The first official act of the CEV Champions League 2024 was staged at 12 today with the drawings for the preliminary rounds and groups of the Main Phase with last minute changes to the ranking brackets. In the year of the 50th anniversary of the CEV, the ballot boxes of the European Broadcasting Center in Luxembourg outlined the path of Cucine Lube Civitanova, at the start of the Group Phase as top seed (the name will be known at the end of the 2nd Round).
Lube finished in Group E with the Belgian sextet of Greenyard Maaseik, the Czech formation of VK Lvi Prague and the best 2nd of the 2nd Preliminary Round.
DG Beppe Cormio comments on the verdicts as follows:
“The draw, as always, leaves us with some unknowns because we know Maaseik little compared to the other Belgian teams, we have never played against Prague and we don’t know who will join us from the Preliminaries. A team like ours can’t complain given that, especially in the third tier, there were very uncomfortable potential opponents. The risk was very high because on paper Ziraat, Halkbank and Tours are more expert and insidious formations than in Prague. The certainty of reaching the quarter-finals can only be obtained with first place, but looking at the composition of the groups we can express cautious optimism”.
The precedents with the opponents of the group
There are four precedents in the CEV Champions League with Maaseik. La Lube met the Flemish club in the elimination round of the 2009/10 edition with an away tie-break defeat and a clear 3-0 home win in the second leg. Going backwards, the double challenge of the 2001/02 Quarterfinals appears. The red and white signed an authentic feat: defeated 3-2 in the first leg between the friendly walls, Corsano and his companions detached the ticket for the Final Four in Opole by winning in Belgium with the maximum difference. The balance with the Belgian team is 2-2.
Unedited face-to-face with Prague, while in the past the red and white have challenged other formations from the Czech Republic.
The fourth tier rival will come out of the preliminaries.
Pools
Pool A: Grupa Azoty Kedzierzyn-Kozle (Polonia), Knack Roeselare (Belgio), Ziraat Bank Ankara (Turchia), Vincitrice Pool VI del 2nd Round.
Pool B: Trentino Itas (Italia), Asseco Resovia Rzeszow (Polonia), Tours VB (Francia), ACH Volley Ljubjana (Slovenia).
Pool C: Berlin Recycling Volleys (Germania), Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza (Italia), Halkbank Ankara (Turchia), Sport Lisboa e Benfica (Portogallo).
Pool D: Jastrzebski Wegiel (Polonia), SVG Luneburg (Germania), Jihostroj Ceske Budejovice (Repubblica Ceca), Vincitrice prima Pool V 2nd Round.
Pool E: Cucine Lube Civitanova (Italia), Greenyard Maaseik (Belgio), VK Lvi Praga (Repubblica Ceca), Migliore 2nd del 2nd Round.
In base alle indicazioni della CEV, la Lube osserverà questo calendario. Le date dei primi cinque turni possono variare tra le seguenti opzioni.
21, 22 o 23 novembre 2023: Cucine Lube Civitanova – Migliore seconda del 2nd Round Preliminare
28, 29 o 30 novembre 2023: VK Lvi Praga (Repubblica Ceca) – Cucine Lube Civitanova:
12, 13 o 14 dicembre 2023: Greenyard Maaseik (Belgio) – Cucine Lube Civitanova
19, 20 o 21 dicembre 2023: Cucine Lube Civitanova – VK Lvi Praga (Repubblica Ceca)
9, 10 o 11 gennaio 2024: Migliore seconda del 2nd Round Preliminare – Cucine Lube Civitanova
17 gennaio 2024: Cucine Lube Civitanova – Greenyard Maaseik (Belgio)
Ecco le squadre che affronteranno i turni eliminatori partendo dal 1st Round:
Pool 1 eliminatoria
Neftohimik Burgas (Bulgaria)
Budva Budva (Montenegro)
Fino Kaposvar (Ungheria)
Strumica Strumica (Macedonia)
Pool 2 eliminatoria
Partizan Belgrado (Serbia)
Olympiakos Piraeus (Grecia)
OK Radnik Bjieljina (Bosnia ed Erzegovina)
Pool 3 eliminatoria
Ford Levoranta Sastamala (Finlandia)
Hypo Tirol Innsbruck (Austria)
Dynamo Apeldoorn (Olanda)
SC Prometey Dnipro (Ucraina)
Pool 4 eliminatoria
Mladost Zagreb (Croazia)
C.S. Arcada Galati (Romania)
Guaguas Las Palmas (Spagna)
