Three teams hopeful of challenging Leo Shoes’ supremacy in Pool D

The winner of Pool D in the men’s CEV Champions League Volley 2021 is set to emerge this week in Modena, Italy, where Belgium’s Knack Roeselare, Russia’s Kuzbass Kemerovo, Poland’s VERVA Warszawa ORLEN Paliwa and hosts Leo Shoes Modena will resume their race for quarterfinal spots on Tuesday. On Thursday, once the matches in all pools have been completed, it will be known whether the Pool D runners-up will join the pool winners among the best eight teams in Europe.

On each of the three competition days, the starting times of the two matches at the Palapanini hall are set at 18:00 and 20:30 local time, except for Wednesday, when Knack and Kuzbass are scheduled to open the daily programme at 17:30.

Leo Shoes Modena came out of December’s first Pool D round-robin tournament in Roeselare unbeaten and, with the home court advantage on their side in the second tournament, the Italian team is the first pick to win the pool. The recent return of Austrian star Paul Buchegger to the court after recovering from surgery further boosts Leo Shoes’ status as favourites to top the pool standings. In between the two Champions League tournaments, the squad from Modena won four and lost four in their domestic league, standing seventh in the current table on an 11-11 win-loss record. They also played two matches in their national cup tournament, winning in the quarterfinals and losing in the semis. The club is the third most decorated in the history of Europe’s top-tier club competition. Between 1990 and 1998, they became four-time continental champions. They also have four silver medals and a bronze.

VERVA Warszawa ORLEN Paliwa are in second place after the first tournament. They played three straight-set matches, losing to Leo Shoes, but defeating Knack and Kuzbass. They lost their most recent domestic game on Saturday, suffering their third defeat since returning from Roeselare. That loss interrupted a seven-game winning streak and put them at 15-8 in fourth place in the current standings. They have also announced the departure of their talented opposite Jakub Ziobrowski, a member of Poland’s golden generation that won two world and two European titles in their age category from 2015 through 2017. At their rookie appearance in the Champions League last season, the team from Warsaw finished third in their pool on a 2-4 win-loss record, but are aiming higher this time around as they hold a good shot at the quarterfinals ahead of the tournament in Modena.

Andrea Anastasi, head coach of Verva Warszawa Orlen Paliwa: "In Modena we want to win 3 matches and reach the quarterfinals of the CEV Champions League. I am happy that we are playing in Italy. Thanks to this, I will finally go to Poggio Rusco and meet my loved ones."

Andrzej Wrona, captain and middle-blocker of Verva Warszawa Orlen Paliwa: "We flew to Italy for nine points and a spot in quarterfinals of the CEV Champions League. We are highly motivated and we want to be successful. I am convinced that we are able to achieve a good result there. Three matches in three days is quite a challenge, but all teams have the same conditions. Our group is really strong and everyone can win with everyone. We want to get a bit further in the Champions League than last season, which we finished on the 4th Round."

So do Kuzbass Kemerovo. Although they suffered two defeats in Roselare and trail behind Leo Shoes and VERVA in the standings, they arrived in Italy in full force hoping to catch up by winning all three of their matches this week. Led by Italian star Ivan Zaytsev, who previously played for the club from Modena, Kuzbass stand second in the Russian Superliga on a record of 16 wins and four defeats. Since the first Champions League tournament in December, they won seven and lost two of their domestic matches. It is their second participation in the Champions League. Last year, they had already advanced to the semifinals when the coronavirus pandemic struck and put a premature stop to the season.

Alexey VERBOV, head coach of Kuzbass Kemerovo: "There’s a great quote by Confucius about three things that once gone never come back – time, word and opportunity. Time and word are more on a philosophical side spectrum of things; they have nothing to do with us now. However, an opportunity is exactly what we have now. We must try to take full advantage of it. Nobody really knows what’s going to happen next. Our task is to do our best at every game and move towards our main goal. The team feels good, despite out tough journey. Moreover, I can see players’ eyes lit up and they are looking forward to the game tomorrow so I encourage everybody to root for our team tomorrow. It’s going to be an exciting battle of two good teams."

Knack Roeselare are probably the only team in the pool, whose chances of advancing to the quarterfinals are practically slim to none as they lost all three of their games at home in December. Yet, they were the only team to have snatched a point from favourites Leo Shoes in a hard-fought five-setter. Since then, they have played only three matches in the Belgian league, losing the first one (their first defeat of the season), but winning the next two. On a 12-1 win-loss record, Knack are second in their current domestic standings. They have also won both matches in their semifinal series and advanced to the final of the national cup. For the Belgian powerhouse, the best result within their previous 18 Champions League campaigns was reaching the last seven of the competition in 2007.

All matches in Modena to be streamed live on EuroVolleyTV.

Go to Pool D’s full schedule with match centres.