The clash between Fenerbahçe and Novara, today (Tuesday) in Group B, is chronologically the first in the 4th round of the Women's Volleyball Champions League, but the duel in Istanbul has a much broader, jubilee significance.
This is the 2.000th Champions League match – a very significant match for the history of European volleyball. It all started at the turn of the new millennium, in the 2000/01 season. A little over 25 years have passed since then – enough for two thousand matches, about four thousand hours of top volleyball.
The anniversary duel also has great significance when it comes to this year's elite competition and the ambitions of the two teams - it is already the fourth round and tickets for the knockout phase are being distributed.
Earlier this season, the “Yellow Angels” broke their losing streak against Novara. After four consecutive defeats against the 2019 European champions, Fenerbahçe achieved a convincing 3-0 victory in Italy. The Turkish team is the only one that has not lost a set so far in the competition and leads Group B with a maximum of nine points. With the triumph in Novara, Fenerbahçe improved their record against Italian clubs to eight wins (with 13 losses), and will now try to use the home field advantage at the “Burhan Felek” hall to further strengthen their leading position. Novara, on the other hand, is looking for redemption after a heavy defeat in front of their home crowd, which lowered their performance against Turkish clubs in the Champions League to nine wins and eight losses, or four wins and five losses in the group stage.
And the remaining games of the fourth round are bursting with significance.
In Group A, leaders VakifBank, led by Tijana Bošković, further consolidated their dominance after a 3-1 victory in the "clash of the titans" against the current world club champion Scandicci, thus avenging the Italians for their heavy defeat in last season's semi-final. The Turks welcome the Romanian Alba Blaž, bottom of the table, and it would take a real miracle for them not to celebrate their 11th victory in 11 duels with clubs from Romania so far.
Two-time European champions, Italy's Conegliano, are also big favourites against Dresden in Treviso, in Group D. The "Panthers" have an extremely tight schedule, recently ending a 17-game winning streak with a defeat at the Club World Cup against Scandicci, and are now "crucified" with matches in the Champions League and the national championship and Cup, the final tournament of which is scheduled for the end of the month. It is understandable that there has been a drop in form - it seems that Conegliano is not playing like last season - but they are still huge favourites against Dresden, a team that has not won a set in three clashes with Italian teams so far.
GROUP A
VakifBank – Alba Blaž (Wednesday, 17 p.m.)
Skandići – Volero (Wednesday, 18 p.m.)
Table: VakifBank 9, Skandići 6, Volero 3, Alba Blaž 0.
GROUP B
Fenerbahce – Novara (Tuesday, 17 p.m.)
Budovlani Lodz – Benfica (Tuesday, 18 p.m.)
Table: Fenerbahce 9, Novara 6, Benfica 2, Budovlany Lodz 1.
GROUP C
Vero Volej Milano – Železničar Lajkovac (Wednesday, 20 p.m.)
Ezakhibashi – Olympiacos (Thursday, 17 p.m.)
Table: Vero Volley Milan 7, Ezakybashi Istanbul 6, Olympiacos 5, Železničar 0.
GROUP D
LSK Lodz – Ankara Zeren Spor (Wednesday, 8:30 p.m.)
Koneljano – Dresden (Thursday, 8:30 p.m.)
Table: Koneljano 8, Ankara Zeren Spor 7, Drezden 3, LSK Lođ 0.
GROUP E
Rešovija – Levallois Paris (Wednesday, 18 p.m.)
Palmberg – Marica Plovdiv (Thursday, 18 p.m.)
Table: Rešovija 6, Palmberg 6, Marica Plovdiv 4, Levaloe Paris 2.
Bonus video:
