22/03/2016 22:43
‘Match of the Week’ between Turkish and Italian giants coming up on Wednesday afternoon
2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Men
Ankara, Turkey, March 22, 2016. Wednesday afternoon will provide Volleyball fans from all over the world with another major highlight and more specifically with the ‘Match of the Week’ between Turkey’s Halkbank ANKARA and Italy’s Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA where a ticket to the Final Four of the 2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Men will be at stake. The Italians came back from two sets down last Thursday before claiming a 3-2 home win and therefore a fierce battle is expected to unfold at Baskent Volleyball Hall in Turkey’s capital.
Lorenzo Bernardi, the coach of Halkbank ANKARA, said that this a must-win match for his team. “We forgot already what happened with the first match since we have to restart from scratch. As you know, it is everyone’s dream to compete in the Final Four. We are very close to making it there and we will use our power, muscles, emotions and minds to the full in order to reach the final stage. It is already an important achievement to have made it this far in this competition but now we want to make it one step further. With the support of our fans I am confident that we can secure our ticket to Poland,” Bernardi said referring to Krakow as the venue of the Final Four scheduled for April 16-17.
Team captain Ulas Kiyak added: “We know Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA very well and since this is the second match we play in less than one week, they know us very well too. Both teams have some world-class players included in their roster. This is going to be a great Volleyball party. We expect a lot of our fans will be showing up and support us from the stands. We just want them to come to the arena and share this great moment together.”
Vice captain Michal Kubiak stressed that Halkbank will be trying to use the advantage of playing the re-match at home. “We have been playing very well lately and we can perform at a high level on Wednesday if we keep on believing in ourselves. We will be doing our best to win this match and send our opponent back home without dropping a set,” he said.
French opposite Kevin Le Roux echoed the words of his teammates: “We are hungry for more success and we want to be the team qualifying for the Final Four in the end. Our target should not be to edge Cucine Lube but to be the champions by the time the competition comes to an end. It would be good if we could finish the season by claiming the trophies of the Champions League and Turkey’s national league. We know that it is not easy when you are playing at this level but we will be doing our best against Cucine Lube.”
Halkbank already upset another Italian team – DHL MODENA – in the previous round and are trying to improve on the silver medal they won in 2014 when they hosted the Final Four of Europe’s elite competition and lost the ‘grand finale’ to Russia’s Belogorie BELGOROD.
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