Luxembourg, February 17, 2020. The current five pool leaders in the CEV Champions League Volley 2020 - Men have all already stamped their tickets to the quarterfinals, so Wednesday’s last sixth leg of the pool stage has the difficult task of distributing the remaining three vacancies among as many as nine teams still in contention to join Poland’s Jastrzebski Wegiel and ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle, Italy’s Cucine Lube Civitanova and Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia, as well as Russia’s Fakel Novy Urengoy, among the best eight on the continent.
This leg’s Match of the Week is from Pool C and is of utmost importance to hosts VC Greenyard Maaseik of Belgium, currently second in the pool on a 3-2 win-loss record and 7 points, who will challenge unbeaten pool leaders Jastrzebski Wegiel of Poland at 20:30 local time at the Steengoed Arena. Greenyard are in a must-win situation to save a realistic chance of making the quarterfinals, but even an emphatic victory may prove insufficient for a spot in the next round.
Two days after the comeback of tennis mom Kim Clijsters, who lives only 10 km away from Maaseik, the next big sporting thing in the province of Limburg is Greenyard’s last pool game in the CEV Champions League. With already three victories under their belt in the group stage, Maaseik have equalled their results from the 2014 and 2018 seasons. In both these editions of Europe’s premier competition, Maaseik made it to the Playoffs 12. A fourth pool victory would mean Maaseik’s best result since 2013, when the Reds won all six of their pool fixtures.
In the last decade, Maaseik welcomed Polish teams on six occasions, with a 3-3 record: ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle (2x) and Trefl Gdansk won on Belgian soil, but the locals conquered prestigious victories over PGE Skra Belchatow (2019), ZAKSA (2018) and Jastrzebski Wegiel (2011). However, this last 3-0 victory turned into a bitter disappointment, when the Polish side grabbed a spot in the Final Four through a Golden Set.
Maaseik middle blocker Yurii Semeniuk will get high-level support: Mr Mikola Tochytskyi, the Ukrainian ambassador to Belgium, will play the symbolic first ball. Maybe he can send it to Jurii Gladyr, the Ukrainian-born middle blocker that will be standing on Jastrzebski’s side of the net. Some 50 Polish fans and a group of 17 journalists will make the trip from Silesia to Maaseik.
Head to head
• VC Greenyard Maaseik and Jastrzebski Wegiel meet for the sixth time in the Champions League. The Belgians won three of the previous five encounters.
• VC Greenyard Maaseik defeated Jastrzebski Wegiel twice in the 2004-2005 playoffs 12: 3-0 in Jastrzebie-Zdroj and 3-1 in Maaseik.
• In the 2010-2011 playoffs 6, both teams won their home match: 3-2 in Jastrzebie-Zdroj and 3-0 in Maaseik. Jastrzebski Wegiel qualified for the Final Four for the first time in their history after taking the all-decisive golden set.
• Jastrzebski Wegiel defeated VC Greenyard Maaseik 3-0 at home on December 19, 2019. Dawid Konarski (14) won the most points for the home team, while Jelte Maan (11) and Jonas Kvalen (11) shared top scorer’s honours for the visitors.
VC Greenyard Maaseik
• VC Greenyard Maaseik could still qualify for the quarterfinals, but only among the top three second-placed teams.
• VC Greenyard Maaseik won both of their home matches this Champions League campaign: 3-2 over Zenit Kazan and 3-1 over Halkbank Ankara.
• The last time VC Greenyard Maaseik won all three of their pool stage home matches in the Champions League was in 2012-2013.
• VC Greenyard Maaseik have won five of their last six Champions League five-setters, including both in this season.
• Xavier Folguera Estruga (55.56%) is one of the best setters in this season's fourth round – even though he has contested three matches out of five only.
• Yurii Semeniuk (50.79%) has the third-best spiker efficiency in the fourth round this campaign.
• Jonas Kvalen (71) is VC Greenyard Maaseik's leading point-scorer this season. He has also won the most points from serves (6) and stuff blocks (8) among his teammates.
Jastrzebski Wegiel
• Jastrzebski Wegiel have already qualified for this season's quarterfinals. They are among the last eight teams in the Champions League for the first time since 2013-2014, when they finished third.
• Jastrzebski Wegiel have won their last five Champions League matches, their second-longest winning run in the competition after nine successive victories from October 2013 to February 2014.
• Jastrzebski Wegiel could win all three of their pool stage away matches in a Champions League season for the first time.
• Jastrzebski Wegiel win on average 2.6 points from stuff blocks per set. Only Fakel Novy Urengoy (2.9) and Zenit Kazan (2.7) average more points from blocks in this season's fourth round.
• Christian Fromm is among the best servers in the fourth round on nine aces and an efficiency of 1.64%.
Joel Banks, head coach of VC Greenyard Maaseik: “When we played them at their home in December, Jastrzebski outplayed us with fantastic Volleyball. They controlled us in every aspect of the game but this Wednesday, it is a win or go home for us, just like last week against Halkbank Ankara. Yet, on top of a victory, we need a small miracle to progress to the quarterfinals. We depend on the results in the other pools. Therefore, this may well be our last game in this Champions League campaign, which means that we want to serve our fans our best Volleyball. And if we go out on mathematics, we will at least go out with a bang.”
Russian powerhouse Zenit Kazan (2-3, 8 points) will certainly be rooting for a Jastrzebski victory in Maaseik since only then they can hope that a home win over bottom-placed Halkbank Ankara of Turkey (0-5) would propel them to the Pool C runner-up position and theoretically keep them in contention for the quarterfinals. The game in Kazan starts at 19:00 local time.
For the first time in history, Zenit Kazan are on the brink of not qualifying for the Champions League playoffs. Only a miraculous combination of circumstances could prevent Zenit from suffering such an unprecedented setback. Zenit and Halkbank have locked horns in the Champions League as many as seven times, with the Russians boasting a 6-1 win-loss record, including the 3-1 victory the players coached by Alexey Verbov claimed earlier this season.
In anticipation of the match with Halkbank, the Kazan club held a charity event. On Monday, Zenit Kazan signed a one-day contract with a 15-year-old boy, Ildar Gismatullin, who is struggling with a rare disease (Sturge – Weber syndrome). He was introduced to reporters at a press conference, after which he visited the team’s locker room and took part in a warm-up.
Alexander Butko, captain of Zenit Kazan: “We must believe in our chances until the end. We must win our match. If everything goes well in other games, it will be fine. Unfortunately, we now depend on some of our rivals. This is all because of our own mistakes. We could not beat Jastrzebski Wegiel, even when leading 14-9 in the fifth set. We lost to VC Greenyard Maaseik after leading 2-0 there. We should have won both of these matches.”
The second place in Pool A will be decided in a direct battle between Jihostroj Ceske Budejovice (2-3, 5 points) and Trentino Itas (3-2, 8 points). As the two teams meet at 17:00 local time, the hosts from Czechia have a small chance of making the next round, but could certainly hope to take the prestigious second place in the pool with a victory over the legendary opponent. At the same time, a Trentino win would keep them in the race for the quarterfinals, and if it is in straight sets (as in the first match between the two sides in Trento), the Italian side’s spot among the last eight will be absolutely safe.
Marek Sotola, opposite of Jihostroj Ceske Budejovice: “For us, the match against Trentino before the home audience is the icing on the cake. Of course, the Italians are the favourites, but we will try to put up a good fight. At the same time, we can use this match as a first-rate preparation before our Czech Cup semifinal against VK CEZ Karlovarsko.”
In the last match of the pool, defending champions Cucine Lube Civitanova of Italy, who have just announced the extension of star players Robertlandy Simon and Yoandy Leal’s contracts until 2022, will try to keep their record impeccable as they host winless Fenerbahce HDI Sigorta Istanbul of Turkey, looking for their 17th Champions League win in a row.
Kamil Rychlicki, opposite of Cucine Lube Civitanova: “We have already achieved our target, the first place in Pool A. The match against Fenerbahce will be helpful to improve our play. Moreover, we want to continue our winning streak in the Champions League. A good performance could be the best way to approach the Italian Cup semifinal, scheduled on Saturday.”
Russia’s Fakel Novy Urengoy are the only pool leader after the fifth leg that face the threat of losing their top spot in the standings, but even if they finish second in Pool B they will definitely be among the quarterfinalists as one of the best three runners-up. Currently on a 4-1 record and 11 points, Fakel travel to Slovenia for an encounter with fourth-placed ACH Volley Ljubljana (1-4, 3 points) at 18:00 local time. Kuzbass Kemerovo are quite likely to join their Russian compatriots into the next round as they are the best ranked (3-2, 10 points) second-placed team across all pools right now, but if they want to do so without relying on a favourable outcome in the other pools, they have to come up with any kind of home win over Berlin Recycling Volleys, whom they welcome to the Kuzbass Arena at 19:00 local time. Despite standing no chance of surpassing Kuzbass in the standings, the German team (2-3, 6 points) are sure to give their hosts a run for their money.
As Tours VB entertain fourth-placed Benfica Lisboa of Portugal at 20:00 local time in France and Verva Warszawa Orlen Paliwa visit unbeaten Pool D leaders Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia of Italy, both the French and the Polish teams are hoping for the best possible result not only to outrace one another for the second place in the final pool standings, but also to save at least a theoretical shot at the quarterfinal vacancies. After five legs of play, Verva are in the runner-up position, closely followed by Tours, each on a 2-3 win-loss record and 6 points. As they host Warszawa, Perugia will be trying to secure their sixth straight triumph in the competition. The interesting fight will be between the team with the most aces (52 for Perugia) and the best performance in reception (34% for Warszawa). Moreover, their respective head coaches, Vital Heynen and Andrea Anastasi, have both been at the helm of the national teams of Belgium and Poland.
Luciano De Cecco, player of Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia: “The match we are going to play on Wednesday is surely important for us and for our journey in the competition. Certainly all players on the roster will have the opportunity to perform and to get into the right rhythm. I am sure that whoever will join the game will do his best to win and to fight against a good opponent such as Verva Warszawa. It is a very strong team and they currently top the charts in their own national league. It will be a good show to see for those who will come to the match.”
Nuno Pinheiro, player of Benfica said ahead of the match with Tours, his former team: “It is going to be a special game for me, no doubt. It is a ground I know well, a club where I was very happy, I have many good memories, some achievements. We want to prepare this game in the best way, we want to finish our Champions League campaign in the best way and it is with this goal in mind that we are heading for this game. We are aware of the difficulties, it is a team that plays very well at home, that takes advantage of that factor, a bit like us. We have a feeling of bitterness from our game against them in Lisbon, we felt we could have done more, it was a loss that was hard to take and it is with that in mind that we are going to try to achieve a positive result.”
Even a straight-set home victory over winless Vojvodina NS Seme Novi Sad will not guarantee Belgium’s Knack Roeselare a ticket to the next round as they host the Serbian team at 20:30 local time at the Schiervelde. Knack are currently second on a 3-2 win-loss record and 8 points and well in the race for the three runner-up vacancies, but in addition to making the best out of their last match in Pool E, they also have to keep their fingers crossed for favourable outcomes in the other pools. The game with Vojvodina will be match number 100 under the organisation of Knack’s Champions League Director Guido Declercq. Last Sunday, Knack became the first team in history to win the men’s Belgian Cup for the fifth time in a row. It was their 13th overall trophy in the competition.
Steven Vanmedegael, head coach of Knack Roeselare: "My team has a unique chance to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League. The last time we moved to the next round was in the 2016-2017 season, when we reached the playoffs 12, but then found an unbeatable Zenit Kazan on our way. But first we have to deal with Vojvodina. They didn’t win a single match up to now which makes them a very dangerous opponent. I am sure that they will do their best to finish their European campaign with a victory. We won the away match in Novi Sad by 3-2 after a difficult game. I will tell my players to show respect for this opponent. Vojvodina are a team with a lot of power and attacking qualities. But I count on my players who will fight to the end for every precious point. We want to offer our loyal fans, who always support us, a spectacle on Champions League level."
Even third-placed VfB Friedrichshafen (2-3, 5 points) have a very distant shot at the quarterfinals, but mission looks almost impossible for the German squad not only because favourable outcomes for them in all pools are extremely unlikely, but also because they visit flawless ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle (5-0, 15 points, 15-0 sets) in Poland (18:00 local time) for their last match of this round. The Polish champions look forward to welcoming back Lukasz Kaczmarek, who returned to action – but only briefly – last Sunday in a national league match with PGE Skra Belchatow after struggling with heart problems.
Adam Swaczyna, assistant coach of Zaksa, who previously worked at the side of Vital Heynen at VfB Friedrichshafen: “We want to finish the group phase with a convincing victory and there is no need to add that we will not underestimate our rival.”
Michael Warm, head coach of VfB Friedrichshafen: “We will play without any sort of pressure and fear and we will try to win as many sets as possible, although I realise how difficult it is going to be.”
All Champions League games are streamed live on EuroVolleyTV.
For more info on the competition, go to the CEV Champions League Volley 2020 - Men section.