Benfica stops just short of shocking Lube

Portugal’s Sport Lisboa e Benfica Lisbon brushed aside its underdog status in Wednesday’s Pool C opener of the men’s CEV Champions League Volley 2023 and stunned Italy’s Cucine Lube Civitanova by winning the first two sets, before the favorites mastered a hard-fought comeback to celebrate a 3-2 (23-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-22, 15-13) victory.

Benfica scored three in a row to manage the first breakaway in the first set and take an 8-6 lead. With their spiking efforts nicely spread out among all attackers, they kept the pressure on and widened the gap to as many as five points at 14-9. Lube battled their way back and finally caught up at 19-19, only to immediately allow another two-point lead for Benfica. The Portuguese team kept pace and with a successful hit from outside hitter Raphael Tiago Oliveira for the set winner they closed it off at 25-23.

Riding the momentum, Benfica opened up an early lead in the second set and stayed well in control of the scoreboard. Improving the efficiency of both their attacks and their serves, the visitors broke away with an impressive 13-6 advantage and never looked back. Lube’s attempts at a comeback only brought the home team back to within one, but, in the money time, the Benfica players kept their cool and finally sub-in Bernardo Westermann hammered an ace to finish the set at 25-21.

Benfica kept its foot on the gas to score three consecutive points for a 5-3 lead in the third set. They stayed in control of the score until Lube finally regained its lead at 15-14 on a successful swing by Aleksandar Nikolov. Things finally started coming together for the Italian team and they widened the gap further and further. A perfectly placed ace by Marlon Yant brought in set point at 24-19 before middle blocker Simone Anzane converted it to a 25-19 set win.

With Nikolov spearheading the offense, the home side quickly broke away with a 10-5 advantage in the fourth set, but it was too early for Benfica to surrender just yet. They battled their way back to a 15-15 level and even stepped in front, but only momentarily. Lube regained control with four points in a row for 20-17. In the money time, Gabriel Garcia fired two back-to-back aces for a 24-19 set point. The Portuguese fought on to take the next three points before Nikolov finished it off at 25-22 to prompt a tie-breaker.

Although the fifth set started really well for Lube, it was no easy affair as Benfica kept up the fierce battle through the end. The Italians jumped into a 3-0 lead and extended it to five points at 11-6, but after two three-point runs, the Portuguese managed to catch up at 12-12. In the epilogue, the home team managed to live up to its status and completed this amazing comeback on a Yant swing for 15-13.

Gabi Garcia produced the match high of 22 points, including four aces, and was named MVP of the match. Marlon Yant added another 19, while Aleks Nikolov contributed 17 towards Lube’s victory. Raphael Tiago Oliveira scored 20 points for Benfica.