The volleyball players from the Bulgarian national team will play their 8th match in this year's Volleyball Nations League today. Coach Gianlorenzo Blengini's boys face the strong Ukrainian team in their last tournament match in Group 6 from the second week of the competition at Stožice Arena in Ljubljana (Slovenia).
The match starts today at 2:00 PM Bulgarian time and will be broadcast live on MAX One. The last clash between the two teams in the Volleyball Nations League dates back to June 29, 2025, in Burgas. Then, Bulgaria took a game lead, but Ukraine made a complete comeback and won 3:1 (20:25, 25:19, 26:24, 25:22).
After the historic victory over world champion Italy with 3:2 (18:25, 25:20, 25:23, 19:25, 15:9), the dramatic defeat by hosts Slovenia with 2:3 (25:19, 21:25, 25:17, 24:26, 6:15), and the new five-set battle against Canada, won 3:2 (25:27, 25:22, 21:25, 25:18, 15:11), the Bulgarian volleyball players are once again facing a serious challenge.
For the 'Lions', this will be their fourth consecutive match in five days, with three of them going to the maximum five sets. The accumulated physical and mental fatigue will certainly be one of the main factors in the match, especially since the game starts early in the afternoon and the recovery time after the drama against Canada was minimal. On top of that, Ukraine rested yesterday and will be maximally fresh for the match today.
On the other side of the net, however, stands a team in excellent form. Ukraine arrived in Ljubljana with three consecutive victories – 3:1 over Brazil, 3:0 over Italy, and 3:1 over Canada. The return of star Oleh Plotnytskyi gave even more class to Raúl Lozano's team, and logically, the Ukrainians established themselves among the leading teams in the VNL interim standings.
That is why any preliminary predictions for a decisive Bulgarian victory would be too optimistic. Under the current circumstances, the most important thing for the Bulgarian team will be to get the most out of this extremely tough match against an opponent who plays with immense confidence.
The good news for Gianlorenzo Blengini is the successful inclusion of Denislav Bardarov against Canada. The young national player came into the game in the fourth set and remained on the court until the end of the tie-break, significantly helping with the comeback. The longer rest that Martin Atanasov received also gives the Italian specialist more options when determining the starting lineup.
It is not excluded that Blengini may resort to a wider rotation during the match, as the accumulated fatigue in the main seven players is already a serious factor after three consecutive five-set matches.
Here is the schedule for today in the Volleyball Nations League (times are Bulgarian time):

The schedule for the last day of the tournament in Ljubljana offers several direct clashes between the contenders for a spot in the final tournament, and for Bulgaria, the match against Ukraine could turn out to be one of the most important in the fight for a place among the top eight teams in the Volleyball Nations League.

photo:volleyballworld.com