Zenit Kazan on fresh start to return to glory
Preview
They have arguably been the most successful European club this century, picking up as many as six Champions League titles over the years, in addition to being crowned world champions in 2017. But Russia's Zenit Kazan have been faltering lately and last season crashed out of the Champions League early - before the competition was cancelled due to the pandemic.
So can Zenit make a fresh start on a path to return to glory when they plunge into Pool C of this season's Men's Champions League?
The ten-time Russian champions travel to Berlin this week, where they take on local side Berlin Recycling Volleys in their biggest challenge to dominate the pool, alongside Slovenia's ACH Volley Ljubljana.
At least Zenit won't have to face Jastrzebski Wegiel, who last season beat them twice in pool play. Three players of the Polish side were tested positive for Covid-19 before travelling to Berlin and the whole squad in now in quarantine, forced to forfeit their three first-leg matches of Pool C.
On Saturday Zenit barely inched past ASK Niznhy Novogorod at home in five sets in the Russian Superleague, led by Maxim Mikhaylov who continues to provide solutions and stands second in the list of the league's top scorers - but they still sit firmly at the top of the standings with an 11-1 record (though Dynamo Moscow remain undefeated after seven matches).
Berlin are also in the lead in the Bundesliga, with six wins from eight matches and are coming off a 3-0 away sweep of Lueneburg.
They too failed to get past pool play last season in the Champions League, and have a mountain to climb if they're to replicate ther Final Four finishes of 2015 and 2017 (when they lost to Zenit Kazan in the semifinals on both counts).
Like last season, reigning Slovenian and Middle Europe (MEVZA) champions ACH Ljubljana are up against Berlin, but they'll need to up their game this season to avoid repeating their two defeats to the Germans of last year.
The clash between ACH Ljubljana and Berlin will be highly anticipated, as the Match of the Week, but the Slovenes need to put an end to the Germans' four-match winning streak in their head-to-head count.