Luxembourg, January 25, 2021. CEV Champions League Volley 2021 - Men is set to get the 2021 calendar year underway with the second of two round-robin tournaments in Pool A to be held at the Energia hall in Belchatow from Tuesday through Thursday.

With fourth-placed Lindemans Aalst of Belgium taking on third-placed Fenerbahce HDI Istanbul of Turkey in the opener at 18:00 local time on Tuesday, the first competition night will also offer a big all-Polish clash between impeccable pool leaders Grupa Azoty Kedzierzyn-Kozle and tournament hosts PGE Skra Belchatow at 20:30. These are the starting times of the matches on Wednesday and Thursday as well.



Grupa Azoty hosted the first tournament in December and won all three of their matches in straight sets. In fact, they have yet to lose an official match this season. They lead their domestic league in Poland on a 19-0 win-loss record, after starting the season in September with two victories in the Poland Super Cup competition to claim the trophy with a 3-1 win over Skra in the final. Having defeated that opponent three more times during the season, twice in the Polish league and once in the Champions League, both at home, the squad from Kedzierzyn-Kozle maintain the status of heavy favourites ahead of this week’s event although no longer with the home-court advantage on their side. Despite the fact that the club’s best result in the Champions League so far is the 2003 bronze, coach Nikola Grbic can rely on such a strong roster that Grupa Azoty are also among the overall favourites to win the trophy in the spring.

Jakub Kochanowski, middle blocker of Grupa Azoty Grupa Azoty Kedzierzyn-Kozle: “We want to take the first place in the pool. To do this, we have to beat PGE Skra for three points. This match will be crucial. If we manage to do it, then we will no longer have a knife to our throats and we will be able to approach the next matches with less pressure.”



Of course, PGE Skra Belchatow are keen on changing that by using their home-court advantage to make up for the defeat in Kedzierzyn-Kozle last month. If not, they will certainly target the second place in the final pool standings to save a good shot at making the quarterfinals. Skra’s American star Taylor Sander is one good reason for a positive outlook. While during the previous tournament he was just recovering shape after an injury, now he is fully ready for battle and made that clear on Friday when he deserved the MVP honour in the four-set home victory over GKS Katowice, which put an end to a three-game losing streak in the PlusLiga. Skra are ranked seventh in the current domestic standings on a 9-10 win-loss record. At the first Pool A tournament, after losing to Grupa Azoty in straight sets, they came back with a shutout of Lindemans and defeated Fenerbahce by 3-1. Historically, they have won three medals in the Champions League - silver in 2012 and bronze in 2008 and 2010.

Michal Gogol, head coach of PGE Skra Belchatow: “We will have an exhausting tournament and we have to approach it as fresh as possible. For the start, we will play against (the team from) Kedzierzyn, and we are the only team that have broken their full points this season. I hope that our healthy mental approach and the fact that we play at home in Belchatow will make us generate even more energy for this tournament.”

Taylor Sander, outside hitter of PGE Skra Belchatow: “We need to be fighters, fighting for the club, fighting for each other. For us, it is important to do this, going into the Champions League. It’s going to be good. It felt good to get a win, a little bit of happiness before going into three really strong games. We’re going to go and we’re going to try and win. I’m excited to work hard and prepare for these good teams. I’m excited to play at our home gym and hopefully make our club proud.”



Fenerbahce HDI Istanbul opened the pool competition last month with a dramatic five-set win over Lindemans, which put them in third place ahead of the second tournament. They do admit the strength of their Polish opponents, but feel ready to produce some surprises.  In between the two events, Fenerbahce won four of the five domestic matches they played and lead the Turkish league standings on a 19-2 win-loss record. They achieved their best Champions League result so far at their debut appearance in 2008-2009, when they reached the last 16.

Erkan Togan, head coach of Fenerbahce HDI Istanbul: “Our pool consists of strong teams, but we still have a small chance. We don't have any injured players, I will try to use all our players in the matches, and I believe we will play well. Maybe we can even make a surprise. There is no such thing as 'not possible'. After all, volleyball is a sport and anything can happen. If we accept the facts, the balance of power is uneven, but we will try our best.”

Ulas Kiyak, setter and captain of Fenerbahce HDI Istanbul: “We know the quality and the difficulty of the Champions League, but we are prepared for it in the best possible way. As we said before, we're in a tough group. But we want to do our best and get good results.”



Lindemans Aalst showed some good performance in Kedzierzyn-Kozle, but failed to win a match. They did, however, push Fenerbahce to five sets and claimed a point for the ranking. Following that Champions League tournament, Lindemans extended their negative streak over the next three domestic matches, but finally got back on the winning track last Friday when they claimed a 3-1 away victory at Caruur Volley Ghent in their last match before the trip to Belchatow. They are fifth in the current standings with six wins in 13 games. The club’s best result in the Champions League was achieved in 2016, when they advanced from the pool stage to the last 13 of the competition.



All matches in Belchatow will be streamed live on EuroVolleyTV.