The Bulgarian men's U22 national team started their series of warm-up matches before the European Championship in an excellent way, after defeating host Portugal 3:0 (25:19, 25:22, 25:21) in the first friendly encounter between the two teams. By prior agreement between the coaching staffs, an additional fourth set was played, which ended with a success for the Portuguese 25:19.

Bulgaria confidently started its preparation.

The squad led by Daniel Peev showed stable play and controlled the events for most of the match. The Bulgarians convincingly won the first set 25:19, and in the second and third, they resisted the hosts' attempts to get back into the game, closing the match without losing a set.

The top scorers for the "Lions" were Jasmin Velichkov and Viktor Zekov, who each scored 12 points. For Velichkov, this is another strong performance, after being part of Gianlorenzo Blengini's squad earlier in the summer for the first men's Nations League tournament.

Two more tests against Portugal.

The two teams will continue their preparation with two more friendly matches, which will be played today and tomorrow at 8:00 PM Bulgarian time. The warm-up matches are the last opportunity for the Bulgarian staff to fine-tune details before the start of the European Championship.

Injury sidelined Titriyski from the squad.

The Bulgarian team departed for Portugal without Kristiyan Titriyski, who is recovering from an ankle injury. In his place, head coach Daniel Peev called up Erik Georgiev.

The European Championship starts on June 29.

The U22 Men's European Championship will be held in Albufeira (Portugal), with the first matches scheduled for June 29.

Bulgaria's squad for the European Championship.

Outside Hitters:

• Nikolay Ivanov

• Ognyan Hristov

• Jasmin Velichkov

• Konstantin Manolev

Middle Blockers:

• Kostadin Kozelov

• Tomislav Rusev

• Dimitar Peychinov

• Aleksandar Nikolov

Setters:

• Viktor Zhekov

• Ivan Uzunov

Opposites:

• Erik Georgiev

• Marti Valev

Liberos:

• Yasen Petrov

• Zhan Petrov

After the convincing start against Portugal, the Bulgarian team showed that it is in good form immediately before the start of the European Championship. The upcoming two friendlies will give Daniel Peev the opportunity to try out different game combinations and finalize the optimal squad for the championship.

photo: bvf.bg