CEV Champions League Volley Pool B Features Some New Names

With a new CEV Champions League Volley season starting on Tuesday 12 November, we are taking a closer look at the teams in each of the five pools in the Pool stage.

After starting the series with a look at the teams in Pool A, today we turn our attention to Pool B.

The headline team in Pool B is Italian side Mint Vero Volley Monza. Italian teams have a serious pedigree in the Champions League, with two titles in the last five years, including last season when Itas Trentino lifted the title.

Monza is a relatively young team, having only be founded in 1999, but they wasted little time in making their mark on the European stage, claiming CEV Cup bronze in just their third season.

They claimed a first European title when lifting the CEV Cup in 2022, and last year finished as runners-up in the CEV Challenge Cup. This season, they feature in the Champions League after defeating Trentino in the third-place play-off in the SuperLega.

Also featuring in Pool B are Greek champions Olympiacos Piraeus. One of the most dominant teams domestically in Europe, Olympiacos have won 15 of the last 16 Greek titles, and are competing in the Champions League pool stage for the second straight season.

Last season they finished third in their Champions League pool and earned a spot in the CEV Cup, where they reached the quarterfinals. The only Greek side to win a European trophy, Olympiacos have claimed two CEV Cups, in 1996 and 2005, and the CEV Challenge Cup in 2023. Their best Champions League performance came in 1992 and 2002, when they finished as runners-up.

Another European stalwart competing in Pool B is Fenerbahce Medicana Istanbul. Fenerbahce have not been crowned Turkish champions since 2019, but have regularly featured in the Champions League, consistently earning their spot in the competition.

They also have had some success on the continental level, in fact when they lifted the CEV Challenge Cup title in 2013, they made volleyball history as the Fenerbahce women’s side lifted the CEV Cup on the very same day. Very few clubs can claim European titles in both the men’s and women’s game.

Last year, Fenerbahce fell in the semifinals of the CEV Cup, losing to eventual champions Asseco Resovia, while domestically they finished as runners-up, losing out to Halkbank Ankara in the play-off final.

The final team in Pool B is German outfit Helios Grizzlys Giesen. This is unchartered territory for the Germans, though they have contested the CEV Challenge Cup in the 2020/21 season.

Last season, Giesen finished with the second-best record in the Bundesliga, but fell in the semi-finals of the play-offs.

Pool B’s action starts on Wednesday 13 November, and these four teams will be looking to make strides in this competition the likes of which they haven’t made in some time.