CEV Champions League 2019

    isn't kazan's squad trash this year?

    Quote from crovolley

    Their is huge gap between Turkish and Italian clubs I hope Russian teams can step up.

    To bad that Chemik Police don't have strong budget for better players...

    I don’t see how the Russian teams can challenge the Turkish and Italian teams especially with Goncharova’s condition still a worry.

    Quote from losta

    isn't kazan's squad trash this year?

    I'm not sure about it. They have two very strong middles (Irina Koroleva, born Zaryachko and Anastasia Samoilenko, born Shlyakovskaya) and the very young (15!), but highly gifted Tatiana Kadochkina. So I think we have to wait, how they will perform.

    If Goncharova recovers and be back to her pre-injury shape, Moscow still can be in final 6. Ognjenovic-Goncharova-Scherban-Havelkova-Fetisova-Lyubushkina-Talysheva is a dangerous line-up


    But I can't say the same for Kazan, without a good Opp, they might try to score mostly with MBs and both Samoylenko and Maryukhnich can indeed score a lot but I don't Bavykina&Kotikova is stable reception line for this strategy. And Noone knows how Pasynkova is gonna play after two very serious injuries. With the current roster, I think Uralochka is a stronger team

    Quote from serdar

    If Goncharova recovers and be back to her pre-injury shape, Moscow still can be in final 6. Ognjenovic-Goncharova-Scherban-Havelkova-Fetisova-Lyubushkina-Talysheva is a dangerous line-up


    But I can't say the same for Kazan, without a good Opp, they might try to score mostly with MBs and both Samoylenko and Maryukhnich can indeed score a lot but I don't Bavykina&Kotikova is stable reception line for this strategy. And Noone knows how Pasynkova is gonna play after two very serious injuries. With the current roster, I think Uralochka is a stronger team

    To be honest, if Ekaterinburg doesn't improve from last season, even Stuttgart is capable to beat them IMHO.

    Quote from StefanS

    I'm not sure about it. They have two very strong middles (Irina Koroleva, born Zaryachko and Anastasia Samoilenko, born Shlyakovskaya) and the very young (15!), but highly gifted Tatiana Kadochkina. So I think we have to wait, how they will perform.


    She hits with ferocious power for her age, an explosive player with a quick armswing. Here´s a clip where one can get a view of her attack (from ECH U18):


    As expected Alba BLAJ is the first team to get to the third, i.e. final qualification round. It was no great match, despite Alba Blaj had all 14 players of roster on board - strongest middle Nneka Onyejekwe was not used anyway, obviously not fully recovered, Maja Aleksic playing well. Best scorers were once again Iona Baciu and Sonja Newcombe for them; Olomouc had just Gabriela Orvosova with a good score value. So Olomouc proved as to weak for this competition also as expected. Tomorrow nearly for sure Stuttgart will win the required two sets at least and be opponent of Alba BLAJ in that final qualification round for pool stage. Both will know the draw of the pools before the first clash...


    The two other matches also tomorrow see Mulhouse and Budowlani Lodz as clear-cut favourites to proceed too and to meet each other afterwards.

    Even under the new CEV rules, The champion will still be one of those big 6 teams - 3 Turkey teams, 2 Italy teams and 1 Russian team.

    Quote from kyle7in1

    Even under the new CEV rules, The champion will still be one of those big 6 teams - 3 Turkey teams, 2 Italy teams and 1 Russian team.

    3 Italian teams*

    Quote from crovolley

    3 Italian teams*

    Yes, Scandicci with Vasileva, Haak, Lucia Bosetti, Stevanovic, Adenizia, Enrica Merlo and Malinov must be seen as one of the main contenders. Anything else would be a parody - they have absolute world class/elite players on exactly all positions, not a single weak link and several of them have already played together for a year already (Merlo, Haak, Bosetti, Adenizia).

    I'm sure Scandicci have a better chance than Fenerbahce anyway this year.

    Quote from hakin12

    Yes, Scandicci with Vasileva, Haak, Lucia Bosetti, Stevanovic, Adenizia, Enrica Merlo and Malinov must be seen as one of the main contenders. Anything else would be a parody - they have absolute world class/elite players on exactly all positions, not a single weak link and several of them have already played together for a year already (Merlo, Haak, Bosetti, Adenizia).

    i dont think Haak is experienced enough to be dignified as world class or elite player..am i wrong ? Adenizia couldnt be as good as some think..she is a great blocker for sure..however i agree that Scandicci seems to be one of main contenders

    Quote from JoanaBG

    Every year there seems to be a team that looks very strong on paper, but flops big time on court, and for some reason I think it's going to be Scandicci this time.

    Experience is the key. Even Fenerbahce looks weak this year. They still have players who have experiences on CEV games. Scandicci is still too young compared with those established teams.

    Just looking at the teams on paper if I had to pick I would say the order of the strongest teams is:


    1) Eczacibasi
    2) Vakifbank
    3) Conegliano
    4) Novara
    5) Scandicci
    6) Moscow
    7) Fenerbahce


    But of course we never know how a team is going to perform until we actually see them, so this order could turn out to be absolute nonsense.

    Quote from kyle7in1

    Experience is the key. Even Fenerbahce looks weak this year. They still have players who have experiences on CEV games. Scandicci is still too young compared with those established teams.

    What do you mean by experience? Bosetti, Merlo, Vasileva, Adenizia, Stevanoviç are all experienced players. Only Haak and maybe Malinov could be considered as young but both of them are experienced in playing on elite level. To me, they are as strong as other 2 italian teams, if not even stronger.