After quite a long wait, the first ball will be tossed!

2009/2010 CEV Indesit Champions League

Luxembourg, November 30, 2009. A few months after the exciting Drawing of Lots celebrated this past June 26 in Vienna, here we are, finally: the 2009/2010 CEV Indesit Champions League is set to start on Tuesday night with four matches on schedule and more than a dozen to come up on Wednesday and Thursday. Italy’s TRENTINO BetClic and Volley BERGAMO are in full contention to double up the trophies they notched this past spring but a very tough competition is expected to go off even simply to qualify for the Playoffs.
We’ll cover this classy competition with daily previews and write-ups, whereas live results, statistics and picture galleries will be constantly available online to bring the actions as next as possible to your eyes and hearts. And do not forget to check out www.laola1.tv since all matches will be live streamed there at the very best quality!

Click here for a detailed schedule and additional info about the upcoming matches

Preview for Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Men

Pool A
Czech Jihostroj CESKE BUDEJOVICE did not start the 2009/2010 season with the right momentum. The Czechs recently lost a nationwide televised home match in their national league against Kladno in three sets (20-25, 24-26, 25-27), and the team from South Bohemia is currently ranked a disappointing sixth in the standings there.
Coach Peter Brom says: "We have problems in attack." Jihostroj was the best Czech team over the last 3 years and has been playing for 3 years in a row in the CEV Indesit Champions League. The Czechs were drawn this past June in Pool A and will open their campaign against Russian stellar team Dinamo MOSCOW. "We would like to win at least one match on home soil,” says the President of Jihostroj, Mr. Jan Divis. However, such ambitions have to cope with the injury that has been hampering universal player Radek Motys who has a problem at his intercostal muscles. Coach Petr Brom wants to display a quick game with his new player, spiker Tomas Fila. But Fila has been also struggling and lacking of consistency, so the match against Dinamo will be surely a very difficult challenge for the Czechs.

Women

Pool A
Having clinched the very last Russian Cup, Universitet BELGOROD got for the first time the right to play the CEV Indesit Champions League. Heading towards this prestigious competition, the club signed a bunch of additional players for the 2009/2010 season, including Serbian Ana Spasojevic, Liubov Yagodina and Natalia Kulikova to strengthen the back line and the attack while setters Olga Khrzhanovskaya and Bulgarian newcomer Diana Nenova will try to master their mates in front of Europe’s best.
Universitet made the final rehearsal before the European campaign with the semifinal matches of the Cup of Russia that were staged in Belgorod. Internationally known club Uralochka NTMK EKATERINBURG was among the opponents, so these matches served as a good fine tuning before the Champions League premiere against France’s RC CANNES at the Cosmos arena.
Local head coach Evgeny Sivkov mentioned that the Pool features a few very experienced teams which display an impressive list of honors and played many international competitions over the past years. “Maximum concentration, self-discipline and execution of the coach’s instructions are the key factors to notch the win, we have our own “trumps” and we will try to use them to enjoy a good start in the CEV Champions League” stated Sivkov.

Pool C
The match between Poland’s Aluprof BIELSKO-BIALA and Dinamo MOSCOW is for sure one of the most interesting clashes among the inaugural games of the 2009/2010 CEV Indesit Champions League. The home team is back after a four-year break and the Russian champion definitely belongs to the top favorites in this exclusive competition.
The match-ups between teams from both countries have in the capital of Podbeskidzie a long lasting tradition. Although the Poles were not able to beat their rivals every time, the majority of such matches provided many emotions and displayed world-class Volleyball.
The outstanding names of the European Volleyball family guarantee a very good starting basis for the match. In the line-up of Dinamo there are a few great Russian players such as Elena Godina and Natalia Safronova. One of the best Italian players, middle-blocker Simona Gioli, is also included in the roster of last year’s CICL runner-up.
“It’s a very powerful team that has won all matches so far in this season. The greatest strength of our rival is their superiority in attack. However, it’s not surprising, because the wingers are physically as strong as the middle-blockers. We must be careful in reception” said the head coach of Aluprof, Igor Prielożny, about the pre-favorite in Pool C. “We are going to do our best and we have nothing to lose. Our performance in the serv may be the key factor for this match. The Russian champion is a big favorite, but we want to show that we can compete with the best European teams,” added coach Prielożny.

Pool D
Romania’s Metal GALATI debuted last season in the CEV Indesit Champions League and that first appearance served mainly as a chance to gain more international experience for that team. Last year the Romanian champions surprisingly started with an away win against the upcoming opponent for the premiere of the 2009/2010 season, i.e. Poland’s Bank BPS Fakro MUSZYNIANKA. Sadly, that was the only win in the group and GALATI was not able to go through and qualify for the Playoffs. Moreover, in their return match the Romanians lost in Bucharest and that result contributed to the overall good performance of the Poles during the 2008/2009 campaign. The DOL staged in Vienna this past June decided that Metal GALATI and Fakro MUSZYNIANKA are supposed to clash again in the League Round. The ambitions of the Romanian team for the 2009/2010 season are much higher. Above all, they look for a victory, which would turn into their first match won on home ground (actually the match will be played in Buzau). Secondly, they are willing to qualify for the Playoffs. In the Romanian Championship Metal GALATI has won 5 matches and lost 2 so far, but now all the attention is drawn to the CEV Indesit Champions League. Nneka Onyejekwe, the worthiest and most essential player of the Romanian national team, stated: "The match against the Polish team will be very tough for us, but we are trustful that we can start with a group win against such a tough bunch of participants. We have our own chances and will not let it slip away". Local coach Zoran Terzic added: "At such a high level, no match is an easy task, but I think my players are strong enough to get over their opponents. Any win in such a demanding competition can hardly be equaled, it makes you feel you are a genuinely skillful Volleyball player".

TV Schedule - Men

TV Schedule - Women