Luxembourg, December 16, 2019. As the programme of the second leg in the sixteenthfinal stage of the CEV Volleyball Cup 2020 and the CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup 2020 is set to be completed for both genders this week, by Thursday, December 19, all eighthfinalists in the four European Cups will become known. A total of 61 games will be played this week at various venues all over the continent to set the stage for the next round in the four competitions.
CEV Cup - Women
The most anticipated match of the first leg, between Poland’s Grupa Azoty Chemik POLICE and Turkey’s Galatasaray HDI ISTANBUL, produced a fairly surprising result. It will be interesting to see how the Turkish powerhouse reacts to their four-set loss as they host their Polish opponents for the return game at the Burhan Felek on Tuesday, at 19:00 local time, in this week’s tournament opener.
Six of the 14 first-leg fixtures two weeks ago delivered spectacular five-setters, which means the anticipation is high as the second-leg games in these matchups approach. France’s ASPTT MULHOUSE snatched two sets from their difficult trip to Poland, but will have to do better than that as they host Developres SkyRes RZESZÓW on Wednesday, if they want to avoid a risky golden set.
The same applies to Finland’s HÄMEENLINNA as they are getting ready to welcome Czech Republic’s VK Selmy BRNO on Tuesday, to ZOK Bimal-Jedinstvo BRČKO ahead of their second all-Bosnian clash with UOK Banjaluka Voley BANJA LUKA on Wednesday, and to the other Czech team, VK PROSTEJOV, entertaining Belgium’s Asterix Avo BEVEREN on Thursday.
Although SC POTSDAM pushed Dinamo KAZAN to the limit (pictured), the Russian team are still the favourites in this series after they won by 3-2 in Germany and are playing at home in the second match on Wednesday. Dinamo KAZAN may feel a bit of fatigue after flying to Siberia for a match of the Russian national league and they will be missing their rising star Tatiana Kadochkina due to injury. The only 15-year-old Arina Fedorovtseva will be playing instead, together with setter Evgeniya Startseva - a former winner of the Champions League and CEV Cup - and Marina Maryukhnich, a three-time winner of the CEV Cup. “We knew in advance that we would have a difficult schedule in December. Therefore, we prepared well, worked hard and hope that we will continue to win,” commented Dinamo KAZAN middle blocker Irina Koroleva. Things look a bit more unpredictable in Tuesday’s clash between Fatum NYIREGYHAZA and CSM TARGOVISTE, even though the Hungarian squad managed to pull off a five-set victory in Romania.
In one sixteenthfinal series, both legs will be played this week as 2019 Challenge Cup winners Saugella MONZA of Italy welcome Ukraine’s Orbita ZNU Zodush ZAPORIZHZHYA to Busto Arsizio on Tuesday and Thursday. “We have to prepare ourselves really good as we do with the matches we play in the Italian league. Every game needs full concentration and requires a high level of perfomance. It is going to be tough also because we are playing a lot of games at the moment but we are ready for it,” said the Dutch outside hitter of Saugella MONZA, Floortje Meijners.
CEV Cup - Men
The week’s programme in the men’s CEV Cup will open with Tuesday’s games C.S. Municipal Arcada GALATI vs. Savo Volley KUOPIO and Shakhtior SOLIGORSK vs. United Volleys FRANKFURT. While the Romanian team looks set to advance to the eighthfinals, after a 3-0 away win in Finland, things are less certain for the Belarusian side. They did win the first leg in Germany, but only after an extended tie-breaker.
It will be interesting to see if Czech Republic’s VK OSTRAVA will be able to recover from a 2-3 loss at home as they travel to Bleiburg for the return match with Austria’s SK Zadruga AICH/DOB on Wednesday. “After the first game went on for five sets, we expect a very close game for the second leg on Wednesday. Both teams are performing at the same level, so the form of the day will decide who will advance to the 8th Finals,” said a very tense Sports Director of AICH/DOB, Martin Micheu.
Greece’s Olympiacos PIRAEUS face a similar task as they visit Italy’s Leo Shoes MODENA, following a spectacular five-set encounter, lost at home in the first leg.
There were no other tie-breaker matches in the first leg, yet intriguing return games may be expected in many of the sixteenthfinal series. With that in mind, the most attention is drawn to France, where CHAUMONT VB 52 entertain Lokomotiv NOVOSIBIRSK on Wednesday, after a straight-set defeat in Russia last week, as well as to the Czech Republic, where Dukla LIBEREC host Galatasaray HDI ISTANBUL on Thursday, after claiming one set in the first match in Turkey.
Challenge Cup - Women
Judging by the first-leg results, where no match went beyond four sets, the most unpredictable games of the second leg should be the two, where the home team managed to win one set away before hosting their opponents this week.
In one of these cases, PVK Olymp PRAHA will try to compensate for the 1-3 loss at Calcit Volley KAMNIK, as the Slovenian opponents pay them a visit in the Czech capital on Wednesday.
In the other, Levski SOFIA will host Sm' AESCH Pfeffingen after claiming the third set of the first game in Switzerland. The game in the Bulgarian capital is one of the two scheduled on Thursday.
This week’s women’s Challenge Cup action will open with Tuesday’s only game, Dukla LIBEREC vs. C.S.M. LUGOJ. After a 3-0 win at home, the Romanian team visit their Czech opponents at 18:00 local time in Liberec. The second leg will close in Israel, where Hapoel KFAR SABA welcome Greece’s Olympiacos PIRAEUS on Thursday at 19:00 local time, after losing the first game in straight sets.
Challenge Cup - Men
Buducnost PODGORICA outplayed VKP SPU NITRA at home, but as they take the trip for the away match in Slovakia, the Montenegrin squad need to be aware of the two sets they lost. On Wednesday in Nitra, they will need to win again, in order to proceed, or take at least two sets to reach a deciding golden set.
The same goes for Denmark’s GENTOFTE Volley as they visit ACS Volei Municipal ZALAU in Romania, also on Wednesday.
Czech Republic’s KLADNO Volejbal cz also managed a five-set win over SCM U CRAIOVA, but did so in Romania, so their task this Wednesday does look a tad easier since they will be playing at home.
Spor Toto SC ANKARA and Kosovo’s K.V. Luboteni FERIZAJ will open this week’s action on Tuesday at 18:00 local time at the Baskent hall in the Turkish capital, after the team from Ankara mastered a straight-set away victory in the first match.
Both legs of the sixteenthfinal series between Italy’s Allianz Powervolley MILANO and Albania’s Erzeni SHIJAK will be played this week, on Wednesday and Thursday, in Milan in the aftermath of the quake that hit Albania in late November. With both games starting at 20:00 local time, the second fixture at Centro Pavesi will close this round of the men’s Challenge Cup competition.
For more info, go to the CEV Cup 2020 and the CEV Challenge Cup 2020 sections.