The group stage of the thirty-third edition of the European Championships has ended and all four Rana Verona players involved in the tournament have obtained a ticket for the next round. Moscow’s Italy ranked first in Group A, as did Mozic’s Slovenia in group B, where Grozdanov finished in fourth place with his Bulgaria. Third position, finally, for Dzavoronok’s Czech Republic in Group C.
ITALY
Almost perfect path in this first part of the review for the national team led by Coach Ferdinando De Giorgi, who finished unbeaten in command of the group, with five victories in as many matches played. In the last match, the Azzurri won the tie-break against Germany, thus climbing to 14 points in the standings. The Scaliger central defender Leandro Mosca scored a point. Italy will face North Macedonia in the round of 16 on Saturday.
SLOVENIA
En-plein for the Slovenian team, who ranked first in their Poule without conceding a single point to their opponents. Mozic and his teammates put the icing on the cake with the victory against Bulgaria, thus finishing with full points and with only one set lost. In the final match of this phase, once again the spiker with the number 19 on his shoulders carved out a role as an absolute protagonist, with a total haul of 22 points, hitting 2 aces and recording 66% positivity in attack. Saturday match against Türkiye.
BULGARIA
Painless defeat for the Bulgarian selection, which achieved access to the next phase as the fourth force in its group with 6 points. From place three Grozdanov managed to offer his contribution, landing 3 balls in the opponent’s field. Tomorrow evening, Bulgaria is called to face France in the round of 16 of the competition.
CZECH REPUBLIC
Entire spot conquered and third place achieved in Group C for the Czech Republic, which closed the group stage in the best possible way by clearly beating North Macedonia. The Czechs have thus achieved a third full result and on Sunday they will face Serbia in the match that puts the passage to the quarter-finals at stake. In the last match, the hammer Donovan Dzavoronok did not take the field.
Below is the schedule for the round of 16:
Friday 8 September
France – Bulgaria, 7.30 pm (Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna)
Saturday 9 September
Slovenia – Turkey, 4.30pm (Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna)
Italy – North Macedonia, 6.00 pm (Palaflorio, Bari)
Sunday 10 September
Serbia – Czech Republic, 6.00 pm (Palaflorio, Bari)
