23/01/2015 17:46
Olympiacos determined to finish European campaign on a home victory
2015 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Men
Piraeus, Greece, January 23, 2015. On Tuesday night, January 27, Greece’s champions Olympiacos PIRAEUS will host Austria’s Posojilnica AICH/DOB for their sixth and final match in Pool D of the 2015 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Men. The Greek champions have won only one of the five matches they have contested so far and therefore their chances to make the Playoffs have already vanished. However, Olympiacos are determined to finish their campaign in Europe’s elite competition with a second victory in order to claim third place in the final standings of their group.
Only a few days ago Olympiacos lost in three sets to Zenit KAZAN of Russia and this way the Tatars secured first place in Pool D. Olympiacos had started their adventure well by scoring an away victory over Posojilnica in Austria but their losses to VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN did already crash their dreams of glory. Still the Greek champions are doing well in their national league with a perfect record of 13 wins in as many matches they have played so far. After the match with Posojilnica, Olympiacos will turn their focus entirely to the domestic competitions as their goal is to retain both titles they won last year in Greece’s national league and national cup as well.
“I believe that after losing to VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN our hopes to achieve something good in the European Cups were already gone,” says head coach Dimitris Kazazis. “At this stage we do not stand any chance to make the Playoffs and even to move on to the Challenge Round of the CEV Volleyball Cup. However, it is important that we perform well in our last home match for this season and we want to bid farewell to this competition with a victory so that we finish our European campaign as good as we started it. I am confident that with the support of our fans we will be able to play at the level which is required to edge past a good opponent such as Posojilnica.”
Milan Jurisic, one of the star players of Olympiacos, adds: “The truth is that after winning weeks ago the first match with Posojilnica we thought that this home match would have had a different meaning and value. We wanted to make the Playoff round but after losing twice to VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN our chances were gone. This week we lost in three sets to Zenit KAZAN and from that match the only positive we take is our performance in the third set. Now we want to finish our European campaign with a victory and after that we will turn our full attention to the domestic competitions. We definitely want to deliver a good performance in the match with Posojilnica and are determined to win relying also on the help of our fans.”
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