16/02/2016 20:16
Benfica host Ethnikos in remake of last year’s Challenge Cup quarter-final fixture
2016 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup - Men
Lisbon, Portugal, February 16, 2016. On Wednesday night Portugal’s Benfica LISBOA and Greece’s Ethnikos ALEXANDROUPOLIS will be crossing their ways in the first round of the 2016 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup – Men quarter-finals. This is a remake of the same clash from last season where the team from Portugal’s capital edged the Greeks to eventually finish as the competition’s runners-up after losing the final to Serbia’s Vojvodina NS Seme NOVI SAD.
The setter of Benfica LISBOA, Paulo Renan Bertassoni, said: “There have been many changes in Ethnikos’s roster since last year and I believe this will be a difficult match because they are a quality team, otherwise they wouldn’t have made it to this stage of the competition. However, it all depends on our performance and I believe that if we start like we did in our last matches, and on top of this you add the home advantage, we have good chances to win.”
The home mentor José Jardim added: “We know they are not the same team as last year, they are just the same club because only one or two players stayed on from last season. They have two new outside spikers, including a Serbian guy who previously played for Partizan BEOGRAD [Nikola Mijailovic]. They are a completely different team; we have been studying and scouting them a lot and from what we have seen they play much more aggressive than they did last year.”
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