Excellent debut game for Perugia in the Champions League. In a packed Arbon Arena in Switzerland, the Block Devils had the better of Amriswil on a 3-1 score. The first two sets were tight but then the talent of Atanasijevic, Zaytsev and Podrascanin made the difference and there was also an excellent impact from Della Lunga when he came on halfway through the second set. The return leg will be in Perugia on Sunday 20 November at 7.30pm. Two sets will be enough to qualify for the group phase. If they go through, they will be in Pool E with Alkbank Ankara (Turkey), Knack Roeselare (Belgium) and the winner of Gentofte (Denmark) vs Belgorod (Russia). The Russians have comfortably won the first leg.
CEV Champions League
3rd Round results
Gentofte Volley (DEN) – Belogorie Belgorod (RUS) 0-3 (15-25, 18-25, 20-25)
Volley Amriswil – Sir Sicoma Colussi Perugia 1-3 (20-25, 25-22, 18-25, 19-25)
Crvena Zvezda Beograd (SRB) – Arkas Izmir (TUR) 0-3 (15-25, 23-25, 14-25)
Paok Thessaloniki (GRE) – PGE Skra Belchatow (POL) 0-3 (22-25, 17-25, 20-25)
Hypo Tirol Innsbruck (AUT) – VfB Friedrichshafen (GER) 1-3 (16-25, 25-20, 19-25, 18-25)
Abiant Lycurgus Groningen (NED) – Noliko Maaseik (BEL) 0-3 (17-25, 20-25, 25-27)
ACH Volley Ljubljana (SLO) – Arago de Sete (FRA) 3-1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-21, 26-24)
Tiikerit Kokkola (FIN) – Dukla Liberec (CZE) 3-0 (25-23, 25-14, 25-21)
Fixtures
CEV Champions League – Ritorno 3rd Round
Sunday 20 November at 7.30pm
Sir Sicoma Colussi Perugia (ITA) – Volley Amriswil (SUI) Live on Fox Sports Plus HD
Two clubs separated by a lot of miles but with one same passion : volleyball. Monza and Molfetta will meet up this Friday night, while the rest of the games will be on Sunday.
Monza was disappointingly defeated at home last Sunday by Perugia on a 3-0 score. The positive note was the sold-out crowd and the record of presences in the gym with over 4000 people. Opposite mood for Molfetta who made the breakthrough against the Italian Champions of Modena in four sets. Molfetta is beginning to look like a big threat for anyone, having collected seven points in the last three rounds.
League table
Diatec Trentino 26, Cucine Lube Civitanova 25, Azimut Modena 23, Sir Safety Conad Perugia 19, Calzedonia Verona 19, LPR Piacenza 15, Gi Group Monza 15, Kioene Padova 13, Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia 11, Exprivia Molfetta 11, Bunge Ravenna 8, Revivre Milano 8, Top Volley Latina 7, Biosì Indexa Sora 7
1 Game in hand: Diatec Trentino and LPR Piacenza (to be played Thursday 17 November)
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 12 (8-4 Molfetta)
Iacopo Botto (Gi Group Monza): “We really want to bounce back after our home loss against Perugia. Molfetta is coming off a great performance against Modena, taking all three points. Our goal, though, will be to focus on ourselves, without thinking about our opponents. Limiting our mistakes and being effective on the serve will be important facors to stop Molfetta. We need the three points in order not to ruin our positive period and regain the confidence that had helped us beat Modena last week ».
Marco Vitelli (Exprivia Molfetta): “This will be a difficult game, which comes just before the last two of this first half of season, and those will be extremely tough. Monza has been playing well as you can see with their position in the table. They have a great outside hitter and two excellent middle blockers. We have been playing well too but we have a big margin for improvement. We have to keep progressing all the time ».
