After the painful home 0:3 (22:25, 22:25, 18:25) on Friday evening against Cannes, regular season first-place finishers Montpellier are backed against the wall. On Sunday, at the 'Castelnau' hall, they will have a chance for revenge in match №2 of the French League A quarter-final series.

🏐 The most effective player for the hosts was national team member Dimitar Dimitrov with 15 points (1 ace, 3 blocks), but even that was not enough. His teammate, Olympic champion Le Goff, contributed only 4 points in three sets – too little for a team leader. The others, who usually finished with over 10 points per match during the season, also played disappointingly.

🎭 Despite assurances during the week that they had overcome the loss in the French Cup final, MHSC VB showed that the wound is still open. This was their weakest performance at home since the beginning of the season – uninspired, without spirit, without an answer against Cannes' aggressive play.

❌ The second set was disastrous – chaos, substitutions, lack of direction. The entry of Pascal, Coulet, and Lindqvist brought nothing. Cannes, eighth in the regular season, showed energy, concentration, and desire, which were completely lacking in the favorites.

⚠️ Montpellier bent in the first set, broke in the second, and exploded in the third. If they don't react on Sunday, the team will go to Cannes with a 2:0 deficit and with a knife in their back for the matches on April 12 and 14.
In the other three quarter-final matches, the hosts secured victories - Chaumont-Toulouse 3:2, Tourcoing-Poitiers 3:1, and Tours-Nice 3:0.