Bulgarian Superliga 2011/2012

  • In the last round of the regular season every team but CSKA took what they needed. CSKA lost in Montana and after Neftochimik beat Levski in Sofia, the team from Bourgas escaped Levski in the quarterfinal play-off, as well as Pirin in the eventual semifinal one, and moved one position above CSKA. On the other side CSKA will face Levski in the quarterfinals, but then the winner will await Pirin in the semis, which is definitely not the best scenario. Marek and Neftochimik look like favourites to play semis, but against Montana and Arda respectively there is nothing certain yet. The only team deserving some good words right now (beside Pirin, of course) is Neftochimik, they look differently in the second half of the season with Niki Naydenov as a starting setter.


    Slavia needed a set to remain in the play-off spots. Pirin surely didn't mind losing a set against Slavia, especially when both teams are in such a good relationship in general. Marek used mostly bench players in Lukovit against Botev and expectedly lost the game, but without any consequences in the final standings.


    I don't really remember the last time when there was no team from Sofia in top 3 after the end of the regular season.


    Quarterfinal play-offs:


    (1) - (8 ) Pirin Balkanstroy - Slavia
    (2) - (7) Marek Union-Ivkoni - Montana
    (3) - (6) Neftochimik 2010 - Arda
    (4) - (5) CSKA - Levski

  • Final tournament


    21-23 March 2012


    "Skaptopara" Sports Hall, Blagoevgrad


    Quarterfinals:


    21-March


    Levski Volley - Pirin Balkanstroy 3-2 (22-225, 25-21, 19-25, 27-25, 24-22) stats
    Coco Volley Club Gabrovo - CSKA 1-3 (20-25, 27-25, 17-25, 21-25) stats
    UNWE - Arda 0-3 (18-25, 21-25, 17-25)
    Montana - Marek Union-Ivkoni 3-2 (25-23, 25-19, 13-25, 19-25, 15-12) stats


    Semifinals:


    22-March


    Arda - Montana 3-1 (25-13, 20-25, 25-22, 25-23) stats
    Levski Volley - CSKA 3-1 (23-25, 25-11, 25-14, 30-28 ) stats


    Final:


    23-March


    Arda - Levski Volley 2-3 (25-12, 23-25, 25-22, 19-25, 15-17) stats


    Individual Awards:


    Best Attacker
    Simeon Aleksandrov (Levski Volley)
    Best Blocker
    Vasiliy Petrov (Levski Volley)
    Best Setter
    Georgi Bratoev (Levski Volley)
    Best Libero
    Teodor Marinov (Arda)
    MVP
    Georgi Bratoev (Levski Volley)

  • The final tournament for the Cup was organized over the last three days and you can say it was everything but according to expectations. First, the Federation chose a different format with 8 teams in a three-days knock-out tournament in a location that has nothing to do with volleyball. The sports hall was decent though, however, Blagoevgrad is a predominantly football city. We should also confess that attendance was very high compared to the league games, which is at the end a reason to congratulate the organizers.


    Second, for the first time in years the war started the week before the Cup finals. The captain of Levski and NT back-up setter Georgi Bratoev said there will be a lot of surprises during these three days and he was damn right about that! He was confident Levski will beat Pirin on the first day, as it eventually happened, and then he motivated all his teammembers to dye their hairs blonde. You can see how they looked like on the pic above. He was practically right about everything he said before they arrived in Blagoevgrad! Today Levski won the Cup and Bratoev was even selected MVP.


    Neftochimik was eliminated by UNWE at the 1/8-finals stage, the almost unbeaten leaders Pirin were stopped by Levski, CSKA as well on the next day, Marek also left early as a result of losing to Montana. No one could predict the finalists reaching that far! We mentioned a lot of times that the league is competitive, but relatively weaker compared to previous years, and these results come only to support everything I wrote since the beginning of the season. Play-off games are approaching soon, derbies like Marek-Montana and Levski-CSKA are to be repeated more during the next weeks, so we will find out whether it has just been three crazy days with a momentum by some teams, or the "favourites" will recharge quickly the batteries and get their revenge in a series of home and away games.


    BTW, a draw decided the road to the final, it was not related to current league standings or any other rankings.

  • Levski Cup Champion must be sensation the more that the Team is on Regural Season 5th place.

    What does the Cup give when We look to Euro Cups?

    Write Champions and Runners Up from past.

  • Levski Cup Champion must be sensation the more that the Team is on Regural Season 5th place.


    What does the Cup give when We look to Euro Cups?


    Write Champions and Runners Up from past.


    They used to be a very strong team some years ago, but now times changed. Yes, for these young guys and their young coach it is a huge success and a major upset for the rest! Normally, the Cup winner should advance to CEV Cup, but this is not really the case in Bulgaria as no one but CSKA wants to participate in the European Cups. We have the quotas, they are allowed to use them, but at the end the Federation is asking just any club to compete because almost none of them can afford the expenses of the participation. You know, it is a long topic, you don't gain much from participating in Europe. Actually, most of the times the costs are higher than the profits. So, maybe you won't see Levski soon in Europe, but I really hope I am wrong! CVC Gabrovo had some money and represented Bulgaria in the Challenge Cup during the last two seasons, they shouldn't be normally allowed to as they finish in the bottom half of the table, but as no one else accepted, pretty much any club with some money spent can participate.


    Now, for the previous winners I will give you a list, but there is no public statistics available, this is what I gathered for you guys:


    2012 - Levski Volley def. Arda 3-2
    2011 - CSKA def. Pirin Balkanstroy 3-2
    2010 - CSKA def. Lukoil Neftochimik 3-1
    2009 - CSKA def. Marek Union-Ivkoni 3-2
    2008 - Lukoil Neftochimik def. CSKA 3-0
    2007 - Lukoil Neftochimik def. Pirin Balkanstroy 3-0
    2006 - Levski Siconco def. Lukoil Neftochimik 3-2
    2005 - Slavia def. Levski Siconco 3-1
    2004 - Levski Siconco
    2003 - Levski Siconco
    2002 - CSKA Royal Foods
    2001 - Levski Siconco
    2000 - Levski Siconco
    1999 - Slavia Hebrosgas
    1998 - Slavia Saga
    1997 - Levski Siconco
    1996 - Levski Siconco


    Number of titles:


    CSKA - 19, Levski - 13, Slavia - 10, Spartak Sofia - 3, Minyor Pernik - 3, etc.

  • I told you some time ago that Levski could surprise. They train on Rado's system under Georgi Petrov, they have explosive player like Simeon Aleksandrov, winner like Georgi Bratoev and 213 cm MB Petrov. The other teams are not so balanced, CSKA without spirit, Pirin with MBs as best scorers, the real surprise is that the first team had only one defeat, not the winner of the cup tournament.

  • Why they are all blond? It reminds me "blond times" in our Jastrzębski Węgiel :D


    It was to motivate them to win, to embarass themselves before the games so they would have nothing to lose on the court :lol:

  • Why they are all blond? It reminds me "blond times" in our Jastrzębski Węgiel :D


    Hehe, well it was Georgi Bratoev's idea, initially he wanted to dye blue (the color of Levski), but after that he heard that blue dye doesn't fir to every type of hair, that's way he decided to be blonde and the rest of the team agreed :D

    Wild Wild West!


    ..............................................................................................

    " There is nothing better than this"


    ..............................................................................................

  • I told you some time ago that Levski could surprise. They train on Rado's system under Georgi Petrov, they have explosive player like Simeon Aleksandrov, winner like Georgi Bratoev and 213 cm MB Petrov. The other teams are not so balanced, CSKA without spirit, Pirin with MBs as best scorers, the real surprise is that the first team had only one defeat, not the winner of the cup tournament.


    What kind of system they use we can't be sure, even if they try to copy something, they don't have the players to do so, so such comparisons are ridiculous, the least to say. Aleksandrov is a good player for our standards, but to make a step in international volleyball he needs a hell lot of work to do. The Petrov twins I am not even gonna comment, they are both avarage players for our league, Bratoev, on the other side, is the leader they need. If you saw the game yesterday, you would know it turned out to be Aleksandrov vs. Neshev affair, both setters were using only them in the decisive moments, making the game quite predictable and just the fact that the level is now the same in all teams made the otherwise weak tournament interesting! True, Levski achieved a lot during these three days, team spirit was significantly raised as a key factor, we all praised Levski and Georgi Petrov for that, but such a thing could've happened in a knock-out tournament in a new hall only! Now to prove it was not just a momentum (something Levski have been failing to do in the last years) they should try and achieve something more in the play-off phase. Then we would be able to say whether in the important matches they have the team and the quality they are talking about.


    And no, it IS a surprise when all top 4 teams are eliminated and the 5th-ranked team gets the Cup. Pirin quite deservedly finished the regular season with a 21-1 record. Levski was poor during the league phase, this is why the outcome of the Blagoevgrad tournament is a surprise. But don't get me wrong, I liked it a lot mainly because young players got out of the lethargic level they were trapped into showing the "favourites" they can bite.

  • I cited Bratoev, he said they train like with the NT and they have the best physical preparation according to his words.
    Aleksandrov has qualities to be more than good on international level, but he needs a ton more work to do. Even I can see how imprecise he spikes sometimes

  • Quarterfinal play-offs (best of 3):


    28-March


    (1) - (8 ) Pirin Balkanstroy - Slavia 3-2 (1-0) (25-17, 25-16, 21-25, 29-31, 15-13) stats
    (2) - (7) Marek Union-Ivkoni - Montana 3-0 (1-0) (25-16, 25-18, 25-21) stats
    (3) - (6) Neftochimik 2010 - Arda 2-3 (0-1) (25-19, 27-25, 23-25, 22-25, 12-15)
    (4) - (5) CSKA - Levski Volley 3-2 (1-0) (25-20, 23-25, 29-27, 23-25, 15-13) stats

  • The first mid-week games of the quarterfinals were completed. As you can see, apart from Marek, no one had a walkover. CSKA and Levski had the expected battle, Levski were again close to making a surprise, but this time CSKA won and gained the psychological advantage before today's second match. Arda's momentum was confirmed in Bourgas where they came back from 2 sets down to lead 1-0 victories against the almost perfect recently Neftochimik. This was for sure the upset of the quarterfinals so far. Nw with the second match in Kardzhali Arda is surely a favourite and Neftochimik will have a mountain to climb if they want to make it a stage further. Slavia also, quite unexpectedly, put up some fight in Razlog and made the hosts Pirin sweat. It is obvious Pirin are currently suffering having performed poorly in the Cup of Bulgaria a week ago. Today's games look promising - maybe not always from the perspective of quality, but rather from the perspective of competition.

  • 30-March


    Slavia - Pirin Balkanstroy 2-3 (0-2) (22-25, 25-22, 25-21, 20-25, 9-15) stats
    Montana - Marek Union-Ivkoni 1-3 (0-2) (23-25, 27-25, 22-25, 19-25) stats
    Arda - Neftochimik 2010 3-1 (2-0) (13-25, 25-16, 25-9, 25-21) stats
    Levski Volley - CSKA 1-3 (0-2) (25-21, 22-25, 21-25, 20-25) stats


    Semifinal play-offs:


    Pirin Balkanstroy - CSKA
    Marek Union-Ivkoni - Arda

  • Obviously 7 hours a day training is not enough for some of the players of Levski and the bad schedule /playoffs right after the cup/ didn't help, since they played the longest matches there.

  • The series are drawn after 3-1 in Sofia and 3-0 in Kardjali. So today are the 3rd matches

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