CLVolleyM: Trophy hopefuls
The wait is almost over, as on Wednesday the quest for the CEV Champions League Volley 2024 - Men glory will start with the 4th Round. Europe's elite club competition has been eagerly awaited by Volleyball fans all around the globe, as it gathers the best players and the greatest stars of our sport. The teams geared up to fight for the most prestigious club trophy in Europe, so let's take a look at who are the main title contenders.
Pool A
The reigning #CLVolleyM champions, who lifted the trophy three times in a row, Grupa Azoty Zaksa Kędzierzyn Koźle are natural favourites to defend the title again. Zaksa, nine-time domestic champions, have a chance to become the third club in history with four consecutive Champions League titles after CSKA Moscow (1986-1989, then European Champions Cup) and Zenit Kazan (2015-2018). Having in their line up the MVPs of the 2023 SuperFinals David Smith and 2021 SuperFinals Aleksander Śliwka, and the best scorer of the #CLVolleyM 2023 - Łukasz Kaczmarek, definitely have a potential to write history again. Although currently struggling with the plague of injuries, the club has been forced to look for untypical solutions on the court, having a very limited number of injury-free players, they have proved already in previous editions that nothing builds strong bonds better than overcoming difficult times together. So don't be surprised if Zaksa might not have a flying start to the new campaign, they will get stronger week by week.
Ziraat Bank Ankara also might be considered as one of the top contenders. The club from Türkiye’s capital city, the reigning three-time back-to-back domestic champions, strengthened their roster with one of the biggest Volleyball stars - Matthew Anderson, who will have on his side domestic stars - setter and captain Arslan Eksi and middle blocker Bedirhan Bülbül.
Pool B
The undoubted pre-favourites and trophy hopefuls in Pool B are players of Trentino Itas, one of the most decorated clubs in Europe with three #CLVolleyM trophies and five FIVB Club World Championships titles in their cabinet. The team from Trento, the reigning Italian champions, won three consecutive #CLVolleyM titles in 2009-2011, waiting to add a new gold to their long list of honours. With a star-studded squad, including the domestic heroes Alessandro Michieletto, Daniele Lavia, Riccardo Sbertoli and Serbian veteran Marko Podrascanin, they have papers to battle for the next trophy.
Asseco Resovia Rzeszów, who returns to the Champions League, might be one of the underdogs. Silver medalists of the Champions League in 2015 and seven-time national champions can boast with big names, including Poland's two top middle blockers, Karol Kłos and Jakub Kochanowski, two-time world champions setter Fabian Drzyzga and libero Paweł Zatorski, who was named MVP of the VNL 2023, 2020 Olympic champions Stephen Boyer and Yacine Louati. Last season they returned to the podium in PlusLiga after a six-year medal drought, now hope to mark their comeback to Europe's club elite.
Pool C
#CLVolleyM newcomer Gas Sales Daiko Piacenza should not be underestimated. The Italian Cup winners and bronze medalists of Serie A, led by coach Andrea Anastasi, with no doubt, are among the trophy hopefuls in this edition. In their line-up you will see many Volleyball stars, including Ricardo Lucarelli, Yoandy Leal, Robertlandy Simon, the reigning world champion Yuri Romano and Olympic champion setter Antoine Brizard, so they are definitely capable of jeopardising the #CLVolleyM old stagers.
In Pool C, we have to mention also Halkbank Ankara, the semifinalists of the #CLVolleyM 2023, is now headed by two Volleyball power guns - Earvin Ngapeth and Nimir Abdel-Aziz. They both are the players who can make a difference on the court, so with two of the them in one squad, coach Slobodan Kovac should be confident about performance of his team that includes also John Perrin, middle blocker Mert Matic and setter Micah Ma. Halkbank has already recorded a podium finish in the Champions League, having silver from 2014 under their belt.
Pool D
The 2023 SuperFinalists, Jastrzębski Węgiel, aim even higher this year. The reigning national champion of Poland, in the 2021/2022 season, reached the semifinals and last season won their historic #CLVolleyM medal. In their cabinet they also have silvers won at FIVB Club World Championship (2011) and Challenge Cup (2009), but haven't triumphed yet in the international competition. Having core players of the national teams of Poland and France in their roster - Tomasz Fornal and Norbert Huber and Benjamin Toniutti and Jean Patry, they hope to make another step in the history of the club.
Pool E
Cucine Lube Civitanova are naturally one of the top contenders as they won the last #CLVolleyM edition - back in 2019 - before Zaksa's hat-trick. The runners-up of the 2022/2023 Serie A, in 2019 were crowned also the world club champions and their medal collection from both international and domestic events is truly impressive, but they are looking for a new triumph and - considering their stellar line-up with playmaking genius Luciano De Cecco, Ivan Zaytsev, Fabio Belasco and newcomer in the squad Adis Lagumdzija they seems to be ready to fight for the highest goals again.
