In focus: #CLVolleyM Pool C

Today let’s take a look at the teams to compete in the men’s CEV Champions League Volley 2024 Pool C. Italy’s Gas Sales Daiko Piacenza will host Turkiye’s Halkbank Ankara at the Palabanca to get the race underway on Wednesday, November 22, at 20:00 local time. A day later, Germany’s Berlin Recycling Volleys will welcome Portugal’s SL Benfica Lisbon to the Max-Schmeling-Halle at 19:30 local time.

The pool phase of the competition will last through January 17, 2024. A total of 12 matches, split into the six legs of a double round-robin format, will determine the final standings in each pool. The pool winner will advance directly to the Champions League quarterfinals, while the pool runner-up and quite possibly the third-placed team will book their spots in the eighthfinal playoffs of Europe’s most prestigious club competition.

Berlin Recycling Volleys represents Germany in the Champions League as the country’s national champion. The club has been the reigning German champion since 2016 and has won a total of 13 national titles in Bundesliga history. BR Volleys’ best result in the Champions League so far was the bronze they took in 2015. Last season, in the German team’s 14th Champions League appearance, it finished pool runner-up to Halkbank, on a 4-2 win-loss record and then outplayed Ziraat Bankasi Ankara to reach the quarterfinals. The club’s international achievements include the 2016 CEV Cup trophy and the CEV Challenge Cup bronze medals in 1999 and 2010. The German champion has already filed away its first trophy this season by winning the national super cup in October. BR Volleys shut out archrival VfB Friedrichshafen in the final while setter Johannes Tille was named MVP of the tournament. Ruben Schott, Tobias Krick, Timothee Carle and their teammates are still undefeated after four legs of the Bundesliga season and stand second in the table on 11 points, separated from leader SWD powervolleys Dueren on point ratio.

Italy’s Gas Sales Daiko Piacenza represents a young club, founded in 2018, and is about to mark its Champions League debut. The team booked a spot for its rookie appearance by winning the 2022-2023 Italian national cup, its first national trophy. Last season Gas Sales competed in the CEV Cup and reached the semifinals, where it was knocked out by Belgium’s Knack Roeselare in a golden set. The club’s stellar squad features the likes of setter Antoine Brizard, opposite Yuri Romano, outside hitters Ricardo Lucarelli and Yoandy leal, and middle blocker Robertlandy Simon, among others, which makes Gas Sales the favorite to win this pool. The Wolves are currently fourth in the Italian SuperLega on a 3-1 win-loss record and 9 points.

Halkbank Ankara claimed last season’s silver medals in the Turkish league and the national cup trophy to qualify for its ninth Champions League appearance this season. In the 2022-2023 Champions League, it topped its pool on a 5-1 win-loss record and went on to overcome Italy’s Cucine Lube Civitanova in the quarterfinals to make its way to the semis. In 2014, the club hosted the Final Four tournament in Ankara and earned silver, the highest achievement in its history, along with the 2013 CEV Cup trophy. Two seasons ago, Halkbank took Challenge Cup silver, adding it to the two bronze medals they had from earlier editions of the competition. This season, the squad around phenomenal Dutch opposite Nimir Abdel-Aziz and US setter Micah Ma’a has been further strengthened by the arrival of French star Earvin Ngapeth and experienced Canadian John Gordon Perrin. Nine-time champion Halkbank is still undefeated in the Turkish league this fall, with six wins and 18 points, second only to Fenerbahce PRL Istanbul on set ratio.

SL Benfica Lisbon mastered a 2023 golden double in Portugal, winning both the cup and the championship, and secured its fourth Champions League participation. Last season Sport Lisboa finished fourth in its pool on a 0-6 win-loss record and 2 points. The year before, however, it marked its best result, 11th place in the final standings, after finishing third in its pool. Benfica’s best continental achievements were the 2015 silver and the 2016 bronze in the Challenge Cup competition. The club’s showcase contains 11 national titles and it already added the first trophy of the current season by winning the Portugal super cup in early October. Former Portuguese international, 40-year-old opposite Hugo Gaspar, and his teammates are currently table leaders in their national league, unbeaten in eight matches and with a full set of 24 points.

Watch the Champions League live on EuroVolleyTV.