On Wednesday at 13:00 Bulgarian time, the draw for the group stage of the Men's and Women's Champions League will be held at the headquarters of the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV) in Luxembourg. Official Communication No. 2 already reveals the distribution of teams in the four pots, and following an inquiry from VolleyWeek, CEV clarified one of the most discussed questions – why clubs that received a wild card are placed in the fourth pot.
In its official response to VolleyWeek, the European headquarters explained that the distribution in the first three pots is based on the current European club ranking and the number of participating clubs from each national federation. After all teams qualified by this order are distributed, the remaining spots in the fourth pot are filled by clubs that received a wild card, as well as by the two teams that successfully pass the third qualifying round. The reason is that the participation of these clubs is not tied to the club coefficient.
This means that Italy's Itas Trentino, Spain's Guaguas Las Palmas, and Romania's Dinamo București in the men's competition, as well as Igor Gorgonzola Novara and Galatasaray Daikin Istanbul in the women's competition, are placed in the fourth pot precisely because of their status as wild card participants, and not because of their position in the European club ranking.

How the Draw Will Proceed

According to Official Communication No. 2, 20 teams will participate in the group stage, distributed into four pots of five clubs each. During the draw, five groups will be formed, with one team from each pot being placed in each group.
As a rule, two clubs from the same country cannot be drawn into the same group. However, clubs that received a wild card are an exception. This means that Itas Trentino can be drawn into a group with one of the other Italian representatives – Sir Safety Perugia, Cucine Lube Civitanova, or Rana Verona. Similarly, in the women's competition, Galatasaray Daikin Istanbul can be drawn against another Turkish club, and Igor Gorgonzola Novara against one of the other Italian representatives.

This means that several intriguing domestic clashes between clubs from the same country, which would not be possible under standard rules, could be drawn as early as Wednesday's draw. Among the permissible options are:

• Lube Civitanova – Itas Trentino

• Sir Safety Perugia – Itas Trentino

• Rana Verona – Itas Trentino

• Conegliano – Igor Gorgonzola Novara

• Savino Del Bene Scandicci – Igor Gorgonzola Novara

• Vero Volley Milano – Igor Gorgonzola Novara

• VakıfBank Istanbul – Galatasaray Daikin Istanbul

• Fenerbahçe Medicana Istanbul – Galatasaray Daikin Istanbul

• Eczacıbaşı Dynavit Istanbul – Galatasaray Daikin Istanbul

Men's Pots

Pot 1

• Sir Safety Perugia (Italy)

• Cucine Lube Civitanova (Italy)

• Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie (Poland)

• Bogdanka LUK Lublin (Poland)

• Berlin Recycling Volleys (Germany)
  Pot 2

• Rana Verona (Italy)

• PGE Projekt Warszawa (Poland)

• SVG Lüneburg (Germany)

• Ziraat Bankkart Ankara (Turkey)

• Galatasaray Istanbul (Turkey)
  Pot 3

• Montpellier VB (France)

• Tours VB (France)

• VC Greenyard Maaseik (Belgium)

• VK ČEZ Karlovarsko (Czech Republic)

• Panathinaikos Athens (Greece)
  Urn 4

• Itas Trentino (Italy, wild card)

• Guaguas Las Palmas (Spain, wild card)

• Dinamo București (Romania, wild card)

• Winner of the III qualifying round

• Winner of the III qualifying round

Women's pots

Pot 1

• A. Carraro Prosecco DOC Conegliano (Italy)

• Savino Del Bene Scandicci (Italy)

• VakıfBank Istanbul (Turkey)

• Fenerbahçe Medicana Istanbul (Turkey)

• PGE Grot Budowlani Łódź (Poland)
  Pot 2

• Numia Vero Volley Milano (Italy)

• Eczacıbaşı Peron Istanbul (Turkey)

• KS DevelopRes Rzeszów (Poland)

• UNI Opole (Poland)

• VfB Suhl Thüringen (Germany)
  Pot 3

• Dresdner SC (Germany)

• Volley Mulhouse Alsace (France)

• Levallois Paris Saint-Cloud (France)

• CSO Voluntari 2005 (Romania)

• Tent Obrenovac (Serbia)
  Urn 4

• Vasas Óbuda Budapest (Hungary)

• Igor Gorgonzola Novara (Italy, wild card)

• Galatasaray Daikin Istanbul (Turkey, wild card)

• Winner of the III qualifying round

• Winner of the III qualifying round

The Bulgarian interest

The draw is of particular interest to Bulgarian volleyball. In the men's competition, Alex Grozdanov with Bogdanka LUK Lublin, brothers Aleksandar and Simeon Nikolov with Cucine Lube Civitanova, and Nikolay Kolev with Panathinaikos will learn their opponents. In the women's competition, among the participants in the group stage is Iva Dudova with Eczacıbaşı Dynavit Istanbul, while the Bulgarian champions Levski Sofia and Maritsa Plovdiv will start their participation from the tournament's qualifiers.
The draw for the Champions League group stage will be held on Wednesday, July 15, at 13:00 Bulgarian time in Luxembourg.