Istanbul, Turkey, February 4, 2014. Reigning champion VakifBank ISTANBUL is ready to play against French side RC CANNES in the 2014 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Women Playoff 6 Round. The unbeaten Turkish giant will be pursuing a solid first-leg advantage on the road to the Final Four.
The incumbent club world champion VakifBank won all of its six matches in Pool C of the League Round to finish on top of the standings ahead of Polish Atom Trefl SOPOT, Romanian Dinamo Romprest BUCURESTI and Belgian GENT Dames. In the Playoff 12 stage, the yellow-and-black team defeated Igtisadchi Baku of Azerbaijan in both matches and now it is set to face RC CANNES with the first game scheduled for February 6 at the Burhan Felek Volleyball Hall in Istanbul. Should VakifBank overcome this opponent, the next stage will be the Final Four on Europe’s most elitist competition.
“We will play with the Final Four in mind,” VakifBank mentor Giovanni Guidetti stressed, “Two tough matches will be played between CANNES and us. We know how strong they are; we watched them against Galatasaray Daikin ISTANBUL in the previous round. We have been preparing for this clash very well since the beginning of this week. We will fight hard in both matches in order to qualify for the Final Four.”
“We want to win at home,” VakifBank captain Gozde Sonsirma stated. “We won five cups last season and we would like to continue our campaign through the end of this one. The most important reason is to keep our title. We have two games right before the Final Four which will lead us closer to our target. We need to win at home to gain advantage before the away match.”