CEV Champions League 2017

  • Istanbul classified by points ratio?


    Yes, everything went good for them. Friedrichshafen lost, Craiova lost by big margin only in 2nd match of the season and IBB has 506-534 while Craiova is on 498-544. BTW they were without key player, OPP Lica, in ydays match... Now IBB is going to be a cannon meat in Playoff 12 as they aren't having the best season :whistle:

  • I hope Berlin can leave the court with head up high, regardless of the result.

    Well, ummm, head up high, not really.
    Pretty severe grounding for berlin yesterday. It looks like Lube was really motivated to make a statement, the discrepance of numbers on serve/reception speak volumes. At least Berlin is in good company of other decent teams who shared the same fate against Lube.


    They have to hope now for a decent draw and a quick return of Steven Marshall and then their journey might not be over yet.

  • Super inbalanced draw. One of the 'thirds' has not a single group winner: it seems that Dinamo, who got beaten by Zaksa comfortably twice, has much higer chances of advancing that Zaksa itself. I really hope Berlin beats them.


    But there should be plenty of good games.

  • IMO this was semiorchestrated draw as teams from same country can meet in Playoff 6. My favs are Dynamo Moscow, Berlin, Modena, Cucine Lube, ZAKSA and Zenit. ZAKSA is having really difficult road to Rome with 2 Russian teams (if they beat Belgorod), while Dynamo Moscow has the easiest road (ofc in my opinion).

  • Thank you Tim, the image is perfectly clear.


    Super inbalanced draw. One of the 'thirds' has not a single group winner


    I thought the same. The first 'quartet' it's easier than the third and especially (imho) the second.
    We will have two play off 6 with possibly first vs first, and a play off 6 with no first for sure. So, in the final 4 we can have no more than 3 first.
    At least (from an Italian point of view) we can't meet Kazan until the very end, tiny consolation.


    IMO this was semiorchestrated draw as teams from same country can meet in Playoff 6.


    Yeah, at this point I would have almost preferred if they had kept the old 'maximum 2 team from the same country in the final 4 and maximum 1 per country in the final' rule.
    (I don't think they had because otherwise I can't explain why the rule wasn't applied to the Polish teams, unless it was impossible to realize it alongside the two rule below...).


    As far as I understood, the rules used were:
    - first in the pool vs second/third (for sure)
    - no play off 12 between team of the same pool

  • Yeah, at this point I would have almost preferred if they had kept the old 'maximum 2 team from the same country in the final 4 and maximum 1 per country in the final' rule.
    (I don't think they had because otherwise I can't explain why the rule wasn't applied to the Polish teams, unless it was impossible to realize it alongside the two rule below...).


    As far as I understood, the rules used were:
    - first in the pool vs second/third (for sure)
    - no play off 12 between team of the same pool


    Edit: I'm pretty sure it was possible to have all derbies still respecting these two rules: we simply have to switch the two turkish team with Resovia and Belchatow.
    So, it appears that... the derbies were all coincidence 8| ?(

  • IMO this was semiorchestrated draw as teams from same country can meet in Playoff 6. My favs are Dynamo Moscow, Berlin, Modena, Cucine Lube, ZAKSA and Zenit. ZAKSA is having really difficult road to Rome with 2 Russian teams (if they beat Belgorod), while Dynamo Moscow has the easiest road (ofc in my opinion).


    Had this not been an "orchestrated" draw, the chance of three teams from the same country having a non-clashing path to F4 would have been around 90%. CEV has clearly seeded the two Italian clubs to face each other in F6 and, possibly, arranged that two Rus and Pol teams would clash before F4. I doubt that the lucky group was pre-arranged for Turkey/Germany. The real beneficiary is Dinamo who gets to play both return legs at home. Despite the recent lame performances, I think Moscow needs to be quite stupid in order to miss F4. I am pretty positive there'll be another Italian team in F4. The biggest Qs for me are Belgorod and ZAKSA, although both would need a mega-lucky day to make life hard for Kazan.

  • Polish teams are the "lucky" '3 teams from the same country' with only one possible derby pre-final instead of two.
    I mean, mathematically it's possible to have a final with two Polish team, but not with two Italians, two Russians or two Turkeys.


    Unfortunately, Poland probably best team (Zaksa) happened to stay in the same 'quartet' of the super favorite Kazan, and the other two vs Italians teams (with one of them being the other favorite for the CL, at the moment).


    So, if mathematically Poland is the only one that can have two teams in the final, practically among Poland, Russia and Italy they're probably the team that risk the most not be in the final (or even the final4) at all... :(



    Italian teams got quite a tough path considering they're complexly the best seeded country in the pools (3 team first of the pool, vs only 1 Russian and 1 Polish team), but at the same time they have decent chance to have 2 teams in the final 4, which means 1 team for sure in the final.



    Russia is probably the favorite to have 2 teams in F4, but I hope Berlino will be the 'outsider' in the final 4.
    Between Zaksa and Kazan I don't have a clear favorite (but I prefer both of them to their respective opponents)

  • Polish teams are the "lucky" '3 teams from the same country' with only one possible derby pre-final instead of two.
    I mean, mathematically it's possible to have a final with two Polish team, but not with two Italians, two Russians or two Turkeys.


    AFAIC the F4 matches were honestly drawn this year, following the desperate appeals from Italian side traumatised by the all-Italian semi last year. There was a 1 in 3 chance to get an "Italian" draw for Perugia in the semi, which worked.


    Russia is probably the favorite to have 2 teams in F4, but I hope Berlino will be the 'outsider' in the final 4. Between Zaksa and Kazan I don't have a clear favorite (but I prefer both of them to their respective opponents)


    If I were you, thinking of an outsider in F4, I would favour of a team capable doing damage to Kazan in the SF if not beating them on a one-off occasion. I do not see how Berlin can do this in the SF. Yes, they were OKish in the home SF two years ago but that was two years ago. One may argue that Kazan is by far less motivated now but their squad is overall stronger. Dinamo would be a better draw from the Italian perspective as they are equipped to give a team like Zenit some hard time. Lost 1:3 to Kazan in Feb but Zenit won two sets on a balance, thanks to Butko's aces. Obviously I'm assuming here that Zenit reaches the F4 stage, which is a doable thing for them. Yes, Zaksa or Belgorod may pull a set/two or even a game from Kazan but would be difficult to win two matches or one match and GS. Belgorod looks too age-positive from the outside and I think that Zaksa may struggle a lot against the organised block.

  • Booked the flight to Rome for the F4. I think nobody can hurt Kazan in their way to the final. For me it's only Lube who can surprise Zenit in a single match. I expect a Russian and an Italian SF with Perugia vs. Lube and Moscow vs. Kazan.

  • Booked the flight to Rome for the F4. I think nobody can hurt Kazan in their way to the final. For me it's only Lube who can surprise Zenit in a single match. I expect a Russian and an Italian SF with Perugia vs. Lube and Moscow vs. Kazan.



    Congrats on the booking! I am also considering it :)


    This is exactly the scenario that looks most plausible right now. To start with, they obviously put the two strongest runner-ups, Dinamo Moscow and Berlin RV, as seeded in the draw, which I find totally acceptable, and they got lucky. Let's face it, facing the two Turkish sides this year is realtively desirable and should be considered fortunate. Now, I didn't watch the draw and don't know how lucky it was indeed for the two runner-ups to end up in the same part of the Playoffs 6 draw. But it is totally unfair, let's be reasonable. With the host already known, the 3 teams that would surely deserve a place in Rome, based on their performance and form in the group stage, are Zenit, Lube, and ZAKSA. I would have enjoyed to see all 3 in Rome and it is obvious ZAKSA drew the short straw. In my opinion, the Poles are favourites against Belogorie. powsoff is right that Zenit is theoretically easier to surprise in an eventual semifinal, yet if ZAKSA faces Zenit in what promises to be a great Playoffs 6 duel, they might have their chances. True, Dinamo Moscow could've also given Zenit some pressure, but I consider ZAKSA to have more chances against Zenit. For one, ZAKSA actually beat Dinamo this season more easily than Zenit did (although we shouldn't compare games), and two, the fast and super technical volleyball by De Giorgi's side should create trouble for both Belogorie (discussed earlier in this very same thread) and Zenit. We know very well that Zenit can demolish any team with similar style of play apart from Cruzeiro, hence I would consider the encounters with ZAKSA highly interesting.

  • .... it is obvious ZAKSA drew the short straw. In my opinion, the Poles are favourites against Belogorie. powsoff is right that Zenit is theoretically easier to surprise in an eventual semifinal, yet if ZAKSA faces Zenit in what promises to be a great Playoffs 6 duel, they might have their chances. True, Dinamo Moscow could've also given Zenit some pressure, but I consider ZAKSA to have more chances against Zenit. For one, ZAKSA actually beat Dinamo this season more easily than Zenit did (although we shouldn't compare games), and two, the fast and super technical volleyball by De Giorgi's side should create trouble for both Belogorie (discussed earlier in this very same thread) and Zenit. We know very well that Zenit can demolish any team with similar style of play apart from Cruzeiro, hence I would consider the encounters with ZAKSA highly interesting.



    The reason why I have doubts re Zaksa vs Zenit is that I think one needs someone serious in two/one to put a good pressure on Kazan. Zenit has four players in the starting line-up capable of serving multiple tough serves in a raw, something that Dinamo is lacking; this means that inevitably their opponent has to deal with a decent number of high balls on organised block. This is the exact case when this nicely engineered scheme with Toniutti becomes quite difficult; in the matches vs Dinamo, things like that would make Zaksa lose a set. I think that historically, teams that managed to beat/give hard time to Kazan all had a strong solo side-outer, i.e. someone capable scoring 30+ points per game alone. I can't see a figure like Bakun or even Zhigalov/Danilov (may sound unusual but each of these two has a recorded 35+ point heroic performance on a high level) in Zaksa. They did beat Moscow twice quite impressively but that that happened vastly due to an excellent organisation and I would emphasise the role of the setter. Also, I would say, Dinamo has undergone some "zenitisation" as their performance in defense/reception has unsurprisingly changed towards simpler but more power-based action. I would say, they are better tailored to face a powerful opponent like Zenit rather than a technical one. Apart from the Zaksa matches, Dinamo had two very shaky games vs Noliko, in which the setter Grankin has outsmarted his own team. Zaksa may of course come up with some special strategy for games like these - I think we'll know this well by their games vs Belgorod.

  • Wasn't the F4 tickets sale supposed to be opened, like, an hour ago?


    EDIT: Never mind, it took me some time to find out how the system works.

  • Guys, the tickets are selling very fast, I advise you! Only around 50 free spot in the second ring, I really didn't expect that!
    Still several sites for first and third ring.


    To buy the ticket you need to go on bookingshow, then select one of the two days (29/30), then select the red button with written 'abbonamento fisso', then select the sits on Palalottomatica maps. The grey sectors are sold out.
    You can only buy 4 sits for each buyer (so, for each credit card, I think; but you also need to change the name and the datas of the buyer, not only the credit card).
    You need to insert data for every person/ticket.

  • Guys, the tickets are selling very fast, I advise you! Only around 50 free spot in the second ring, I really didn't expect that!
    Still several sites for first and third ring.


    To buy the ticket you need to go on bookingshow, then select one of the two days (29/30), then select the red button with written 'abbonamento fisso', then select the sits on Palalottomatica maps. The grey sectors are sold out.
    You can only buy 4 sits for each buyer (so, for each credit card, I think; but you also need to change the name and the datas of the buyer, not only the credit card).
    You need to insert data for every person/ticket.

    I went through the procedure yesterday and I can clearly say this has been the most obscure tickets system I have used. It is not logical for the user to click anything when there is a button with text 'No tickets can be purchased for this event'. I still decided to click the infamous red button an hour later and although I bought tickets in the end, I guess I missed most of the better seats available. Also, the fact that you have to click on either of the dates and not the event as a single link instead makes you think you only did half of the job.


    Anyway, I am also coming to Rome :)

  • I totally agree, I spent like 10 minutes using different key words in the search line to find the complete 2-days event on its own, when I finally decide to open the single day to check the prize 'just in case'... And after that I still needed a moment to realize that I needed to click on the red button.
    'abbonamento fisso' It's not even that explicative in Italian (the adjective 'fisso' doesn't work very well in this case, imho). I don't know the english version.


    Ps second ring practically sold out