Hat-trick "Zenit-Kazan" in the Champions League. Hat-trick "Zenit-Kazan" in the Champions League Champions League volleyball men sitemap xml

Last week, Lokomotiv Novosibirsk lost the second match of the playoffs of the Russian Championship to Dynamo Moscow and ended the fight for the medals of the Russian Superleague. It remained to focus on the Champions League, where the wards Flames of Konstantinov A lot has happened this season. The irony is that in the opening match of the “round 12” with the Belgian “Noliko”, the coaching staff of the Novosibirsk team gave a rest to a number of base players, hoping to leave their forces for the confrontation with Dynamo. The plan didn't pan out. Lokomotiv lost to both Muscovites and Belgians.

In Novosibirsk, the team of Konstantinov, who lost in Belgium with a score of 0:3, had to solve a difficult task. They didn't really have the right to make a mistake. And Lokomotiv also faced very controversial refereeing decisions in the away match, which directly affected the result. Surely this was an additional motivation for the Novosibirsk volleyball players who wanted to respond to injustice with a confident victory. Bookmakers had no doubts about Lokomotiv's victory. Everything seemed to give hope for a favorable outcome.

Buy glasses, judge! Lokomotiv match in the Champions League ended in scandal

Lokomotiv was inferior to Noliko in the game. But the match was ended not by an attack by the Belgians, but by a clear mistake by the referees, a scandal and the removal of the Loko coach.

"Noliko" immediately prepared for the "golden set"?

Lokomotiv started the first set a little more confidently than the opponent. Many of the attacks reached the floor. Looked good returned a few weeks ago to the team Markus Nilsson. At the same time, the hosts left for the first technical break with a slight advantage in the long run - 8:7. But after a pause on the pitch Arslana Eksha Lokomotiv made a decisive breakthrough in the first game. Novosibirsk scored eight points in a row, and the numbers on the scoreboard 8:8 turned into 16:8 by the second technical timeout. There was no doubt that Konstantinov's wards would confidently bring the set to victory.

Noliko seemed to be preparing for the golden set. It seemed that the Belgians were mentally prepared to give the first three games to a more powerful opponent. They took risks where they could play better, tried various tactical schemes. With a handicap of three sets, the Belgians could easily afford it. But was it supposed to worry Lokomotiv, which was moving towards its goal? 25:18 - the result of the first game, where "Noliko" had no chance to cling to the result.

Everything according to the script

At the beginning of the second set, Noliko tried to impose his game on Lokomotiv and even led the score for some time. But by the first technical break in the second installment, Novosibirsk regained the lead - 8:6. Continued to successfully attack Markus Nilsson, Ilyas Kurkaev was marked by a classy attack at the first pace. Several Belgian errors on the serve also helped. After a pause Alexey Rodichev and twice Kurkaev successfully blocked the attacks of the Noliko volleyball players, which forced the head coach of the guests Joel Banks take time out.

Did not help. Lokomotiv achieved a comfortable four-point lead by the second technical break - 16:12. At the same time, there was a feeling that Noliko did not give all the best, leaving a reserve of strength for the decisive moment in the match. To some extent, this also affected the actions of Novosibirsk, who also understood everything perfectly and sometimes allowed themselves a moment of relaxation. Thanks to this, the Belgians got closer to the hosts at a distance of one point - 16:17. Wards Konstantinov immediately added and brought the second game to victory - 25:22.

Goodbye, Moscow! Dynamo said goodbye to the Champions League

Novosibirsk "Locomotive" saved the capital "Dynamo" from the need to calculate the tournament layouts, defeating him in a tie-break.

Nerves, nerves, nerves

The third set began according to the usual scenario - Noliko leads the score, and then Lokomotiv gradually adds and achieves an advantage in its favor. Novosibirsk left for the first technical break in this game with a two-point advantage. It seemed that everything would turn out well this time for the hosts, however, Noliko had a different opinion on this matter. After the second technical time-out, the guests seized the initiative and quite unexpectedly brought the third set to victory - 25:19. Thus, Lokomotiv lost the last right to make a mistake. If Konstantinov's wards wanted to go further, then they had to gather here and now. There was simply no other chance.

The Noliko volleyball players, who smelled the smell of victory, also understood this. The fourth set was held in a tense struggle, where every point scored was of great importance. None of the teams managed to create a comfortable lead. Lokomotiv tried very hard, but many attacks were given to Konstantinov's wards with great difficulty. And, nevertheless, in the very end, the Novosibirsk team achieved success in this game through incredible efforts - 26:24. Spectators were waiting for the "golden set".

The culmination of the confrontation between the Russian and the Belgian club turned out to be just right. Lokomotiv tried to create at least some gap, but the guests for the time being found the strength to return to the game. But in the end, they failed. Novosibirsk made a decisive acceleration exactly when it was necessary, although even here the judges managed to make an ambiguous decision.

The "Golden Set" ended with the victory of Konstantinov's wards with a score of 15:12. Lokomotiv continues a great European campaign and has already reached the "round of six" in the Champions League, although it is worth recognizing that there are still some questions for the "railroad" about the game.

VC Zenit-Kazan once again confirmed its status as the strongest team on the continent. The Russians won the third consecutive gold of the European Champions League in volleyball 2017 (men). The final of the Four tournament was held for volleyball players in six games. In the match for the first place, Zenit won against Sir Sicom Colussi (Perugia, Italy) 3-0 (25-15, 25-23, 25-14). In total, the Russian club has won the status of European champion five times already: 2008, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017.

The hosts of the CEV Champions League Final Four looked very good at the start of the first game. They managed to go one step ahead of the Russians. A request for a repeat from Lorenzo Bernardi did not allow Alexander Atanasevich's ace to disappear. With a score of 10-7 in favor of Sir Seecom Colussi, Zenit won three draws in a row and equalized the score. Then the Zenit-Kazan players scored point by point, while the Italians froze at 13. The double and triple bloc of Russians turned out to be impenetrable, impenetrable and impenetrable. But Maxim Mikhailov broke through the hosts' block on the very first control ball.

Both teams could not break away from the opponent during the second game. Atanasyevich brought the score to 20-19 with another ace. Zenit equalized. Atanasyevich again corrected the score by +1, this time with an attack. Sir Sicoma Kolussi has once again successfully used the replay request. Yet the outcome of the game was decided by Mikhailov's attack.

In the third installment, the Russian squad was two steps ahead of the opponent. After the first technical break, which the teams went 8-6, Wilfredo León brought the team four points in a row from the service line. "Zenith" has become much closer to victory. The game of the Russians rolled like on rails, but "Sir Seekoma Colussi" lacked the fuse to stick to the given rhythm. As a result, Zenit-Kazan received another gold medal in the largest club tournament in Europe.

“To be honest, there are no secrets in our success”, - said Vladimir Alekno, coach of Zenit-Kazan. - “Here and now, our club is incredibly well organized and has the resources to attract the best players in the world. This is at the heart of our success. I want to say that it is not always easy for volleyball players and coaching staff to cope with the pressure, because they expect an incredible amount of us, everyone expects us to win. Our fans and management perceive second place as a kind of failure, so we are always under pressure. And, of course, I am pleased with the result and the gold medal.”.

“Yes, I agree, now we are the team that wins", - said the finisher Matthew Anderson. “At least in Europe. We still have to win the Club World Championship and that will be our next goal."

Emanuele Birarelli, the captain of Sir Sikoma Kolussi, did not enter the court due to injury. He described the situation very briefly: “I think you saw for yourself that they were too strong for us. That's the way to talk about today's game.".

Dream-team CEV Volleyball Champions League Final Four 2017 (men):

MVP – Maxim Mikhailov("Zenit-Kazan")
Finishers – Wilfredo Leon("Zenit-Kazan") and Ivan Zaitsev("Sir Sicoma Kolussi")
Central blockers – Marko Podraschanin("Sir Sikoma Kolussi") and Artyom Volvich("Zenit-Kazan")
Binder – Luciano de Checco("Sir Sicoma Kolussi")
Diagonal – Alexander Atanasyevich("Sir Sicoma Kolussi")
Libero – Zhenya Grebennikov("Sir Sicoma Colussi")

Nova almost made a surprise in Kazan, Poletaev beat Belogorye, Dynamo avenged the Champions League, and Peter made history.

Without exception, all matches of the first day of the quarter-finals in the men's Super League turned out to be intriguing. Do not look at the fact that in none of them it came to the fifth set. In four cities of Russia, the audience saw cool volleyball, and before the return matches, none of the teams that won the day before can be sure of their passage further along the grid. Even Kazan "Zenith".

And "Nova" is not so simple

On paper, Kazan looked like the undisputed favorites of the confrontation with Novaya. Of course, the team of Konstantin Bryansky brilliantly spent the end of the regular season, thanks to which they jumped on the bandwagon of the train leaving for the playoffs. But the club from Kazan is a completely different level, which no one in the world can match at the moment. Nevertheless, "Nova" was not going to give up ahead of time and gave a real fight to "Zenith" away.

In the first set, Nova dominated for a long time. By tradition, the diagonal Roman Shkulyavichus looked great in attack. When the score was 20:16 in favor of the guests, it seemed that the first game would be theirs, but Zenit once again proved that it was ready to add in any difficult situation. Verbov twice got crazy balls in defense with the score 23:23 and helped his team earn the first set-point. But Nova, that is, Shkulyachivicius, who played as many as four set-balls. And yet Kazan put the squeeze on the guests and won the first game - 30:28. Zenit (Kazan) - Nova (Novokuibyshevsk) - 3:1 (30:28, 26:28, 25:18, 25:14) Many teams would break down psychologically after this. Nova, on the contrary, got even more angry and won the second set in another freaky ending with a score of 28:26. If the first and eighth teams of the Russian championship are hacked to death like that, then everything is not so bad in our volleyball. Unfortunately for the Nova fans, the Kazan team then seized the initiative and achieved success in the third and fourth games. In any case, Bryansky's wards proved that Vladimir Alekno and company should not expect an easy life in this confrontation. The return match promises to be no less hot.

Dynamo played for the Champions League

It so happened that Dynamo Moscow and Lokomotiv Novosibirsk have already met four times this season. Two games in the Champions League were added to the matches in the Russian championship, where the Novosibirsk team beat the Muscovites both times, depriving Boris Kolchin's wards of the opportunity to reach the next round. But the Champions League and the Superleague are different tournaments, as the Captain would say, obviously. Here in the championship of Russia, Dynamo looked stronger. Muscovites have managed to transfer it to the first match of the quarterfinals. After a fairly confident victory in the first set, Dynamo then gave up the end of the second set, allowing Lokomotiv to even the score in the game.

Dynamo (Moscow) - Lokomotiv (Novosibirsk) - 3:1 (25:20, 23:25, 26:24, 25:18) The third set was the key one. At its beginning, the hosts broke away from the opponent by three points – 7:4. However, they could not keep the advantage. Novosibirsk first equalized the situation, and by the second technical break, they took the lead at all - 16:15. Everything was again decided in the end, where at the key moment Antipkin's block allowed Dynamo to win the set - 26:24. Interestingly, in all the matches of the current season between these rivals, the winner of the third set then won the whole match. Wards Kolchin decided to honor the tradition - 25:18 on the basis of the fourth set and the most important victory in the first match of the quarterfinals. True, you can rest assured that Plamen Konstantinov will set up Lokomotiv for the return match in such a way that Dynamo will have a very difficult time in Novosibirsk.

Is the victory of Kuzbass a sensation or not?

In Belgorod, within the framework of the 1/4 finals, the second and seventh teams of the league met. In fact, in the confrontation between Belogorye and Kuzbass, everything was far from being so obvious. Firstly, the teams exchanged victories at the preliminary stage, and in the “Final Four” of the Russian Cup, the Kemerovo team completely destroyed Belogorye in three sets, and they did it on enemy territory. So in the playoffs, the coaching staff of the Belgorod club could not find the key to the uncompromising team of Tuomas Sammelvuo. By tradition, Viktor Poletaev, who scored 21 points, lit up the guests. In many ways, it was his inspired game that repeatedly baffled Belogorye volleyball players.

Belogorye (Belgorod) - Kuzbass (Kemerovo) - 0:3 (22:25, 19:25, 25:27) The hosts, reinforced by Georg Grozer, one of the leaders of the Novosibirsk Lokomotiv, shortly before the start of the playoffs, couldn't find my game. Desperate pursuit in the first set was unsuccessful. The second batch went almost completely under the dictation of Kuzbass. And only in the third set "Belogorye" had a real chance to turn the tide of the fight. The hosts were leading with a score of 25:24, but the attack and ace of Poletaev first brought the Kemerovo team forward by one point, and then Dmitry Musersky attacked out, which put an end to this match - 27:25 in the set and 3:0 in the match in favor of " Kuzbass". Belgorod now stand on the edge of the abyss, considering how well Sammelvuo's wards play at home.

Peter's historic victory

In Novy Urengoy "Fakel" hosted "Zenith" from St. Petersburg - a team that gave a great season from scratch and, apparently, is not going to stop there. Wards of Alexander Klimkin began to prepare for this match in the last round of the regular season, when they gave the main squad a break in the game with Kazan teammates. Obviously, this tactic paid off. Pitertsy looked more confident, accurate and powerful in the first match of the playoffs. In each of the three sets played, Fakel at some point got a real chance to seize the initiative, but failed to take advantage of any of them.

Fakel (Novy Urengoy) - Zenit (St. Petersburg) - 0:3 (22:25, 19:25, 20:25) pressure, speaking at home in front of the native audience. However, this looks like a weak excuse, since absolutely all the teams that have reached the playoffs experience this pressure. Placha and company have exactly one week to correct the situation and make sure that the series does not end in St. Petersburg.