To Be or Not To Be in the CEV Champions League Volley 2023 Women’s Semifinals
Preview
The home matches of the Champions League Volley quarterfinals brought so much intensity to the competition with a palpable feeling of how the stakes have risen immensely going into this round. In the next few days, the best eight teams in Europe go het to head one more time to decide which of them will keep a one in four chance of claiming the most coveted club volleyball trophy in the world.
Turkish teams dominated the home matches, getting stunning wins both away from home, in the case of Eczacibasi, as well as on home court, in the case of Vakifbank Istanbul and Fenerbahce. Given their results, they now need to win at least two sets in their return matches to qualify for the semifinals, otherwise they will be pushed into decisive Golden sets.
Vero Volley Milano and Imoco Conegliano have tall mountains to climb if they are to continue in the competition, but one can never rule these powerhouses out just yet. Given the talent they have available in their squads and with the support of their home crowd they will be feeling more than up for the task.
The only two non-Italian or non-Turkish teams in the final eight, Developres Rzeszow from Poland and Allianz MTV Stuttgart from Germany, only managed to win one set on home court in their previous matches. They are however in an all or nothing situation and that might just be what they need if they are to turn things around this week.
