CEV Champions League 2021

    Quote from Bogdan123

    4th round


    ABCDE
    Busto ArisizioConegliano Vakifbank Eczacibasi Dinamo Kazan
    RzesowNantesMulhoseLokomotiv KaliningradChemic Police
    SchwerinFenerbahceMaritza PlovdidLP SaloOlomouc
    W 2nd 15/16Uralochka W 2nd 13/14 W 2nd 17/18Novara

    I really like the poules this year and are way more balanced than the last few years IMO:)


    Poule A:

    Most balanced poule on paper and would be really nice to watch! Busto Arisizio and probably Scandicci (although I hope Stuttgart can make an upset) will finish first and second in the poule. On the other hand they don't seem to be that dominant and both Rzesow and Schwerin have built teams who can challenge them.


    Poule B:

    Imoco Conegliano and Fenerbahçe will defenitly finisch at the top of the poule. However I'm curious how Fenerbahçe will perform in CL this year. Last year they fell short of my high expectations and IMO Robinson is a way better player than Busa. On the other hand Busa proved multiple times in Serbian NT she is capable of covering Mihajlovic in serve receive.


    Poule C:

    Most unbalanced poule and easy way for Vakifbank to the next round. I'm happy probably LKS Lodz will end up in this poule. They have built a competitive squad, so excited to see what they can accomplish.


    Poule D:

    Seems like a tough poule! LP Salo will not play a significant role, but Eczacibasi, Lokomotiv Kaliningrad and Dynamo Moscow are all capable to beat eachother. Eczacibasi built a whole new team with some talented players, so excited to see how they will perform as a team. Lokomotiv Kaliningrad did a good job the last few years in CL, but they seem a but weaker than last year after Cleger left amd they don't sign a replacement for her. On the other hand Dynamo Moscow seems stronger than last year. Natalia big upgrade over Havelkova and Romanova is used to the Russian system so probably a better fit than Carlini at the setter position.


    Poule F:

    IMO the toughest poule! For me both Dynamo Kazan and Novara are one of the favourites to win the CL this season. Bricio is a really good transfer and Fabris had a great first year in Russia last season. Next to that they have one of the best Russian players in Startseva, Koroleva and Malova. Novara built a well balanced team and if all players play at their best, they can beat every team. Chemik Police is a good team who can make a suprise.

    wow

    A resolution said that teams from russia and ukraine can't play together

    So moscow.will be changed

    If he won his match in 2nd round he will be probably scandicci

    Really hard and injustice,both should be in 4th round

    Quote from Jules

    wow

    A resolution said that teams from russia and ukraine can't play together

    So moscow.will be changed

    If he won his match in 2nd round he will be probably scandicci

    Really hard and injustice,both should be in 4th round

    I think there is still no clear rule who will face-off in second round.

    Maybe they will do another DOL.

    Anyway, CEV is crazy with this weird rules. I mean, Russia and Ukraine play against each other in EuroVolley and now it's forbidden.

    That's really weird, because we can be sure, that Moscow defeats Budapest, therefore how they shift them into the strongest third of the qualification, putting them against Scandicci (high risk) or Stuttgart (lower, but definitely non-zero risk)?

    Quote from Phil

    I think there is still no clear rule who will face-off in second round.

    Maybe they will do another DOL.

    Anyway, CEV is crazy with this weird rules. I mean, Russia and Ukraine play against each other in EuroVolley and now it's forbidden.

    I think that they could play against each other on Eurovolley because that was "neutral" venue, in cev cl qual.

    both teams should travel in other country for match and that is actually problem in this case.

    Some girls from Hapoel were tested positive for Covid-19. They won't be able to play the games against ŁKS.


    CEV/Hapoel wanted to postponed two games for the next week, however ŁKS have game against Świecie on Monday and Kalisz on Friday. So, there is no possibility to play those game.

    Quote from Phil

    Some girls from Hapoel were tested positive for Covid-19. They won't be able to play the games against ŁKS.


    CEV/Hapoel wanted to postponed two games for the next week, however ŁKS have game against Świecie on Monday and Kalisz on Friday. So, there is no possibility to play those game.

    We will watch a lot of this situations like this :/.

    I really can't imagine that the European Cups can be completed regularly this season. It's already going to be difficult in national leagues, but internationally there are many more problems with travel bans/warnings etc...

    CEV should simplify the format pf this competition.


    Really strange the way cev handled the covid sitiation.


    A couple of final fours would be a more reasonoble format competition.

    Maybe they should play the finals with 8 best teams. Format as WCCH.

    I read, that Moscow will switch place in qualification tree with Scandicci after the expected first round victory against Budapest - nice for the Italian team (facing Ukrainian team), a little bad for Moscow, because they will face Stuttgart instead of Scandicci, but as far I can judge Stuttgarts chances against Moscow will be rather limited - last season they would have been higher, I guess.

    Quote from Bogdan123

    And how to determinate those 8 teams.

    They should have made pools hosted by one city.


    5 pools of 4 teams. Each pool decided in a Final four competition.


    5 pools winner plus hosted team in a final six, 2 pools of tree.


    Would be quick and entertaining imo..

    I do not like this new format of CEV competition. The other one with Final-12 and Final -6 and finally final four its my favourite.

    And in theory i agree, all of this things sound very good, but in real it is more more complex than that, and i dont want to defending Cev, leaving everything the same as it was just without the audience is an infantile move, but I also understand that it's not so easy to adapt the competition system to something that is completely unpredictable and uncontrollable, and i believe that these 2 words (unpredictable and uncontrollable) will exactly describe Cev CL and many other things in our lifes for some period.

    ŁKS is already in second round.


    Hapoel is not able to travel to Poland because of lockdown in Israel. Beside that, club had information about players with Covid-19 on Sep 9, but contacted CEV one week later.