29/10/2014 11:19
Qualification to Playoff round is Olympiacos’ ultimate goal
2015 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Men
Piraeus, Greece, October 29, 2014. After last year’s comeback in Europe’s elite club competition, Greece’s champions Olympiacos PIRAEUS are just about to participate in the 2015 edition of the CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League where their goal is to make the Playoff round. To achieve this feat they have to stand the challenge which is brought by Russia’s heavyweight Zenit KAZAN, Germany’s VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN and Austria’s Posojilnica AICH/DOB, their opponents in Pool D.
Olympiacos signed many players for their 2014/2015 campaign thereby strengthening their roster in comparison to the previous season. Olympiacos is aiming high as the management of the club stated in a press conference specifically devoted to their participation in the 2015 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League.
“The situation in our group is wide open; Zenit KAZAN is the clear-cut favourite but together with the other teams from Germany and Austria we will be fighting to get that second place that may be enough to be promoted to the Playoff round,” said head coach Dimitris Kazazis. “We are of course determined to fight for every point in each match and feel honoured with the opportunity to participate in this competition for the second consecutive year. As far as the qualification to the Playoff round is concerned, I believe this is something we can realistically achieve.”
Team captain Konstantinos Christofidelis, one of the local Volleyball icons at Olympiacos, added: “We are working hard so that step by step we can come back to the top also in Europe. It is very important that we have the chance to participate in this elite competition and I agree with my coach and mentor that this time around we can make it a step further than we did last year. I am sure that the young players we have on our team will enjoy these matches. We have to show, especially in our home matches, that we have a strong team. I wish all players on our roster will be able to live some great moments as I have already done many times while wearing the shirt of Olympiacos.”
The Vice-President of Olympiacos, Pantelis Tarnatoros, added: “This competition is a global benchmark of where you stand in Volleyball, with plenty of strong and elite teams. We have been drawn in a Pool which you can hardly define as being easy or difficult. This will also depend on how things evolve for our team as well as for our opponents throughout the season. We are optimistic and we want to do our best to represent Greece in the best way.”
Christina Tsiliggiri, General Director at Olympiacos, concluded the press conference by also addressing a few words to the media in attendance: “After some years we came back in this elite competition already last season and after going through many problems. Last year we had to re-adjust many things and get used again to the level of this competition. However, this time around we want to raise our profile in Europe and achieve results that suit to the resume of a strong and decorated club such as Olympiacos. One key factor on our way to achieve this will be the support of our fans.”
Olympiacos will make their debut on November 5 playing Posojilnica AICH/DOB in Klagenfurt before they host Russian giant Zenit KAZAN on November 19 for their first home match of the season.
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