German derby pits Berlin against Lüneburg in high-profile play-offs clash

The German derby between SVG Lüneburg and Berlin Recycling Volleys will provide the much-needed drama craved by the fans in the play-offs of the CEV Champions League Men, with the two sides knowing each other ever so well, having played against each other 10 times in the last 15 months.

Berlin Recycling Volleys have had their share of the crop, entering this doubleheader with a 10-match winning streak against their rivals, conceding only 11 sets in these matches, with four wins in straight sets.

This is the first time, however, when Berlin Recycling Volleys and SVG Lüneburg will meet in the CEV Champions League Men, after the two sides have met in the semi-finals of the German league last season, when Berlin took three 3:1 wins to secure their place in the final.

In this season, Berlin beat their rivals three times – 3:0 in the semi-finals of the German Liga-Cup in September, 3:1 in the quarter-finals of the German Cup and most recently 3:0 in the Bundesliga, the German domestic league, in December, two months ago.

However, the most defining stat of this doubleheader is the whopping dominance of Berlin, which have won 22 of the last 23 matches between the two sides, as Lüneburg will be clearly entering this phase of the competition as an underdog.

'The great thing about the CEV Champions League is playing against teams you don't normally play against and comparing yourself to foreign clubs. You often meet friends from the national team and often get to know new cities. That's the fun part of the job.”

“From that perspective, the game against Lüneburg is a bit of a dull pairing. But at the end of the day, our job is to be professional athletes, and from that perspective it's obviously great. Lüneburg has a fantastic hall and atmosphere and a German clash is also interesting as two German teams have now made it out of the group stage,” said Berlin’s middle blocker, Matthew Knigge.

Berlin have made the CEV Champions League Men quarter-finals for the last four seasons in a row and they aim to make it there for the fifth consecutive time. Having been eliminated in the last four editions in that phase, they will face Polish side Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie provided they make it into the quarter-finals.

But SVG Lüneburg are no pushovers. They have finished second in their pool, with three wins and three losses, yet they won two of the three matches played on their home court, 3:2 against Chaumont VB 52 and 3:0 against Levski Sofia. But they will enter this match on a two-match losing streak, with losses in straight sets against Chaumont and Jastrzębski Węgiel.

The German side is also for the first time in the knockout phase of the competition, having survived the 4th round for the first time in history.

"Of course we need a great day - like always against Berlin. But we have definitely reached another milestone and are making history for the SVG. And it is good for German volleyball that one of them is making it to the quarter-finals. Our goal is always to give everything, to put up a great fight. The key will be the serve-receive area. Whoever wins that will have a better chance of winning," said Lüneburg’s sporting director, Bernd Schlesinger.