European cups
2013 CEV Champions League
Things are starting to heat up in the Champions League this week as the playoffs 6 will kick off. The winners of the three match-ups will join the hosts of Lokomotiv Novosibirsk in the Final Four. With Trento knocked out in the previous round, there are two Italian teams left but we already know that only one with have a chance to win the trophy as Cuneo and Macerata have been drawn against each other. Macerata, who will host the first leg, won 32 times against Cuneo who counts 37 victories. Cuneo will try to take revenge on last season’s playoffs 12 defeat, which was the only times the two clubs met in the competition (Macerata had lost the first leg 3-0 but won 3-2 the return game and the golden set 16-14).
Playoffs 6 draw
Lube Banca Marche Macerata (ITA) – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo (ITA)
Zenit Kazan (RUS) – Dinamo Moscow (RUS)
Zaksa Kedzierzyn-Kozle (POL) – Arkas Izmir (TUR)
Fixtures
Wednesday February 6 at 8.30pm
Lube Banca Marche Macerata (ITA) – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo (ITA) Live on Sportitalia 2
(Bajci-Sodja)
2013 CEV Cup
Latina has one last obstacle to make it into the Cev Cup final: Maliye Milli Piyango Ankara with the first leg to be played on Turkey. In the previous round, Ankara got rid of the Czech of Budejovice. Funnily enough, this semi-final will be played just before the other one in the same arena as the other team from Ankara (the Halkbank Ankara) will take on Lokomotiv Kharkiv.
Semi-finals
Wednesday February 6 at 4pm
Maliye Milli Piyango Ankara (TUR) – Andreoli Latina (ITA) Live on Lazio TV (sky 892)
(Mocsinik-Nesterenko)
2013 Challenge Cup
Six 3-0 wins so far in as many games for Piacenza in the Challenge Cup, a perfect run that lead to the Italians to the quarter-finals in which it will face the Byelorussians of Minsk with the first leg away from home.
Quarter-final draw
Dukla Liberec (CZE) – Maccabi Tel-Aviv (ISR)
Stroitel Minsk (BLR) – Copra Elior Piacenza (ITA)
Radnicki Kragujevac (SRB) – Delecta Bydgoszcz (POL)
Ural Ufa (RUS) – Galatasaray Istanbul (TUR)
Fixtures
Quarter-finals
Wednesday February 6 at 5.30pm (Italian time)
Stroitel Minsk (BLR) – Copra Elior Piacenza (ITA)
(Krol-Dragomir)
