Berlin, Germany, May 18, 2019. The CEV Champions League Volley title is back in Italy! Undefeated in the 2018/19 Champions League campaign Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA climbed to the top of European Volleyball at the Super Finals in Berlin and ended the Russian supremacy, which had been lasting since 2012. Coming out victorious over former title holders Zenit KAZAN by 3-1 (16-25, 25-15, 25-12, 25-19) it is the first time an Italian team seize the crown since TRENTINO Volley won three times in a row (2009 to 2011).
• Zenit KAZAN and Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA met again in a repeat of
last year’s final (a 3-2 win for the six-time champion Zenit) and gave
another unique show to European Volleyball fans.
• Zenit opened this spectacular final with three killing blocks in
a row and before Lube started to find their rhythm in the Super Final, KAZAN were
out of reach in the first set for the Italians (25-16).
• With the help of their Cuban trio - Juantorena, who is now an Italian citizen, Robertlandy Simon and Yoandy Leal, who has switched allegiance to Brazil - Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA found the right answer and put much more pressure on the former titleholders during
the second one (25-15).
• The German “Volleyball temple” transformed into a home crowd for
the team of head coach Ferdinando De Giorgi while Lube Volley were still
on fire in the third set. They only left twelve points to the Russian
national vice-champions (25-12).
• 9,046 spectators at the sold-out Max-Schmeling-Halle saw CIVITANOVA
showing the mentality of champions, taking the fourth set (25-19) and
the overall victory.
• Finally, Tsvetan Sokolov (17 points), Yoandy Leal (15) and Osmany Juantorena (14) led their colours towards the title as best scorers.
• Being successful in Berlin, Cucine Lube becomes the fourth team to win the CL multiple times, after Zenit KAZAN (6), TRENTINO Volley (3) and Belogorie BELGOROD (3).
• Winning the trophy for the second time after doing so in 2002, CIVITANOVA finish their Champions League Volley campaign undefeated and extended their winning streak to 11 matches.
• As Super Finals champions in the ‘Clash of Titans‘ CIVITANOVA seize a record-breaking € 400,000 purse, as unlucky losers Zenit KAZAN travel home to Tatarstan with € 200,000 in their pockets.
Quotes:
Bruno Rezende, player of Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA: “It is an amazing, unbelievable feeling! The Champions League is a very difficult competition and we started our club season not very well. We started by losing the finals of the Club World Championship and Italian Cup, but this team never gives up. We kept pushing during training and this was all about work and heart. I am very proud of these guys, because they helped me win this amazing title.”
Tsvetan Sokolov, player of Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA: “Is this a dream come true? Absolutely. Last year we lost, so this year it was extremely important to win against Zenit KAZAN. Zenit is one of the best teams in the world and dominated the last seasons of the Champions League, so to win against them feels extremely good. The atmosphere was great and I hope we can come back to the final next year.”
For further information, visit the official event website http://clvolley.cev.eu.