In a duel of the two world volleyball giants at the 2021 CEV Men’s European Championship, Poland prevailed over Serbia in a tie-break.
Polish players showed their character in a very difficult game of Pool A at the CEV Men’s EuroVolley 2021 against Serbia. It was a duel of the reigning world and Europan champion in which the former got an energetic boost from the stands of nearly packed Tauron Arena in Kraków (more than 12,000 spectators) to take down the rival in a super-interesting match: 3-2 (25-21, 23-25, 20-25, 25-20, 16-14). Poland had a huge will to throw a big rival on its knees, especially after the discontent in the media and among its fans after the not-so-respectable result in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Bartosz Kurek was the key figure on the winning side with 22 points, while Wilfredo León was a threat from the service line (five aces). Jakub Kochanowski made four blocks. Uroš Kovačević tallied 22 points for Serbia, while Marko Ivović served four aces.
Croatia took two extremely important points in an encounter with a direct opponent for the ticket to the playoffs in Pool D (Tallinn, Estonia), Latvia. Even though it controlled the opening set (18-12), Croatia lost it. The team commanded by Emanuele Zanini trailed 1-2 in sets and managed to save two match balls of the rival in the fourth set before prevailing in the tie-break: 3-2 (28-30, 25-20, 23-25, 31-29, 15-11). Leo Andrić played a fantastic game, scoring 32 points for Croatia, six of which were aces. Kruno Nikačević made five blocks. Hermans Egleskalns put down 21 points for Latvia.
