CEV Champions League 2018

  • No clue what i shall watch. Every match seems tight at the moment :box:

  • Don't we love an upset? Noliko Maaseik beats Lokomotiv Novosibirsk in straight sets.

    Favorite players: M: Maxim Mikhaylov, Murilo, Serginho, Aaron Russell, Otavio, Simone Giannelli, Ivan Zaytsev, Tsvetan Sokolov, Michał Kubiak, Mariusz Wlazly, Pawel Zagummy W: Sheilla, Zhu Ting, Natalia, Fe Garay, Fofao, Gabi, Thaisa, Foluke Akinradewo, Wei Qiuyue, Ding Xia, Carli Lloyd, Fabi, Natalia Goncharova, Yuko Sano, Saoris Kimura and Sakoda


    #FreeBritney

  • Where is Arslan Eksi and some of Novosibirsk’s players?

    Did they field a "second team" tonight?


    Anyway, hats off to Chaumont and Maaseik. Good battles everywhere tonight. I hope the return matches can keep up with this.

  • I feel bad for Giannelli... There's just too much shuffling of players being done in this match by Lorenzetti. I think Vettori should've just gone only for the serve and leave after so Lanza could come back again and let Hoag play as a non-receiving spiker again or just let either Lanza or Vettori play. Just choose and don't compromise anymore. Losing rhythm between players is just too costly in a tiebreak. Giannelli may be considered a genius for a setter but there is no way the poor kid can remember all of his spikers preferred sets without making mistakes.

    Favorite players: M: Maxim Mikhaylov, Murilo, Serginho, Aaron Russell, Otavio, Simone Giannelli, Ivan Zaytsev, Tsvetan Sokolov, Michał Kubiak, Mariusz Wlazly, Pawel Zagummy W: Sheilla, Zhu Ting, Natalia, Fe Garay, Fofao, Gabi, Thaisa, Foluke Akinradewo, Wei Qiuyue, Ding Xia, Carli Lloyd, Fabi, Natalia Goncharova, Yuko Sano, Saoris Kimura and Sakoda


    #FreeBritney

  • Haven't watched Chaumont-Trento and of course I'm not very happy for the defeat (especially considering we didn't take advantages of Boyer absence), but at least with a victory we have a chance to pass directly/with the golden set, and at home. Crossing my finger.


    Looking at the stats, Trento had similar but better spike% (55% vs 51%, but with 10 errors vs 6), less serve errors (18 that are little for Trentino standard in 5 sets – vs 20) with an ace more (8 vs 7, 4 by Eder), better stats in reception.
    What stand out is the block, not only because is pro-Chaumont, but also because it's the only stats with a big gap: 12 vs 4!! Only 4 blocks in 5 sets for Trento :what:


    It seems Lanza played as receiving opposite the last two sets, but also Teppan entered the court. So I guess Vettori wasn't playing very well.


    Eder 4 aces and 91% (!!) in attack, 10/11! (with 1 error, so Chaumont has never been able to block-defend him)

  • Deserved win by Maaseik, but a very poor challenge decision by the refs on 28-28 in the 3rd. After the decision the 1st ref gave a red card to Novosibirsk.
    End of the game...


    The challenge was not a poor but rather a very puzzling one as it is impossible to miss things like that on a replay. There should be a CEV delegate available for cases like that. The game was ugly overall and I can't agree that Noliko deserved the win: first two sets were won on a balance and set 3 was given to them by their de facto compatriot referee - from -1 to +2. Could have gone either way, was very close.


    Novosibirsk has lost the first (away) leg of domestic QF to Moscow and therefore decided to rest some players hoping to carry on on both fronts. I assume the task for the away leg in Belgium was to grab a point and then win it all back at home. I don't know whether they'll succeed in killing two birds with the same stone. Naturally, their geographical location is also a big advantage for home games.

  • No clue what i shall watch. Every match seems tight at the moment :box:

    I felt exactly the same last night :) Had to set some preferences in the end but still did it quite nerdy and watched almost all actions simultaneously (switching tabs) :D


    A great matchday in the Champions League for sure! Jastrzebski could put up some fight in the third and the fourth set at least against ZAKSA, the latter finally had Sam Deroo in the roster. But with that scoreline Jastrzebski have now a mountain to climb.


    If one wondered why Friedrichshafen keep on winning without having some amazing players, albeit managed by a cunning Heynen, they should watch last night's match. It was a typical display of this year's Friedrichshafen - not always the highest quality of volleyball or powerful attacks, often 4 or 5 sets needed for the win, plus some fight and drama involved, but a magnificent defence performance that helps them prevail over fellow decent or even slightly better teams. I saw some stats today that this was their 30+something-win in a row this season. It is true, they are still unbeaten! Although apart from meeting Berlin the CL and in the Bundesliga, they have hardly faced a strong team yet, with Halkbank disappointing for yet another season. I look forward to watching them more carefully against ZAKSA in a match I will enjoy.


    I put Konstantinov's position and Lokomotiv's management's patience on stake when I saw his roster for the visit in Belgium. But then, just as powsoff mentioned, I remembered their first-leg defeat in Moscow against Dinamo and Konstantinov's decision made more sense. For the sake of a good competition, however, I am happy the underdogs Noliko won that match. This will make the return leg and the Golden Set very entertaining. You know I criticize Konstantinov a lot and it will be no exception this time, for I doubt he will succeed in eliminating both Noliko and Dinamo. And I think these will be his last matches as a coach in Novosibirsk. But he was right about those complaints in Maaseik. It is a pity his outburst cost Lokomotiv the lost 3rd sets, though.

  • Concerning Chaumont, their chances had been affected not that much by Boyer's absence but just as importantly by Trentino's inconsistency. Besides, Wassim Ben Tara is a highly overlooked player whom I really like. He is universal, used to play as opposite for Chaumont before and I am very happy he stepped up and used his chance against Trentino. Season 2010-2011 was the last one when a French team scored an important win giving them chances to advance to the Playoffs 6 (although Tours got eliminated then, losing the Golden Set in Moscow against Dinamo, and I neglect Tours' consolation win in Belogorie two years ago). Thus, it is surely a splendid CL debut for Chaumont.

  • If one wondered why Friedrichshafen keep on winning without having some amazing players, albeit managed by a cunning Heynen, they should watch last night's match. It was a typical display of this year's Friedrichshafen - not always the highest quality of volleyball or powerful attacks, often 4 or 5 sets needed for the win, plus some fight and drama involved, but a magnificent defence performance that helps them prevail over fellow decent or even slightly better teams. I saw some stats today that this was their 30+something-win in a row this season. It is true, they are still unbeaten! Although apart from meeting Berlin the CL and in the Bundesliga, they have hardly faced a strong team yet, with Halkbank disappointing for yet another season. I look forward to watching them more carefully against ZAKSA in a match I will enjoy.


    It was actually win number 32 this season. Someone else wrote in this thread that they are annoying team to play against, which is surely true. I would add that at times you can even feel a bit annoyed by only watching them, at least when it comes to their low risk serving and attacking. Regarding attacking in yesterdays match, i think they tried to take a bit more risk than usual, which resulted in 16 kill blocks against them.


    I agree with you that they haven't faced a real strong team yet and i seriously wonder whether this kind of low risk play will be enough against these kind of teams. But then heynen might still put a rabbit out of the hat.....



    But he was right about those complaints in Maaseik.

    i am usually trying to defend refs but this time... :aww:
    It wasn't even close and the ball actually hit three fingers and was visibly deflected :lol:


    starting at 1:59:20: http://www.laola1.tv/de-de/vid…lokomotiv-novosibirsk-lde

  • Oh fly I saw the video, what a mistake! It is so obvious that it's easy to think it was made on purpose, to be honest. Impossible to miss.
    Was it shown on the video? In this situation imho the second/first referee has to get there and re-check it...


  • While checking stats of turkish league, i noticed that Eksi apparantly is playing for Maliye Piyango now.....


    http://tvf-web.dataproject.com…ID=78&PID=63&type=LegList

    That's another person with a very similar name/surname. one of them is Aslan, the other is Arslan.


    This is Maliye's Aslan: http://www.voleybolunsesi.com/…p?cid=08&id=33586&topic=2

  • Tonight's match is Chaumont at Trento.


    Both opposites from these teams are in doubt to play.


    Boyer had a calf muscle tear and was already rested in their first encounter while Vettori just had an ankle sprain three days ago. I guess Vettori can theoretically be available for serving. Boyer I have no news about him so we will have to see what happens tonight.


    I think both clubs came from defeat in their league before this match with surprisingly near-identical results: a tiebreak defeat before this game and a five-game fixture of Trento having 5 matches that went to five sets while Chaumont had 4 out of five tiebreak matches as well so fatigue is not going to be an excuse for both clubs.


    For the qualification to the next round:
    Chaumont needs to win in any set victories or incur a tie break loss and notching the golden set victory to move on to the next round.
    Trento needs to win 3-4 sets to move on to playoffs 6 or win the tie break to force the golden set.

    Favorite players: M: Maxim Mikhaylov, Murilo, Serginho, Aaron Russell, Otavio, Simone Giannelli, Ivan Zaytsev, Tsvetan Sokolov, Michał Kubiak, Mariusz Wlazly, Pawel Zagummy W: Sheilla, Zhu Ting, Natalia, Fe Garay, Fofao, Gabi, Thaisa, Foluke Akinradewo, Wei Qiuyue, Ding Xia, Carli Lloyd, Fabi, Natalia Goncharova, Yuko Sano, Saoris Kimura and Sakoda


    #FreeBritney

    Edited 5 times, last by Rains_of_Castamere ().

  • Rain, I again won't be able to watch the match, I rely on you for a lecture of the game ;)


    Imho it's doable for both, but also hard for both (more for Trento, considering both the loss and how they played in the last two matches)


    Vettori should be available.


    Edit: scarpetta, I've no idea, but Cormio isn't a saint as well anyway ;)

  • I'll try but I don't feel like I can do it tonight. lol


    I think we would need to rely on Scarpetta to bring the good/bad news tonight. :box:

    Favorite players: M: Maxim Mikhaylov, Murilo, Serginho, Aaron Russell, Otavio, Simone Giannelli, Ivan Zaytsev, Tsvetan Sokolov, Michał Kubiak, Mariusz Wlazly, Pawel Zagummy W: Sheilla, Zhu Ting, Natalia, Fe Garay, Fofao, Gabi, Thaisa, Foluke Akinradewo, Wei Qiuyue, Ding Xia, Carli Lloyd, Fabi, Natalia Goncharova, Yuko Sano, Saoris Kimura and Sakoda


    #FreeBritney

  • Wow Chaumont got robbed at the end of the first set. :mad: Vandoorn got called for blocking even though he didn't touch the net or step on the line. Wish there were announcers for these games

  • As a trento fan(I don't love them all but I love Simone and Uros). I'm not proud of the 1st set. It's clear the ref slightly helped Trento at one of the final moments of that set involving a non-existing net touch from Chaumont.


    It was just one questionable point but it turn the momentum away to Trento.


    Still an impressive hold from Eder. That service chase totally help them win the first set.


    Great substitution too for Zingel to come in to help the block with Giannelli.

    Favorite players: M: Maxim Mikhaylov, Murilo, Serginho, Aaron Russell, Otavio, Simone Giannelli, Ivan Zaytsev, Tsvetan Sokolov, Michał Kubiak, Mariusz Wlazly, Pawel Zagummy W: Sheilla, Zhu Ting, Natalia, Fe Garay, Fofao, Gabi, Thaisa, Foluke Akinradewo, Wei Qiuyue, Ding Xia, Carli Lloyd, Fabi, Natalia Goncharova, Yuko Sano, Saoris Kimura and Sakoda


    #FreeBritney