Khilasedichi complete spirited comeback to progress to #CLVolleyM Round 3

In Lisbon, Azerbaijan’s Khilasedichi BAKU completed a spirited the comeback to secure their progression to Round 3 of the elite CEV XTB Champions League Volley 2027 Men. The Baku team won the re-match with Sporting CP LISBOA 3-2 and subsequently claimed also the all-important Golden Set (15-13) to progress further in the competition. Their next opponent will be either Slovenia’s ACH Volley LJUBLJANA or Orion Stars DOETINCHEM of the Netherlands. 

Sporting CP, with Jorge Alayo Moliner leading the attack (31 points), started strong, won the first set (25-21) and also the third (25-22) to get ahead of Khilasedichi, but the response from the visiting side was even better, after showing their real potential in the second set (18-25). It was a true roller-coaster of emotions at Pavilhão João Rocha, unfortunately without fans due to inclement weather and an approaching storm in Lisbon. 

Forced to come back to, firstly, cancel Sporting’s win from the first leg, the Azerbaijan team did it with 25-21 and 15-13 scores, looking really sharp especially with their serving game. Afterwards, they got the job done in the decisive Golden Set, again by the same score (15-13). Gustavo Almora and Luis Enrique Reyes were key players for the visitors with 22 points and 20 points, respectively.  The difference in terms of unforced errors was, at last, a very defining point which played a pivotal role towards the eventual outcome of the match.