In focus: #CLVolleyM Pool A

After three days of women’s action, let’s get back to the men’s CEV Champions League Volley 2024 fourth round pool stage that’s already starting next week, and take a look at the participants in Pool A. That’s the pool of defending three-time back-to-back champion Grupa Azoty Kedzierzyn-Kozle of Poland, who will open its new campaign against Greece’s Olympiacos Piraeus at home at the Azoty hall on November 22 at 18:00 local time. On the following day, the other two teams in the pool will join the action, with Belgium’s Knack Roeselare hosting Turkiye’s Ziraat Bank Ankara at the Tomabel hall at 20:30 local time.

The pool phase of the competition will last through January 17, 2024. A total of 12 matches, split into the six legs of a double round-robin format, will determine the final standings in each pool. The pool winner will advance directly to the Champions League quarterfinals, while the pool runner-up and quite possibly the third-placed team will book their spots in the eighthfinal playoffs of Europe’s most prestigious club competition.

Winning the Champions League for the third consecutive time was definitely last season’s highlight for Grupa Azoty Kedzierzyn-Kozle, better known as ZAKSA. Domestically, ZAKSA finished runner-up in the PlusLiga and won the national cup to qualify for its 15th Champions League participation this season. In addition to the three continental crowns in 2021, 2022 and 2023, the 10-time Polish champion also has a 2003 Champions League bronze, as well as a 2011 CEV Cup silver, in its medal collection. In last season’s Champions League campaign, Grupa Azoty finished Pool D runner-up to Italy’s Trentino Itas Trento on a 4-2 win-loss record, and then overcame Poland’s Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie in the eighthfinals, Trentino in the quarterfinals, reigning club world champion Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia of Italy in the semifinals, and another Polish opponent, Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj, in the five-set Super Final in Torino. ZAKSA has already filed away its first trophy this season by winning the national super cup earlier this month, when in another five-set spectacle, it defeated Jastrzebski Wegiel once again, with outside hitter Bartosz Bednorz claiming the MVP award. In the national league, however, Alexander Sliwka, David Smith, Erik Shoji, Lukasz Kaczmarek and the rest of their teammates are currently in sixth place on a 4-2 win-loss record and 11 points.

Belgium’s Knack Roeselate is about to launch its 22nd Champions League campaign within the 24 editions of the competition. The only two it ever skipped were the 2002 and the 2012 editions. In 2002, Knack played in the Top Teams Cup and won it. However, the Belgian standout has never made it beyond the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Last season Knack finished third in Pool C on a 3-3 win-loss record and failed to advance to the playoffs. On the other hand, it claimed a golden treble at home, winning Belgium’s super cup, national cup and its 14th national championship title. This season, setter Stijn D’Hulst and his teammates lead the current standings in the Belgian league again, currently on 4-1 and 12 points.

Olympiacos Piraeus is a household name in Greek sports and it’s great to have that name back in the Champions League pool stage line-up for the first time since 2015. After winning its 31st national title earlier this year, Olympiacos earned the right to play in the Champions League for the 13th time, but it had to start from the early stages of the competition. The team won all five of its matches in the first two rounds of the tournament and made its way to the pool stage. The club’s rich history includes a Champions League silver in 2002, a European Champions Cup silver and an FIVB Club World Championship bronze in 1992, a Cup Winners’ Cup crown in 1996, a Top Teams Cup trophy in 2005, and, most recently, last season’s CEV Challenge Cup 2023 title. The team from Piraeus is so far having an impeccable season in the Greek league, standing on top of the current standings undefeated in three matches on nine points. Among the squad’s big stars are the likes of Alen Pajenk, Toncek Stern, Mitar Tsourits, Dragan Travica and Salvador Hidalgo Oliva.

Reigning Turkish champion Ziraat Bank Ankara is about to compete in the Champions League for the third consecutive and fourth overall time in the club’s history. At its 2015-2016 debut, Ziraat won its pool and made it among the continent’s best 13 teams, which is still the team’s best Champions League result so far. It also reached the finals of the 2018 CEV Cup and the 2021 Challenge Cup. In last season’s Champions League campaign, Ziraat finished second in Pool E on a 3-3 win-loss record and then lost to Germany’s Berlin Recycling Volleys in the eighthfinals. Earlier this month, the three-time Turkish champion won the Turkish super cup after a 3-1 victory over city rivals Halkbank Ankara, with Dutch opposite Wouter Ter Maat claiming the MVP award. However, Matt Anderson, Luciano Vicentin, Oreol Camejo, Arslan Eksi and their teammates are standing fifth in the current Turkish league standings on 5-2 and 17 points.

Watch the Champions League live on EuroVolleyTV.