Luxembourg, January 28, 2021. With Grupa Azoty KĘDZIERZYN KOŹLE dominating Pool A of the CEV Champions League Volley Men 4th Round, managing 5 wins out of as many matches, Fenerbahçe HDI Istanbul and PGE Skra Belchatow were left fighting for the second spot in the Pool that could potentially offer a place into the next round of the competition. However, the Turkish side failed to impress when faced with Polish opposition and slipped behind Belchatow who will now be looking for their 4th win to maintain hopes for qualification.

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Head to Head

It has been eight years since these two teams first faced each other in the Champions League, when PGE Skra BELCHATOW defeated Fenerbahce Grundig ISTANBUL twice: 3-0 in Łódź and 3-1 in Istanbul. Earlier this season, PGE Skra Belchatow beat Fenerbahçe HDI Istanbul 3-1 in the reverse fixture on 10 December. It was Bartosz Filipiak (20) and Milad Ebadipour Ghara H. (20) that won the most points for the Poles, while Metin Toy (17) finished as top scorer for the Turkish side.

A step forward for Fenerbahçe

From the moment of the Drawing of Lots, qualifying from Pool A where they would face two top Polish sides would never be an easy task for the Turkish team. Despite dominating the national league this season (19 Wins – 2 Losses), Fenerbahçe’s track record over the years in Europe’s premiere competition has been lackluster. So far this season they have managed two wins, a significant step forward when looking back at 2017/18 and 2019/20, seasons in which they remained winless in the 4th Round. The Turkish side only managed more in this phase of the competition in 2014/15, with 3 wins. 

However, with a poor record against the Poles from PGE Skra Belchatow and nothing on the line at this point, coach Erkan Togan will be looking for his side to show some of the exciting volleyball that they managed to play in the domestic league and leave this year’s Champions League Volley with a positive result.

PGE Skra keep hopes for qualification alive

Lead from the bench by Michal Gogol, the team from Belchatow has been having a very good season, unbeaten in the domestic league (19 Wins) and pushing Grupa Azoty for the top spot in Pool A of the Champions League. However, they now sit second in the pool and need a win against Fenerbahçe if they are to maintain strong hopes of qualifying into the next round from the second position.

A driving force for the Polish side this season has been outside spiker Milad Ebadipour Ghara, who is now the top scorer of the 4th Round (75 pts), with only TRENTINO Itas's Nimir Abdel-Aziz (78 pts) scoring more points in this Champions League season.