It was a very strange match in Unterhaching. Heynen didn't even use Boladz and Protopsaltis, only the latter came in when Petras started to really struggle. Boladz mde perhaps more damage in the few serve attempts he had than Malescha for the entire match. An overall unsatisfactory performance by the setter-opposite duo for VfB. Both Boladz and Protopsaltis looked fine, I doubt they had been injured, so perhaps Heynen wanted them to rest before the Chaumont match, which, however, ended even worse for the Germans yesterday.
At the other end of the field, Tirol Haching from Innsbruck-Munich (only the partial name Haching is a reference to the former German club) looked a bit nervous at the beginning. Later, however, they managed to find their rhythm even if they miraculously dropped some set points. On those occasions, you would think they are perhaps too "green" to handle even a not-fully functioning and partially resting Friedrichshafen side but they prevailed on the long run. A weird match indeed, with some nice rallies and drama but not really of superb quality.
I couldn't watch the hybrid team much these past two years, to be honest, but Gelinski seemed quite decent in those matches I could watch, with some solid sets and game organisation. No idea what he was like before the Tirol era but as Tim pointed out, perhaps he matured. Quite normal for a setter past 28-29, as a matter of fact. I am finally going to watch Haching Tirol live in the middle of January when Trentino arrive to Munich for the CEV Cup. I will have watched Gelinski by then and will let you know my impressions on him.