National player Dimitar Dimitrov will play in the Champions League next season! His Montpellier secured a place in the most prestigious European club tournament after finishing first in the regular season of the French championship.
Loïc Le Marec's team sealed the top position with a 3:1 victory (25-21, 25-22, 17-25, 29-27) over Tours in the sports palace in Castelnau. Thus, Montpellier can no longer be displaced from the top even before the last round, in which they will not participate. The second-placed team – Chaumont, led by former Bulgaria national coach Silvano Prandi, lags behind in the game ratio (sets won and lost) and has no chance of overtaking Dimitrov and his teammates.

Tense battle with Tours

Montpellier coped with the resistance of the crippled Tours squad, who rested their starters before the CEV Cup semifinals. The hosts took the first set 25-21 but lost rhythm in the second, although they managed to win it 25-22 thanks to a series of serves from substitute Eliot Coule.

However, the third set was entirely under Tours' control (17-25), which put Montpellier under pressure. In the fourth set, Dimitrov and company had to show character after trailing 15-18. With great effort and a dramatic finish, they closed the match 29-27.

Dimitrov finished as the top scorer in the match with 24 points (1 ace, 1 block) and 50% attacking efficiency, showing his quality and leadership on the court ⚡️.

Thus, Montpellier enters the playoffs as favorites and will have home-court advantage in the elimination phase. Before that, however, they face the French Cup final against Tourcoing on March 29 in Chartres.