2022

Czech champions claim Golden Set victory to move on to Round 2, Benfica claim second win over Estonian rookies

News

Article Wed, Oct 13 2021

ČEZ KARLOVARSKO secured their place in Round 2 of the men’s CEV Champions League Volley 2022 following a 3-2 home victory (25-19, 22-25, 32-30, 22-25, 15-9) over CSM Arcada GALATI, before claiming the all-important Golden Set 15-10.

Everyone expected a very close and tough match, especially after last week the Romanians had emerged victorious only at the tiebreak from the first round of this double header. The hosts and reigning Czech national champions caught a promising start, taking the first set quite comfortably but the remainder of the match was very tight – especially the third set, which ended at 32-30 for the home side. The Czechs eventually claimed a 3-2 victory, which prompted a Golden Set to determine which one of the two teams would progress to the second round of the competition.

This was full of turnarounds, and even though the hosts started better, GALATI edged ahead by two points at some point. However, ČEZ KARLOVARSKO found their way back into the game and eventually claimed a 15-10 win to move on to Round 2, with Lukasz Wiese the MVP on a personal tally of 27 points – three less than those scored by teammate Patrik Indra.

Benfica are through to Round 2 after their second 3-1 victory over Bigbank TARTU

Sport LISBOA e Benfica of Portugal have reached Round 2 as well following their second 3-1 victory in as many matches they contested with Estonian rookies Bigbank TARTU.

Peter Wohlfahrtstätter, middle blocker of Benfica: “It was a hard game for us. Some of their players have previous experience in the Champions League. They are high-quality players, so we knew it was going to be challenging and we could see it in the second set. However, we have enough quality; we changed almost the entire starting six and still managed to win the game. It is a good sign for our future in the Champions League.”

“The relationship with the fans is very good. I hope it lasts a long time. It is essential for us. It was a good win, but not an easy one. We managed to win the two sets that we needed to advance to the next round. After that, I had the chance to use some players with less game time this season. They had some troubles in the beginning but thanks to the trust that we have in them, they found more stability and ended up playing very well.”

Marcel Matz
Head coach of Benfica

Alar Rikberg, head coach of Bigbank TARTU: “This duel between us and Benfica was lost in Tartu, one week ago. We had extremely good chances there, but we could not use them. I really like the way Benfica plays; they are incredible in defence and fight for every ball. With spectators and such an atmosphere in the hall, for sure it was easier to play for them.” 

“In the second set we put Benfica under pressure and managed to win, but the third started quite bad for us, as we made many mistakes and gave the confidence back to Benfica.”

Martti Juhkami
Player of Bigbank TARTU

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