Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia temporarily archives the Champions League.
Last night’s success in four sets against SWD powervolleys Düren in the last day of Pool E of the top European club competition gave the Block Devils an immaculate path so far as they finished the group in first place flying straight to the quarterfinals.
The black and whites, also by virtue of the results of the other fields, also finished in second place overall in the Champions League ranking with the knockout phase draw which was defined and which brought President Sirci’s team to the top of the table.
Sir Sicoma Monini will therefore wait in the quarterfinals for the winner of the eighth between Ziraat Bank Ankara and Berlin Recycling Volleys with the Germans who will have the advantage of playing the second leg at home in the double challenge. In the same part of the draw, the all-Polish eighth between Grupa Azoty Kedzierzyn-Kozle and Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie (home factor in favor of the reigning champions) will decide who will challenge Trentino Itas in the quarterfinals. In the lower part, however, a quarter-final has already been defined with Cucine Lube Civitanova facing the Turks of HalkBank Ankara (home factor for coach Blengini’s training) while the eighth between Tours VB and VfB Friedrichshafen (the Germans play the match back at home) will express the opponent of the Poles of Jastrzebski Wegiel, first overall in the ranking.
Round of 16 with first leg between February 7 and 9 and return between February 14 and 16 while the quarter finals, when the Block Devils will return to play, will be played on a day between March 7 and 9 (the outward journey) and between 14 and 16 March (the return journey).
Going back to yesterday’s match against Düren, coach Andrea Anastasi comments:
“We obviously didn’t play very well and I have to say that I helped put the team in difficulty because I initially made a lot of changes. But after all, I think it was right to see some guys on the pitch who have played a little less so far. We suffered at the beginning, then gradually we came out and in the third and fourth sets we were more in control of the match without shining. But yesterday it was important to win, score three points and that’s okay. I’m happy with the second place in the rankings, it was what we wanted before the match for the speech of the second leg at home in the double confrontation. And I’m very happy for Julio Cardenas who played his first game yesterday as a starter. He started off with a lot of emotion, but in the end he unblocked himself and played very well”.
