Bulgaria continues without losing a set at EuroVolley 2026. Our national team defeated Portugal 3:0 (25:18, 25:18, 25:20) in their second match of Group B in "Arena 8888 Sofia" and now has two wins and a full six points.
After a dominant start against North Macedonia with a 3:0 (25:17, 25:19, 25:18) victory, Gianlorenzo Blengini's team once again finished their work in three sets. This time, the success came in front of 10,678 spectators in Sofia.
Portugal showed from the start that they had no intention of being an easy opponent. The game was even, and the Iberians managed to stay close in the score. However, Bulgaria gradually increased the pressure from the serve and started finding more and more points from blocks.
After 14:16, our national team made their decisive break. Bulgaria led 21:16, and in the end, did not allow Portugal to come back, closing the first set 25:18.
The second set saw a more pronounced Bulgarian superiority. Simeon Nikolov varied the play, Aleksandar Nikolov was extremely effective in attack, and Alex Grozdanov became a serious factor at the net. Bulgaria led 8:6, increased their lead to 16:12, and at 21:16, again had a comfortable advantage. The second set also ended 25:18.
Portugal started the third set better and led 4:2, but our national team quickly turned the tide. At 16:12, Bulgaria already had a four-point lead, and a little later, the difference reached 21:14.
Martin Atanasov created serious problems for the opponent with his serve, and towards the end, Blengini brought in Asparuh Asparuhov and Rusi Zhelev. Portugal reduced the deficit to 23:19, but could not get any closer. Denislav Bardarov scored the 24th point, and Alex Grozdanov ended the match with a block for 25:20.
The match concluded in 78 minutes.

Bulgaria made the most significant difference in attack efficiency and blocking – two elements where our national team's superiority was clear. Aleksandar Nikolov was again the top scorer with 17 points, converting 14 of 19 attacks for an impressive 74% and adding 2 aces and 1 block. Martin Atanasov finished with 9 points, Denislav Bardarov with 8, and Alex Grozdanov with 6, of which 4 were blocks. For Portugal, André Pereira was the top scorer with 13 points. After the match, Bulgaria temporarily leads Group B with 6 points and no lost sets. Ukraine also has 6 points after their first two matches, but with a set ratio of 6:1. Poland has 3 points, but with one less match played.

Thus, tomorrow's match between Bulgaria and Ukraine gains even greater importance in the battle for the top positions in the group. The match is on September 12 at 7:00 PM in "Arena 8888 Sofia".