In focus: Leandro Santos
A month and a half ago, 29-year-old Brazilian Leandro Nascimento dos Santos (or as he is sometimes called Leandro Aracaju by the place where he was born) became the bronze medalist of the World Cup. After he returned to France and joined Tours, where he spends his third season in a row. He signed with his current team in 2020, and in 2021 Marcelo Fronckowiak, also Brazilian, took over as head coach. Together they made it to the CEV Cup final where they lost to Vero Volley Monza in both final games. And in general, last season the team made a hat-trick of silver medals: in addition to the CEV Cup, there is also the French Cup and the French National Championship. This season the team returned to the Champions League after a gap year, and for Leandro it will be a great chance to show himself in this tournament.
He already has some Champions League experience. In the 2020-2021 season, he appeared on the court twice and scored 16 points. Last season, playing in the CEV Cup, Leandro appeared on the court in 12 games and brought his team 94 points, he has 67% win and 9 aces. Every year his statistics improves more and more, probably due to the gained experience of the blocker.
In general, he spent most of his career in his native Brazil. He played for São Paulo from the 2012–13 season to the 2017–18 season, where he was runner-up in the Superliga twice, in the 2013–14 and 2017–18 seasons.
In 2018, he signed with the Brazilian team SESC-RJ and won the 2018 Carioca title and was runner-up at the 2019 Copa Libertadores. A year later, Aracaju made his international volleyball debut when he signed with Rennes Volley 35.
In the Brazilian national team he competes for the leader's place under the net are Saatkamp Lucas and Resende Gualberto Flavio, both middle-blockers are in the top 3 in the world. For Leandro, this World Championship was the first in his adult career. The blocker scored 5 points in the match with Qatar, 4 of which he earned in the attack and one on the block.
But playing in the national team and in the club are two different things. Obviously, in the French Championship and CEV tournaments, the blocker feels more confident. Middle blocker is still chasing his first title with TVB. This season, Leandro will make an effective pair with Ukrainian Dmitry Teremenko. In the Champions League Tours will play in Pool C against Cucine Lube Civitanova (ITA), Knack Roeselare (BEL) and Sport Lisboa e Benfica (POR). The first game will take place on October 11 at 20:30 in Belgium.
It is difficult to predict the results of matches in groups, as there are no unambitious teams in the Champions League. In addition, Leandro's team will play in the national championship and the French Cup as well and is unlikely will be content with second places again.
Watch #CLVolleyM live on EuroVolley.TV