The rulers of the CEV Men’s Volleyball Champions League, ZAKSA, returned to the action after a long break in an impressive style.
In Pool C of the CEV Champions League Volley 2022 | Men, Poland’s Grupa Azoty Kędzierzyn-Koźle (ZAKSA) defeated Slovenia’s OK Merkur Maribor 3-0. The dominance of the titleholders is best confirmed by the result of the 2nd set: 25-11. Kamil Semeniuk top-scored the winning side with 16 points, including 6 aces. Krzysztof Rejno set up 4 blocks. For the players of ZAKSA, it was the first match in any of the competitions after a two-and-a-half-week break due to coronavirus. However, the most important game of the week is still ahead of the PlusLiga side. In 4 days, it will face Lokomotiv Novosibirsk. A 3-point victory against the Russians will bring ZAKSA closer to the quarter-finals.
Russia’s Zenit Saint Petersburg achieved a clear triumph in Portugal over Sport Lisboa e Benfica in Pool C to level with leaders, Germany’s Berlin Recycling Volleys, at 9 points.
Belgium’s VC Greenyard Maaseik stunned Turkey’s Ziraat Bankası Ankara in Pool B. This result will help Maaseik boost morale but nothing more than that as they lost all chances of progressing to the playoffs. On the other hand, Ziraat made a huge step back in the fight for the quarter-finals as they now said goodbye to taking over No.1 in the pool and a booking direct ticket to the next stage. The Ankara side will have to find itself among the best 3 runners-up across all pools, having one more match to play.
CEV Champions League Volley 2022 | Men – group stage (today’s matches):
