory in the second CEV EuroVolley 2019 Men semifinal. The Serbs will face Slovenia for the continental crown in the gold medal match to take place on Sunday at 17:30 local time. At 18:00 on Saturday, at the same venue, France and Poland will battle it out for the bronze.

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SRB vs FRA 3-2 (23-25, 25-23, 25-21, 17-25, 15-7) in Paris, France

With plenty of inspiration coming from the packed stands at the AccorHotels Arena, France stormed into the first set with a 3-0 lead and never looked back. Playing way better than the opponents in offence, the home side kept the upper hand through the end, which came at 25-23 on a powerful spike by Julien Lyneel. Serbia reacted accordingly in the second set. They opened an early 4-0 lead and managed to extend it to a comfortable 19-12. Upon reaching set point, however, they struggled to close it off. With Lyneel behind the serving line, the French denied them five opportunities to finish the set, before finishing it themselves with a serving error for 25-23. The two teams exchanged long runs of points in a rollercoaster third set while Uros Kovacevic and Earvin Ngapeth were trying to outwizard each other in attack. However, it was Aleksandar Atanasijevic’s sheer power in spiking and blocking (eight points) that made the difference towards a 25-21 Serbian win. The fourth set was all about France. Led by a phenomenal Ngapeth, the home side took control and built nicely to a 25-17 win, shaped up with an ace by Lyneel for the last point. But Serbia’s time was yet to come. It did in the tie-breaker. An out-of-this-world Atanasijevic took charge and led his team with five spikes at 100% success rate and one block to an emphatic 15-7 victory.

France’s Earvin Ngapeth topped the match scorers on a total of 29 points, including four aces. Aleksandar Atanasijevic hammered 27 for the winning side.