2016 CEV DenizBank Champions League

  • Hope Pomi gets a spot in the next CL. Conegliano already are classiicated i guess

  • Today Vakif played as I expected Them to play yesterday.

    Kadir write me what do You felt when You was 100% sure that Vakif will win but lost? lol lol

  • COngrats to Pomi :flower: :flower: :flower: :flower:


    Two days ago my prediction was: 1. Fener 2. Kazan 3. Vakifbank 4. Pomi



    I was, like many others, soo wrong :D :D


    Unfortunately I couldn't see the match today.


    Great to read Piccinini played so well !!


    I'm curious what transfers Vakifbank (and Fener) will do for next season..

  • They will probably buy POMI players hahahah :D JK

  • I'm curious what transfers Vakifbank (and Fener) will do for next season..


    They'll do the only thing that Turks know: they are going to use money in order to buy the best players from Italian league

    Per un pir, un pam un persec per na brogna e na rumleina, nuetr'a sam d'la Ghirlandeina nuetr'a sam da rispeter




  • Looking at their road to the final, Vakifbank had to beat Eczacibasi, Volero and Fenerbahce in a row to get there. Pomi beat Kazan without Gamova and Startseva. Now, I'm not saying they're not deserving winners, they totally are, but I wish we had a more balanced system. It's difficult to make a significant change, though, as volleyball is not the ideal sport for home and away format and hosting the F4 in a neutral venue would probably not be economically viable.


  • They'll do the only thing that Turks know: they are going to use money in order to buy the best players from Italian league


    I don't agree.. As much as this can be true for some teams ex. Eczacibasi this season.. there are many teams which use their money really wisely. Like Galatasaray for example.. Or Vakifbank.. Which player do you think shouldn't be there? Sheilla maybe because she for sure can be a starter, but she wanted to have a break so.. Guidetti chose his players really wisely. Also Ecz last season made very good tranfers, that team worked well together..

  • Looking at their road to the final, Vakifbank had to beat Eczacibasi, Volero and Fenerbahce in a row to get there. Pomi beat Kazan without Gamova and Startseva. Now, I'm not saying they're not deserving winners, they totally are, but I wish we had a more balanced system. It's difficult to make a significant change, though, as volleyball is not the ideal sport for home and away format and hosting the F4 in a neutral venue would probably not be economically viable.

    I also thought about that and at the beginning my idea was exactly like yours, I would add that Pomì (considering the absence of Piccinini due to her injury and the very short bench) would have had to make a miracle even bigger to reach the F4 without being the host.
    But then if you look very well into the results of the last years, you will find out that the last time a host-team won the Champions League was in 2004 (Tenerife), 12 years ago. I think this is the proof that being the host can be a double-edged sword. Sure, you go directly to the F4 and you have the audience on your side, but the lack of international activity for some months, the pressure, the motivation of the other teams who fought harder to reach the qualification, can also be too much to handle.
    If CEV could find a way to fill the venues in a neutral city, it would be ideal, but until they can make this happen, I'm starting to reconsider this solution, which is, after all, not even so convenient for the host, who risks to pay (a lot) to see another team lifting the trophy.

  • This victory shows what I always told about Barbolini: he's a great coach. He's not a great selector for NT and he simply had no chances with Galatasaray. The difference with a team well built is very clear. He prepared the F4 very well. They sacrificed Italy Cup F4, working on their physical shape (do you remember 2-0 Casalmaggiore, then 6+1 ghosts on court without any energy or power?). I wasn't sure about using Kozuch as less as possible, but it still worked. 3 Champions League for him: 1996, 2006, 2016. Respect.


    On the other side Guidetti worked the right way as well. Strong service all along the match. They had many mistakes, but it was the only way to stop the MBs. They made Sirressi look just good, not as amazing as usual. Tirozzi struggled with passing as well. Good for Casalmaggiore everyone had a good day among the spikers. The only change I'd made in Guidetti's place was playing with Sheilla sooner and the whole third set. She was the only one able to stop Piccinini and did very very good everything. Classy as usual.

  • Congrats Pomi.. very happy for this team and especially for Picci :heart: .. i hope she can make it to Rio Olympics.
    After the final it was clear for me that Fener lost in the semis because they played their worst match this season, as much as they wanted this title that's put a huge pressure on their shoulders.. if Fener played their usual game as their previous matches in Turkey with Vakif, i'm sure saturday's match would not have finished 3-0 at least.
    What i want to say is that Vakif won not because they were unbeatable or because Guidetti prepared a "special magic" but simply Fener was awful in the semifinal.. If Guidetti is really perfect then why we did not see his "magic" in the most important match, the final..?
    By the way it's sad how when a coach as Barbolini make a miracle by leading Pomi to the European title and only few people give credit to him.. on the other hand when Guidetti win a match everybody start to praise him as a saint.. For sure Guidetti is a great coach, one of the best but that's don't means he don't make any mistake.


    We need to remember that Guidetti is leading Vakif to a second season without any title, so maybe we should stop saying woooow he is doing a great job :whistling: .

  • Im happy Pomi won and of course they deserved, and I agree being the host is a disavantage, look for examplo Chemik last year, and just like u said the last time the host won was many years ago.


    But as much as Im happy Pomi won, I still get the feeling that "they did not deserved because they were put into F4.


    Maybe they could do a FInal 8 (quaterfinal) insted of a Final 6, and then they choose who will be the host btw the 4 semi-finalist.

    I also thought about that and at the beginning my idea was exactly like yours, I would add that Pomì (considering the absence of Piccinini due to her injury and the very short bench) would have had to make a miracle even bigger to reach the F4 without being the host.
    But then if you look very well into the results of the last years, you will find out that the last time a host-team won the Champions League was in 2004 (Tenerife), 12 years ago. I think this is the proof that being the host can be a double-edged sword. Sure, you go directly to the F4 and you have the audience on your side, but the lack of international activity for some months, the pressure, the motivation of the other teams who fought harder to reach the qualification, can also be too much to handle.
    If CEV could find a way to fill the venues in a neutral city, it would be ideal, but until they can make this happen, I'm starting to reconsider this solution, which is, after all, not even so convenient for the host, who risks to pay (a lot) to see another team lifting the trophy.

  • Anyone who watched Pomi last season storm through the playoffs with a series of upsets and then take the championship game in five sets from Novara saw what passion and team defense they were able to muster. Just a reprise of last years incredible run to the Italian gold rolled all up into one game backed by a very vocal sold out house of supporters.

  • Congrats Pomi.. very happy for this team and especially for Picci :heart: .. i hope she can make it to Rio Olympics.
    After the final it was clear for me that Fener lost in the semis because they played their worst match this season, as much as they wanted this title that's put a huge pressure on their shoulders.. if Fener played their usual game as their previous matches in Turkey with Vakif, i'm sure saturday's match would not have finished 3-0 at least.
    What i want to say is that Vakif won not because they were unbeatable or because Guidetti prepared a "special magic" but simply Fener was awful in the semifinal.. If Guidetti is really perfect then why we did not see his "magic" in the most important match, the final..?
    By the way it's sad how when a coach as Barbolini make a miracle by leading Pomi to the European title and only few people give credit to him.. on the other hand when Guidetti win a match everybody start to praise him as a saint.. For sure Guidetti is a great coach, one of the best but that's don't means he don't make any mistake.


    We need to remember that Guidetti is leading Vakif to a second season without any title, so maybe we should stop saying woooow he is doing a great job :whistling: .


    I know you are a Fener fan, but taking away Vakif's credit for yesterdays's win won't make your team look better. Vakif's staff prepaired the team PERFECTLY for Fener. The players knew where Fener's players would attack, they stopped Kim, they received their serves on a high level and played a fast game. Mihajlovic was good but not enough for them to win. And no, Fener did not play awful.. Of course voleyball is a game where that's related, one team plays bad a losses and the other plays good and wins.. but it's not always like that. For example London final 2012, USA were not bad just outplayed by Brazil. And probably Vakif's defeat by Pomi is because they didn't even expect to play against them. Maybe for the bronze, but that wouln't be such an inportant match. They prepared for Fener perfectly and expected Kazan...

  • And probably Vakif's defeat by Pomi is because they didn't even expect to play against them. Maybe for the bronze, but that wouln't be such an inportant match. They prepared for Fener perfectly and expected Kazan...

    If I were a coach or a volleyball player of that level, this would be one of the worst insult someone could make me...losing a final because the other possible opponent was more probable, are we talking about amateur volleyball or Champions League?

  • I don't know, I am sure Vafik players and staff thought they would prevail with ease on Pomì and as soon as the match got tight and they lost the first set they started feeling the pressure.
    And Pomì played the perfect italian style, with great defense, great block, good contribution by the middle blockers and also making the most out of the chances they earned.


    Anyway, I could not find any interview or transcript by Guidetti or any other Vafik players/member. Does anyone have one? I am really curious about what he has to say.

  • Congrats Pomi! It is so nice to see that a team that is given the least chances won the title over other 3 teams with huge budgets. A big applaud to Piccinini, I think she is a great example of how our times look like, simply we don't get old as quick as our grandparents, we get better supplements, tranings and food and you can be Europe's best player at the age of 37.


    For Vakifbank's side, this was probably the worst scenario possible. I read a lot of comments about their serve errors but Vakifbank had to serve their best to avoid Pomi's middles from attacking. Besides, Vakifbank has to receive good because Buijs and Lonneke are the only players that can hit over the block. Both didnt work and Vakif lost, but Pomi would not be able to repeat this success if this two teams played 10 times against each other. For people drawing conclusions about the quality of Turkish volleyball, I would like to remind you that Eczacibasi won against Pomi last week 4-1, playing with only 3 foreign players.


    In overall, it is really nice to see Italian volleyball at the top of the Europe, hopefully pulling more attention in the next years and attracting more sponsors. :super:

  • I don't agree.. As much as this can be true for some teams ex. Eczacibasi this season.. there are many teams which use their money really wisely. Like Galatasaray for example.. Or Vakifbank.. Which player do you think shouldn't be there? Sheilla maybe because she for sure can be a starter, but she wanted to have a break so.. Guidetti chose his players really wisely. Also Ecz last season made very good tranfers, that team worked well together..

    I would put my signature under what you wrote here. Galatasaray's budget is probably 1/5 of most Italian top teams and still fighting head to head in the league and I'm sure they have a good chance to finish 2nd or 3rd. I also never saw Vakifbank making a useless transfer, I can simply motivate why which player is transferred. Eczacibasi and Fenerbahce are different cases though :down:

  • If I were a coach or a volleyball player of that level, this would be one of the worst insult someone could make me...losing a final because the other possible opponent was more probable, are we talking about amateur volleyball or Champions League?


    I don't mean Pomi won because Vakif wasn't prepared for them.. But for sure Vakif staff didn't pay the same ammount of attention to them, than to Fener and Kazan.. However Pomi deserved it's win, I am nor trying to take anything from them.. Just explaining the circumstances