CEV Champions League 2019

    Lube 3:2 Zaksa

    Skra is lucky to qualify for final 8. Both Zaksa and Modena were out in group match.

    The Men's final 8 looks more balanced then women's.

    If no drama, Perugia, Kazan, Lube and St. Petersburg will meet in final 4.

    Quote from saishuu

    Gdansk being in the F8 and teams like Modena and ZAKSA not is weird.

    Modena, Zaksa and Lube are in the one pool, so we can blame CEV for this crappy grouping.

    Gdansk did not deserve qualification. They're lucky not to get called by the referee for a ball holding at the match point of last game.


    Zaksa did have a big chance today. They led at 24:21 in set 3 but they missed three match points. Then the momentum was totally shifted to Lube.

    I find the mens edition way less balanced then the womens hands down this time. Even some of the best teams are missing...


    You can already tell a bunch of these teams won't make it for gold.

    As long as Perugia and Kazan don't meet in semis (is this possible?) I think those two teams will be in the Gold medal match.. It will be interesting to say the least Leon vs his former teammates :dance6:

    Quote from inc0gnito

    As long as Perugia and Kazan don't meet in semis (is this possible?) I think those two teams will be in the Gold medal match.. It will be interesting to say the least Leon vs his former teammates :dance6:

    That would very much depend on the semifinal pairings. The Saint-Petersburg-based Zenit is not to be underestimated, whereas I believe Lube stands more chances against Zenit Kazan than Perugia. An all-Italian final is theoretically possible. Let's not take Zenit Kazan's final presence for granted this year. Maybe it would be best for them if they draw the other Zenit in the semis.


    I couldn't watch Lube vs. ZAKSA last night and the overall match development made little sense to me. Maybe ZAKSA could've made a bigger contibution than Skra in the elimination round, but ZAKSA have only themselves to blame for the missed opportunity. First, I wouldn't expect ZAKSA to have a 2-set advantage away without Deroo or with Lube lining up their best roster. Then you check Lube's starting line-up and see that only half of them were out. That would make sense as you would obviously question Lube's motivation and would praise ZAKSA's display. Then, Lube maybe got angry and fielded (almost) all stars, forced them to play another 3 sets, for whatever reasons when they had already won the group and could have enjoyed some break from volleyball, I assume, spending unnecessary energy in a meaningless match (which had been started with part of the bench anyways), given the tough schedule volleyball nowadays demands. And yet pity for ZAKSA, as Swiderski described it, for they had a 24-20 lead in the third set.

    Can I say I'm not very impressed by Zenit-Kazan? Anderson is a serial choker. N'Gapeth is way different player than Leon. They depend a lot on MM performances.

    Quote from QueenPiccininiLover

    Can I say I'm not very impressed by Zenit-Kazan? Anderson is a serial choker. N'Gapeth is way different player than Leon. They depend a lot on MM performances.

    Kazan has come a long way since Ngapeth joined the team at the start of the season. Watching their games, I even say they are a more enjoyable team to watch with the addition of Ngapeth, but whether that translates to being more competitive team overall, the Russian SL is not a good indicator as basically Kazan is untouchable besides the recent loss to Fakel. I guess the real level of Kazan will be shown this CL playoffs/final and we'll just have to wait and see in the near future.

    QF 1 vs. QF 2 and QF 3 vs. QF 4, respectively, form the semifinals. I think we can say that it is a relatively fair draw in which Lube, in my opinion, got the most out of it. They will host the return legs in the quarterfinals and the semifinals and will have a slight advantage. Although Zenit SP might be a dark horse here (in case they handle Skra). Leon will eventually meet his former Zenit Kazan teammates in the semis.

    Quote from YavorD

    QF 1 vs. QF 2 and QF 3 vs. QF 4, respectively, form the semifinals. I think we can say that it is a relatively fair draw in which Lube, in my opinion, got the most out of it. They will host the return legs in the quarterfinals and the semifinals and will have a slight advantage. Although Zenit SP might be a dark horse here (in case they handle Skra). Leon will eventually meet his former Zenit Kazan teammates in the semis.

    Well I was hoping Perugia and Kazan wold meet in the final game but it is what it is. After the drama in CWC and the history between the two teams, I think a Kazan and Lube final is even more interesting, assuming of course Kazan beat Leon's new team :cheesy:


    In the other bracket, I think if Grozer goes on beast mode and Camejo does not have an off day, they have chances against Lube seeing as Lube is not the most stable team but I still favor Lube in this match.

    So, the semi-final maybe looks like:

    Perugia vs Kazan

    Lube vs St. Petersburg


    Lube has a nice draw. They should advance to final if no drama. Look forward to watching Kazan vs Perugia. It's a rematch of the last CL semi-final, But this time Leon is with Perugia. Both teams are super strong. The odds are 50/50 to me.

    Is St. Petersburg really that much better than Skra? I wouldn't be surprised if Skra ended up advancing.


    EDIT: oops, thought this was the CL thread lol