The best men Middle European teams had a great first week in the CEV European Cups. Beside the Slovenian national champion Maribor, who did not travel to Novosibirsk, the other four representatives put themselves in great positions before the return matches to be played next week.
Karlovarsko needed only 73 minutes on their home floor to sweep Galatasaray in straight sets. Patrik Indra and Lukas Vasina were the top scorers for the home team with 16 and 12 points respectively.
Although Ljubljana and Myjava allowed a set to their opponents from Bucharest and Teruel, they also secured all 3 points in their home matches of the CEV Challenge Cup. For both teams winning two sets in their return matches would be enough to secure a point and advance to the next round.
Amstetten might have ended up losing the first match in close five sets in Lausanne, however already a 3-1 win would now already be enough for them in their home match.
Waldviertel will play both of their matches back-to-back next week in Ankara.
CEV Champions League – Men
Lokomotiv NOVOSIBIRSK (RUS) – OK Merkur MARIBOR (SLO) 3-0
26/01/2022 19:30 Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA (ITA) – OK Merkur MARIBOR (SLO)
CEV Cup – Men
CEZ KARLOVARSKO (CZE) – Galatasaray HDI ISTANBUL (TUR) 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-16)
20/01/2022 19:00 Galatasaray HDI ISTANBUL (TUR) – CEZ KARLOVARSKO (CZE)
CEV Challenge Cup – Men
TJ Spartak MYJAVA (SVK) – CAI TERUEL (ESP) 3-1 (20-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-18)
19/01/2022 20:00 CAI TERUEL (ESP) – TJ Spartak MYJAVA (SVK)
ACH Volley LJUBLJANA (SLO) – C.S.A. Steaua BUCURESTI (ROU) 3-1 (26-24, 21-25, 25-19, 25-12)
19/01/2022 18:00 C.S.A. Steaua BUCURESTI (ROU) – ACH Volley LJUBLJANA (SLO)
LAUSANNE UC (SUI) – VCA AMSTETTEN NÖ (AUT) 3-2 (25-21, 23-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-10)
19/01/2022 19:00 VCA AMSTETTEN NÖ (AUT) – LAUSANNE UC (SUI)
18/01/2022 17:30 Halkbank ANKARA (TUR) – Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL (AUT)
19/01/2022 15:00 Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL (AUT) – Halkbank ANKARA (TUR)
