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Champions League 2015/16 - Road to Final Four

Volleyball-Tube 2016-04-07 • 4873 views • 26
 
We've seen some amazing matches in the champions league this year. Incredible actions big wins and also some bad loses. The best teams qualified for the final stage in Krakow. The host of this year is Asseco Resovia RZESZÓW. They will play the first semi final against the winners of the last champions league Zenit Kazan. This match will be a very interesting match because this was also the final of last year. Zenit Kazan won the match with 3 against 0, Wilfredo Leon was on fire.

The other Semi Final is Trentino Diatec against Cucine Lube Civitanova. These two italian teams have a lot of Champions league History. Trentino won the champions league three times in a row, 2009, 2010 and 2011. Under head coach stoychev they were undefeatable. These where the years of Matey Kazyiski and Osman Juantorena. The last player plays now at Lube Civitanova and is still a very important player. Cucine Lube Civitanova is the winner of the poule fase in the Italian league and is also the winner of the champions league of 2002.

Trentino has a young and ambitious team with players like gianelli, Nelli and Lanza. Together with the player on fire Tiny Urnaut they could be a big surprise this year.

Lube Civitanova has a very experincied team with volleyball legend Ivan Miljkovic and William Reid Priddy. Together with the best libero in the world Jenia Grebennikov and serve cannon Osmany Juantorena they should win against trentino. But never say never in the final four.

Asseco Resovia RZESZÓW Played last year against Zenit Kazan in the final. They had no change to win the match against the power of kazan. This year they play in their home country and have a big vantage with their home crowd. With big Players like Bartosz Kurek and Fabian Drzyga they have a big change to look for a surprise agains Zenit Kazan.

Zenit Kazan is the big favorite to also win the champions league this year. The squad is almost the same and the players are in top shape. Wilfredo Leon and Matthew Anderson are many the best outside hitters in the world but the other teams are do stand a chance, Ask Skra Belchatow for advice they beat Zenit Kazan in Poland with 3 against 2.

Champions League Final Four Schedule

Semi Final 1
16-04-2016 (16:30) Zenit Kazan - Asseco Resovia Rzeszow
http://www.laola1.tv/en-int/livestrea...

Semi Final 2
16-04-2016 (19:30) Trentino Diatec - Cucine Lube Civitanova
http://www.laola1.tv/en-int/livestrea...

Bronze Medal Final
17-04-2016 (14:45)
http://www.laola1.tv/en-int/livestrea...

Gold Medal Final
17-04-2016 (18:00)
http://www.laola1.tv/en-int/livestrea...

You can see all the matches live at www.laola1.tv. More information at:
http://www.cev.lu/

#AssecoResoviaRzeszow #CucineLubeCivitanova #ItasTrentino #ZenitKazan #ChampionsLeague201516

Title of song: Intense (feat. Miri Ben-Ari) - Armin Van Buuren
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Wilfredo_is_MarshallRS 4186 20
7 years ago
-2
Great music. 2:09 why is Novi Sad there (the match is against Modena too) neither teams are in F4. ok -2 but nobody will explain it to me?
taduch1CZ 10 1
7 years ago
+1
I am affraid that again nobody has the chance to resist against brutal force of Zenit Kazan :-/ alias another champions title for russian team.... What do you think?
Volleyball-TubeNLAuthor 68 9
7 years ago
+2
@taduch1: I think you're right, Zenit kazan has some really great spikers. But i think that that this year rsevovia is stronger then last year and now they play in their home country. I also think that Lube is very stong but they need to play 110% the full match against Zenit. Trentino could make a suprise but i don't think they can handle zenit yet.
taduch1CZ 10 1
7 years ago
+2
@Volleyball-Tube: You are also right, but only one chance fot the other teams would be to strongly serve and hope to make some problems with reception, you are also right that Lube is really really strong but I think it is still not enough :-/ but it is going to be great to watch them...I love Resovia but unfortuanetly the small spikers will not make problems for Russian defence and Kurek is not able to make it alone...but I HOPE they can do THAT :-)
Wilfredo_is_MarshallRS 4186 20
7 years ago
+1
@taduch1: Yeah I think Lube is the only one that has a chance of defeating Kazan. The only problem is that Kazan is way more in synch because they have played with each other for a long time and the team barely changed over the last years, unlike Lube where the whole team is just new. You can have a bunch of great players, but if they can't play as a team they will not win the most important matches. Yes you are also right, Resovia only really has Kurek and maybe Pashytskyy. Trentino will probably pull off a surprise against Lube. If it is Lube Kazan in final then 3:2 for Lube if they play well, if not then probably 3:2 or 3:1 for Zenit. Thats what I think ?

Edit: After watching the semis, Trentino might have a chance to beat Kazan
NiamekCA 120 5
7 years ago
+1
@Wilfredo_is_Marshall: I'm not sure why you say "barely changed". only Matthew, Maxim Mykhaylov and Evgeny Shivozhelez stayed there very long. The middles are relatively new, a lot of change to the setters(Butko just arrived for example and took setter starter). The libero position too had some change.

Of course it didn't change a lot since last year, but not the past years. I'd even dare to say that Belgorie changed the less with Tetyukin, Muserskiy, Smoliar, and Khtei.

I believe every team is new each year, but let's not forget one thing: When Priddy arrived on the team, the team's ranking skyrocketed. Maybe it's because he filled an important hole of the team? Every teams has a core that will (almost) never change unless the staff is overhauled. The core, that is the engine of the team, is what characterize the team. Zenit Kazan is the very good hitters(All are good, Gatselyuk, Aschev, Mikhaylov, Anderson, Wilfredo, and so on). Belgorie relies more on tall people in the middle and smaller hitters? Modena relies more on cunning with NGapeth, Bruno and Starovic? And so on. ?

If you have a bunch of good players, it's the job of the head coach to make them work together. That being said, that's why I believe it's more because of Alekno's job that Zenit is so good? Everywhere he coaches, it's a good team. When he retook over Russia's team, they are back on the olympics. And we don't forget Zenit Kazan is coached by him.







To go back on topic, Resovia?
Kurek will be able to deal with Maxim I'm sure, but maybe they will have to put him on the other side (4) to increase the power and blocking there? With Wilfredo and Matthew, I'd do that. They have a lefty on the team and I'm honestly impressed by him, he should be okay to be an opposite on those games. I believe Resovia has the upper hand with the middles since Andrey Aschev relies mainly on being very avaible to attack instead of explosiveness and powers, while Gatselyuk is more like an average guy with a very good situation awareness.... (That makes him very good by the way) While Resovia has Piotr Nowakoski who is a top middle blocker and Russel Holmes is very good too.
To conclude with Resovia, I believe they have the tools to beat Zenit Kazan. However, the defense is not perfect, so it might be very hard for them becuase of Zenit's aggressiveness.

As of Lube, They have the best Libero in Jennia, so they have a better general defense. Very good middle blockers with the serbian middles, I think they have he upper hand there too. Very good spiker with Miljkovic and Fei(I'd put one of them on the wing side if it's not going well). Even with Priddy, I'm not very fond of their wing spikers. I believe they lack there if they want to beat Kazan's team. They have a good defense that could cope with Kazan's power, and some good attacks, but maybe not enough to keep a momentum long enough to disrupt Kazan. But we might be surprised.

To summarize, I think both could beat Kazan. Resovia with the better middles and good wing spikers and Kurek... Or Lube with the better general defense with it libero and middles.
Wilfredo_is_MarshallRS 4186 20
7 years ago
+1
@Niamek: Hmm yes I agree with you on Alekno, great coach. Any thoughts on Trentino?
NiamekCA 120 5
7 years ago
0
@Wilfredo_is_Marshall:

As of Trentino, hey have Mitar Djuric and Filippo Lanza who can be a threat (So they have a threat on both side). However, I feel that the rest of the team aren't that impressive... Well, not enough in my opinion to beat the three other teams. Yeah they got good setters, but I still think its not there.

I believe Trentino won't go further.
taduch1CZ 10 1
7 years ago
+1
@Niamek: and what about Kaziyski and Urnaut they are playing well (I am not sure how much is Lanza playing right now?!)...unfortuanetly they will have to push the other teams under real pressure with service, withnot that for me they have no chance :-/
NiamekCA 120 5
7 years ago
-3
@taduch1: I don't know who Urnaut is. If Kaziyski is playing currently with Trentino, then Trentino have a better chance. I knew he is in Trentino right now, but I missed him since he is not on Trentino's page and I assumed he won't be able to play until next season...

Kaziyski has a menacing serve, so it helps, but I think it's not enough.

PS: By the way, I'm not an expert. ?
Volleyball-TubeNLAuthor 68 9
7 years ago
+2
@Niamek: Kaziyski did play this weekend in the italian competion, but i don't know if he is alloud to play in the champions league this year. If he may play in the CL, trentino should offcourse play with kazyiski and on the other side Urnaut, last match Urnaut was on fire, see his statistics on the cev site! But don't underestimate trentino, they also beated Belgorod
Wilfredo_is_MarshallRS 4186 20
7 years ago
0
@Volleyball-Tube: Belgorod is not that strong this year
NiamekCA 120 5
7 years ago
+1
@Volleyball-Tube: That's weird, he's not on Trentino's page.

I believe they are very strong, but to compete with Kazan? That I'm not sure if they can. I agree partly with Wilfredo_is_Marshall: Belgorie is strong, but not enough. They had a low rank, then climbed fast in the russia cup. I think Trentino has the upper hand in term of momentum, especially with Kaziyski.

By the way, I'm surprised that almost all the post here got minus voted(especially my last one). It was a healthy discussion. I just threw what I thought about the current situation with my inexperience. I discussed all that because I like that kind of discussion and would hope for more discussion like that. Instead of minus voting, why not participate in the discussion and teach me a new things or two? Or prove me I'm wrong(I'm surely wrong by the way)? Some friendly arguing is fun. ? Note that I don't care about the votes, I just want to encourage discussion... I've stated I'm not an expert and would like to learn about professional volley-ball... We don't have a professional league here in Canada.. So... ?
Volleyball-TubeNLAuthor 68 9
7 years ago
+1
@Wilfredo_is_Marshall: not strong? if you have a team with ANTIPKIN, TETYUKHIN, MUSERSKIY, IVOVIC you can't say that its not a strong team.
NiamekCA 120 5
7 years ago
+1
@Volleyball-Tube: Good point. The maybe have just a very bad year(Momentum is very important). Next year might be a great one.
Wilfredo_is_MarshallRS 4186 20
7 years ago
+1
@Volleyball-Tube: all good players, but Belgorod is not as good as when they had Travica, Grozer, and Ilinykh.
NiamekCA 120 5
7 years ago
+1
@Wilfredo_is_Marshall: When they had them, they didn't have Ivovic for example. I'd say they didn't lose too much. Trentino for example lost Matey, Mitar, Raphael and Stokr in one summer. Can't do that on the professional level: you'll have a hard time keeping the same level. ?
NiamekCA 120 5
7 years ago
0
@Wilfredo_is_Marshall: Wow, Lube had a lot of trouble playing against Trentino.. I think they could have played better.. But oh well I was wrong. ?

Zenit Or Trentino? ?
Wilfredo_is_MarshallRS 4186 20
7 years ago
0
@Niamek: It will be a close game. Zenit played bad today, they were not on top of their game. Trentino will come out strong because they weren't in CL finals for a while, so they will all be pumped up. If Kazan can recover from the bad playing, they will win. Also, I think Trentino was saving Pippo for the finals, so he can greatly impact the game. Kazan is favorite to win, but Trentino is the fiery underdog, so it will definitely be a great match. I will take a risky guess and say 3-1 Trentino!

Ahh now that I think about it again, its really hard the predict. Kazan probably played bad because they were playing with the Resovia crowd against them. So tomorrow they may play great again.

Also, what I said about Lube a week ago, "You can have a bunch of great players, but if they can't play as a team they will not win the most important matches." turned out to be correct today. Even Juantorena said it himself! "It was like each of us wanted to decide the game with individual effort. But, it is not like this is this sport. Volleyball is a team game. Congratulations to Trento. At this moment, they simply have something more than us.”

What Trento has is that they can play really well together, but so does Kazan, the question is who will do it better on the big day!?
Wilfredo_is_MarshallRS 4186 20
7 years ago
0
@Niamek: Very cool post on Trentino Facebook page:

“March 27, 2011 - precisely, in "his" city of Bolzano, and in the only previous final of Champions League played against Trento and Kazan - Simone Giannelli was also among the more than 7,000 spectators who saw Trentino Volley triumph to victory for a thrid consecutive time. He was 14 at the time, he only played one year with this team and had already won a youth Italian title (Boys League 2010)... I wonder if he would ever have imagined that 5 years and 20 days later, he himself would have to direct Trentino to attempt to win another Champions League title (also against Kazan). There are good stories that sport gives to those who believe ... because #itonlyhappenstothosewhobelieve”

It will be a perfect volleyball story for Giannelli if Trentino wins!
Wilfredo_is_MarshallRS 4186 20
7 years ago
0
@Niamek: Tretino was so close. I wanted the underdogs to win. I think Antonov and Bratoev were the reason Trentino lost. The pressure was getting to both of them. Stoychev should've started Lanza instead of Antonov and not sub in Bratoev for serving!!! Bratoev was too nervous!! >:I
NiamekCA 120 5
7 years ago
0
NiamekCA 120 5
7 years ago
0
@Wilfredo_is_Marshall: Woops, made an empty comment...

So, I agree with Bratoev sub because he has a float serve and I think that Kazan has some trouble with foat serve(especially Matthew Anderson). Maye he was nervous, but I think he just took too much risk.

I don't know for Lanza, Why he should've started Lanza?

As of Lube, yeah I'm surprised you were right. I think it was the coach's fault to not addressing that.(Or at least, addressing that quickly enough). Nice prediction you made!
Wilfredo_is_MarshallRS 4186 20
7 years ago
0
@Niamek: Thanks! ?

@Niamek: I think Lanza is better than Antonov. During Italian NT matches, Lanza was starting over Antonov and moreover, Lanza is also the captain. He back row defense is better and I think he deals with high pressure situations better than Antonov.

As for the Lube prediction, yeah I was cool to see that I was correct, I just had a feeling. I guessed 3-1 for the final of the Prediction game, and it could've been 3-1! If I got that correct, I would've gotten 3rd place in the game, and I would be only 1 out of 2 users that guessed Tretinos victory, but unfortunately this did not happen. If it did, I would have celebrated haha ?
KjeldhorIT 1059 17
7 years ago
0
@Wilfredo_is_Marshall: Lanza is recovery from an injury, after italian Cup we lost him and Mitar, Mitar is not fully recovered but his sub Nelli got an injury two weeks ago
Wilfredo_is_MarshallRS 4186 20
7 years ago
0
@Kjeldhor: Mitar played surprisingly well then for being injured! What did Lanza injure, his back?

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