European Stalwarts Dominate CEV Champions League Volley Pool A

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.

We start with Pool A, which features Polish side PGE Projekt Warszawa, German champions Berlin Recycling Volleys, Belgians Greenyard Maaseik and Slovenian champions ACH Volley Ljubljana.

Projekt Warszawa are back in the Champions League this season, having last competed in Europe’s premier competition in the 2021/22 season, where they finished third in their Pool. They finished third in the Polish PlusLiga last season and made it into the Champions League by defeating Asseco Resovia in the third-place playoff.

The Polish team does not have much pedigree in the Champions League, but they do have some continental success, defeating Vero Volley Milano in the final of last year’s CEV Challenge Cup, their first European title.  

Berlin Recycling Volleys are no stranger to the Champions League. Perennial champions of their domestic league, Berlin feature in the Pool stages frequently. They have progressed to the knockouts often in recent years, but their best success came back in 2015 when they took the bronze medal.

The following season the German outfit lifted their most recent European title, the CEV Cup, defeating Russian outfit Gazprom-Ugra Surgut in the final.

Belgians Greenyard Maaseik have not finished the season as league champions since 2019, but they are consistently in the final of the play-offs at home. Despite this, they consistently take part in the Champions League, with 41 appearances in the competition.

They had some European success in the late 2000s, finishing as runners-up in the CEV Cup in 2008 and taking bronze in 2010. They also have two runners-up finishes in the Champions League, back in 1997 and 1999.

The team with the most domestic success in Pool A is unquestionably ACH Volley Ljubljana, who have won 15 of the last 16 Slovenian league titles. That has not yet translated to continental success, with their best Champions League appearance being a Final Four appearance in 2010. Ljubljana have, however, won the CEV Cup, defeating Modena Volley 3-2 in the final.

The 2024/25 Champions League starts with Pool A on Tuesday 12 November.