Quest for spots among Europe’s best four about to begin
Preview
The quest for the semifinal berths in the CEV Champions League Volley 2021 - Women starts on Tuesday with the first of four first-leg quarterfinal clashes. With teams from Italy, Turkey and Poland reaching this stage of Europe’s top-tier club competition, the programme also offers one game on Wednesday and two on Thursday.
This week’s action will open at 17:00 local time on Tuesday in Turkey with the first encounter between Fenerbahce Opet Istanbul and defending champions Igor Gorgonzola Novara of Italy at the magnificent Burhan Felek volleyball hall.
Fenerbahce arrived at the quarterfinals as one of the best three runners-up of the pool stage, where they lost twice to another representative of Italy, A. Carraro Imoco Conegliano, in Pool B. The 2012 Champions League winners also have one second-place and three third-place finishes. They are currently second in the Turkish league standings on a 26-3 win-loss record.
Interestingly, Fenerbahce and Igor were supposed to face each other in last year’s quarterfinals before the pandemic put a pre-mature stop to the season and left the Italian side as reigning continental champions for an extra year. They did, however, meet in the 2017-2018 pool stage, with Igor winning both matches. The team from Novara has managed to advance beyond the pool stage four seasons in a row now. This year they did it as the unbeaten winners of Pool E. They also stand second in their domestic league on a record of 19 wins and four defeats. Last Saturday, their Micha Hancock set the league’s all-time record to 50 aces within one regular season.
Cristina Chirichella“We are really excited about continuing our European campaign with the Champions League quarterfinals. We are totally aware that Fenerbahce are one of the best teams in the world, but we are confident about our chances of achieving a spot in the semifinals. We expect to have two big clashes against Fenerbahce and will do our best. We will need a very consistent performance.”
Middle blocker and captain of Igor Gorgonzola Novara
An all-Italian battle will take place on Wednesday, with Savino Del Bene Scandicci entertaining reigning club world champions A. Carraro Imoco Conegliano at the PalaRiadoli starting at 17:30 local time. They advanced to the quarterfinals as winners of Pools A and B, respectively, but while Imoco came out victorious in all six of their matches, Savino Del Bene topped their pool on 4-2.
The two teams exchanged five-set victories in the pool stage of the 2018-2019 race, Savino Del Bene’s rookie Champions League season. The squad from Scandicci reached the quarterfinals in all three of their participations so far. Imoco, on the other hand, have won two silvers and a bronze between 2017 and 2019.
The team from Conegliano shut out their opponents from Scandicci twice during the ongoing Italian league season and lead the standings undefeated in 23 matches. Savino del Bene are fourth with 14 wins in 22 games.
Massimo Barbolini"It's a two-game match-up. With this formula, the second game is almost more important than the first, but doing well in the first would be a good start. Like all the other teams, we are struggling with Imoco. We deserved these quarterfinals. We have to play openly and do well.”
Head coach of Savino Del Bene Scandicci
The Ignacy Lukasiewicz sports hall in Police will host one of the quarterfinals on Thursday. Starting at 18:00 local time, Poland’s Grupa Azoty Chemik Police welcome Turkey’s VakifBank Istanbul.
Chemik finished second in Pool E, with four wins and 13 points, and advanced to the quarterfinals as the runner-up with the best record. They have been Champions League regulars since 2015, with the 2020 season as their only omission, but the only time they played in the semifinals was when they hosted the Final Four in their rookie season. Domestically, Chemik stand third in the Polish league on a 14-5 record.
VakifBank come in as undefeated winners of Pool C and will play in the Champions League quarterfinals for 12th consecutive time. They are on a 13-match winning streak in the competition hoping to make their way to their fifth continental title, after the triumphs in 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2018. In 2019 and 2020, VakifBank were among the semifinalists. They have already secured the first place of the regular season in Turkey, leading the table on 28 wins in 29 games.
Giovanni Guidetti“We are very excited to play the Champions League quarterfinals. We’ve been working for that for a very long time. We love the pressure, we are really friends with pressure, because when you put this shirt on you know how to deal with pressure. We are really happy to feel this pressure again, because we deserve it. We are looking forward to a great match, because Police has a great team, with the best national team player of Poland. It will be a difficult match for sure.”
Head coach of VakifBank Istanbul
Melis Gurkaynak“The aim of all of us is to go past the quarterfinals and reach the semifinals. We want to take the advantage in the first game, away in Police, and then, at home, progress to the next stage. As VakifBank, we always want to be in the final. This match is our next important step towards that goal.”
Middle blocker and captain of VakifBank Istanbul
At the exact same time on Thursday, VakifBank and Fenerbahce’s cross-city rivals from Eczacibasi VitrA Istanbul will start their away fixture at Italy’s Unet e-work Busto Arsizio. The game at the Palayamamay has been nominated Match of the Week. The last time the two sides met was in the eighthfinals of the 2018 CEV Volleyball Cup, but previously they also played against each other in the 2015 Champions League final. The Turkish team won all three of these encounters.
Finishing second in Pool A, on 4-2 and 11 points, Unet were the last team above the cut-off line for the quarterfinals. In their fourth Champions League campaign, the club from Busto Arsizio are aiming at winning their third medal, after the bronze in 2013 and the silver in 2015. At home, in Italy, the reigning laureates of the CEV Cup trophy are sixth in the standings on 13 wins in 22 matches.
At the same time, their quarterfinal opponents from Istanbul are third in Turkey on 23 wins in 29 games. Eczacibasi topped Pool D on a 6-0 winning record and are ready to battle their way towards their second continental crown, after winning the Champions League in 2015, or at least towards their 10th time among the best four teams in Europe.
Marco Musso"It is a quarterfinal of the Champions League, a match to be played against one of the best eight teams in Europe, and therefore does not need any great introduction. Eczacibasi can boast players on the roster who are among the strongest in the world, so we have to think about getting ready physically and being aggressive immediately. Only then the game can be very competitive from the first to the last point."
Head coach of Unet e-work Busto Arsizio
All quarterfinal matches to be streamed live on EuroVolleyTV.