Green Light for the CEV Champions League Volley 2023 Men’s Quarterfinals
Preview
The Journey that started all the way back in September 2022 with the first preliminary round of the competition continues in style this week. The best eight teams in the world re-enter the courts as they try to get one step closer to the most coveted trophy in men’s club competitions, the CEV Champions League Volley Trophy.
We start the week strong with two matches on 7th March. First up, we travel to the Turkish capital city, Ankara where Halkbank will be hosting the Italians from Cucine Lube Civitanova.
Boosted by the transfer of Dutch star player, Nimir Abdel Aziz, Halkbank Ankara has been having a great season and is now fighting for the prospect of reaching the semi-finals for the first time since 2014, when they qualified as the hosts of the Final Four.
On the other side, Civitanova has had to wait for another opportunity to go to the semis, a stage of the competition they have not managed to reach since the 2018/19 season when they won the trophy, despite now making it to five consecutive seasons in the quarterfinals.
The second match of the day is the perpetuation of what has become a classic matchup at the highest level in the CEV Champions League Volley. Winner of the last two editions at the detriment of their quarterfinals opponent, Grupa Azoty Kędzierzyn-Koźle had a slower start to their European season, losing both matches against Trentino in this year’s pool phase.
Today’s match will be the eleventh direct match against these two formidable teams who share five wins each in these direct encounters. If Zaksa can take advantage of playing on their home court, they will tip the balance in their favour, however Trentino will surely not step to the side.
The Italians are used to making it to the semifinals, having done so seven times before, a statistics that will definitely boost even more the confidence of a team coming off of straight wins in the pool phase.
On Wednesday, 8th March, Berlin Recycling Volleys and Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia will go head to head for the first time in an official match. An extremely enthusiastic team, BR Volleys managed to overcome Ziraat Bank Ankara in the playoff, under special circumstance that saw the teams playing only one match instead of the home-away system.
Perugia however, a team that has reached the semifinals in five of their last six Champions League seasons, dominated their pool and is dominating the Italian national league. Hard task at hand for the Germans, but a show worth watching for any volleyball fan, regardless of club affiliation.
Last, but not least, the second German team in the quarterfinals will be hosting the only remaining Polish team in the competition, two teams that had faced each other already this season in the pool phase, both matches being won by Jastrzebski.
Before the current season, VfB Friedrichshafen and Jastrzebski Wegiel had met four time, with the Germans only winning their first ever encounter, dating all the way back to 2009.
Semifinalist in last year’s edition, the Polish side will be hoping to reach that stage once again and possibly even further given their current form. Before they do that, however they have to prove once again that they are the better side against a well-known opponent.