Halkbank-vs-Perugia
No.1 from Pool A, Sir Colussi Sicoma Perugia, and No.2 from Pool B, Halkbank Ankara, will open the Playoffs 12 programme (15:30 C.E.T.) of the 2018 Champions League with an encounter at Başkent Sports Hall in the Turkish capital. Since the organizers allowed a free entrance to the gymnasium, the large crowd is expected. The capacity of Başkent Sports Hall is 7,623 sets and it is needless to say how amazing the atmosphere would be in case of the packed stands.
“I think the chances are equal and only the court will reveal the eventual winners. We need the support of our fans as they are our greatest asset and they never let us alone,” Halkbank middle blocker Emre Batur called the fans to come and support the team in the most important match this season, so far.
Perugia arrived in Ankara already on Sunday morning, March 11, only several hours after finishing Game 1 of the national championship playoff quarterfinals against Bunge Ravenna.
“I prefer to play every three days. The weeks in which we don’t play in the midweek are for me a wake-up call. On the day after tomorrow, I think the team will be much more in pace than it was yesterday,” Perugia coach Lorenzo Bernardi said a day after playing Ravenna in Italian SuperLega playoffs, confirming he was not worried because his team will play two matches in less than 70 hours.
The match Halkbank vs. Perugia will be emotional for several members of the Turkish champions. Namely, Halkbank coach Slobodan Kovač is well-beloved in Perugia. The Serbian expert was their coach on two occasions: from 2010-2014 and 2015-2016, reaching the final of SuperLega two times. His compatriot Nemanja Petrić is also a familiar face in Perugia, competing for the “Block Devils” from 2011 to 2014. Finally, the Bulgarian Velizar Chernokozhev wore Perugia’s jersey last season.
According to Italian media, Perugia will be deprived of help from Aaron Russell as he struggles with a muscle pain. The American outside hitter will be signed up for the match but will give way to Austrian Alexander Berger in the line-up, who will be paired up with Ivan Zaytsev.
Projected line-ups for the match
HALKBANK: Hierrezuelo-Hernández, Batur- Güneş, Petrić- Subaşı, Yeşilbudak (libero). Coach: KOVAČ.
PERUGIA: De Cecco-Atanasijević, Podraščanin-Anzani, Zaytsev-Berger, Colaci (libero). Coach: BERNARDI.
REFEREES: Wim Cambré (BEL) – Sabine Witte (GER).
Playoff 12 bracket
March 13:
15:30 C.E.T.: Halkbank (TUR) vs. Perugia (ITA)
March 14:
18:00 C.E.T.: Skra (POL) vs. Lube (ITA)
19:30 C.E.T.: BR Volleys (GER) vs. Friedrichshafen (GER)
20:30 C.E.T.: Chaumont (FRA) vs. Trentino (ITA)
20:30 C.E.T.: Jastrzębski (POL) vs. Zaksa (POL)
20:30 C.E.T.: Maaseik (BEL) vs. Lokomotiv (RUS)
To see complete results, stats, and standings, visit our CEV Volleyball Champions League 2017/2018 / Male / Seniors page.
SUBSCRIBE to have full access to WoV PROFILES, STATS, and WoVVIDEO.
Discover what’s new in the volleyball world.
