CLV Men 2021 Preview

With the CEV Champions League Volley 2021 fast approaching and 20 teams competing from several different national leagues, it can be tough to keep up with all the moving parts of professional volleyball. That's why we are sharing previews for every pool of the Champions League 4th round with the key transfers and the most important questions clubs are facing heading into the competition. Here it is for Pool C in the men's competition.

ACH Volley Ljubljana (SLO)

In: Amir Hossein Toukhteh, MB (IRI), Gregor Ropret, S (SLO)
Out: Diko Puric, MB (SLO)
Key Question: Will the addition of Ropret supercharge their offense?

Ljubljana finds themselves in a pool with Russian teams and Berlin once again, with largely the same roster as the team that went 1-5 in the 2019-2020 Champions League pool phase. One new addition that could make the difference is savvy Slovenian setter Gregor Ropret, who was part of Slovenia’s team during the CEV Tokyo Volleyball European Qualification 2020.  

Berlin Recycling Volleys (GER)

In: Éder Carbonera, MB (BRA), Timothée Carle, OH (OH), Anton Brehme, MB (GER)
Out: Jeffrey Jendryk, MB (USA), Moritz Reichart, OH (GER), Nicolas Le Goff, MB (FRA)
Key Question: Are new players a palette swap or a real improvement?

After a disappointing 4th round pool phase in the 2019-2020 season that saw them fail to get past Russian clubs Novy Urengoy and Kemerovo, Berlin has retooled but not rebuilt their roster. Brazilian national team middle Éder Carbonera returns to Chamions League at 37 years old, whereas German prospect Anton Brehme is at the other end of his career at 21 years old. Russian setter Sergey Grankin and American opposite Ben Patch were an unlikely but highly effective pair last season, but other will need to step up for Berlin to make it out of Pool C.

Zenit Kazan (RUS)

In: Bartosz Bednorz, OH (POL), Alexander Volkov, MB (RUS)
Out: Tsvetan Sokolov, OPP (BUL), Vadym Likosherstov, MB (RUS)
Key Question: Can Bartosz Bednorz repeat his break out season from Modena in Kazan?

One of the biggest shocks of the shortened 2020 Champions League campaign was the early exit of Zenit Kazan, the most dominant volleyball club of the last decade. Unexpected losses to Jastrzebski Wegiel and Maaseik in the pool phase meant that they missed the playoffs after placing top 4 every year of the decade. Kazan experimented with their lineup last season, moving Maxim Mikhaylov from his usual opposite to the outside hitter position, allowing Tsvetan Sokolov to swing from position 4. This new lineup will be limited to one year however, as Kazan have brought in Polish outside hitter Bartosz Bednorz, who unexpectedly battled Wilfredo Leon and Osmany Juantorena as a top hitter in Italy last season.

JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel

In: Yacine Louati, OH (FRA), Rafal Szymura, OH (POL), Lukasz Wisniewski, MB (POL), Mohammed Al Hachdadi, OPP (MAR)
Out: Graham Vigrass, MB (CAN), Julien Lyneel, OH (FRA), Christan Fromm, OH (GER), Dawid Konarski, OPP (POL)
Key Question: Can they dethrone Zenit Kazan for the second consecutive year? 

After a memorable 2020 season where the Polish club knocked out Champions League juggernaut Zenit Kazan, JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel returns through the 2nd round to try and knock them out twice in a row. This is a different group that achieved the feat last season though. Both outside hitters were moved and rising Polish star outside hitter Tomasz Fornal will have room to breathe in the starting lineup. Losing Graham Vigrass, one of their most important players last year, hurts, but at 2nd place in the Plusliga, they do not seem to be having too many issues.