Luxembourg, March 23, 2021. The CEV Cup - Women is close to
finding its champion as the 2020/2021 season is only hours away from the return match between Galatasaray HDI Istanbul (TUR) and Saugella Monza (ITA). With
an absolutely dominant performance in last week’s first encounter, won in
straight sets, the Italians from Monza will be entering the court extremely
confident that they could fend off any attempts from Galatasaray of pushing
this Final into a Golden Set.
On the other hand, Galatasaray
will be hopeful of a comeback at the Burhan Felek Voleybol Salonu in Istanbul, especially
after their convincing display and win in the semi-finals against the French
team of Beziers Angels, after losing the away match.
Another potentially massive boost
for the Turkish side coached by Ataman Güneyligil is the expected return of
their star player Olesia Rykhliuk, second in the competition scorer’s rankings, only behind
teammate Tatiana Kosheleva, who is also expected to once again contribute
massively to her team’s efforts.
“The most important thing is that this is not
the end: we have another game and I believe in my team, and I know that we are
able to do better. I hope we can enjoy the experience on the court in the next
match and recover the girls who did not come here. We need all of us to win
this cup,” said Kosheleva after the first match of this Final.
- One overwhelming statistic from
the first match is represented by the 17 blocks MONZA produced, when only being
stopped twice by the Turkish block.
- MONZA had a 58% execution in
attack, Galatasaray had 41%.
Floortje Meijners, player of
Saugella MONZA: “It may have seemed simple tonight, but Galatasaray is a strong
team that we face with the right attitude. Now we need to focus on the away
match: it will not be easy but we will do our best.”
The Final will be streamed live on CEV's EuroVolley.TV.
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