The third competitive day of the European Men's Volleyball Championship offered eight matches across the four groups. For Bulgaria, the most important events took place in Sofia, where our national team and Ukraine recorded their second consecutive victories. In Group D in Cluj-Napoca, with which Group B crosses over in the round of 16, Germany also remained undefeated, and Romania achieved its first victory.

Bulgaria and Ukraine continue without a lost set

Ukraine started the program in "Arena 8888 Sofia" with a 3:0 (25:22, 25:22, 25:10) victory over North Macedonia.
The first two sets were contested, with the Ukrainians reaching 25:22 in both cases. In the third, the balance of power shifted sharply, and Ukraine concluded the match with 25:10.
Serving became one of the strongest components in the Ukrainians' game – 15 aces against only 2 for North Macedonia. Oleh Plotnytskyi recorded 7 aces and finished with a total of 16 points, while Yevhen Kisiliuk added 14. Ukraine also had a minimal advantage in blocks – 8:7.
In the second match of the program, Bulgaria defeated Portugal 3:0 (25:18, 25:18, 25:20) in front of 10,678 spectators in "Arena 8888 Sofia."
Our national team finished with 60% attack efficiency against 43% for Portugal. Bulgaria had a significant advantage in blocks – 9:3, as well as more aces – 6:4. Aleksandar Nikolov was the top scorer in the match with 17 points, and André Pereira finished with 13 for Portugal.
Thus, Bulgaria and Ukraine have two victories from their first two matches and have not yet lost a set. For our national team, this was the second consecutive 3:0 victory after their success against North Macedonia at the start.
Bulgaria's next match is precisely against Ukraine.

Germany continues undefeated, Romania takes its first three points

The development of Group D in Cluj-Napoca is also of particular importance for Bulgaria. The reason is the tournament format – the opponents for the first four teams from Group B in the round of 16 will come from this group.
Germany achieved its second consecutive victory after defeating Latvia 3:0 (25:20, 25:20, 25:16).
The score does not fully reflect the resistance Latvia put up during the first two sets. The two teams remained close in score until the middle of the sets, before the Germans made the difference in the decisive moments. In the third, Germany took control earlier and closed the match at 25:16.
This was the Germans' second success after their victory over Turkey in their first match.
Romania also had reason for satisfaction. The hosts reacted after their defeat to Latvia at the start and beat Switzerland 3:1 (25:21, 25:23, 15:25, 25:20).
The Romanians won the first two sets, but Switzerland responded decisively with 25:15 in the third. However, the hosts regained control of the match and took the fourth set 25:20. The match in BT Arena was watched by 3,127 spectators.
Thus, Romania recorded its first victory and its first three points in the championship, while Germany now has two wins from two matches.
For Bulgaria, the results in Cluj-Napoca are not just information from another group. The round of 16 format isB1–D4, B2–D3, B3–D2, and B4–D1, which makes every change in the standings of Group D directly related to the potential opponent of our national team in the first elimination match.

Czech Republic and Slovenia started with wins in Modena

In Pool A, the Czech Republic started their participation with a 3:1 (25:21, 25:17, 23:25, 25:23) victory over Greece. The Czechs took a 2:0 lead, but Greece managed to win the third set. In the fourth, the score reached 23:23 before the Czech Republic took the last two rallies.
Marek Sotola was the top scorer with 18 points – 15 from attack and 3 from blocks. Lukáš Vašina added 16, as did Alexandros Raptis for Greece.
Slovenia also started with a win – 3:0 (31:29, 25:15, 25:18) against Slovakia. The most serious challenge was in the first set, which the Slovenians snatched 31:29. In the second, Nik Mujanović went to serve at 11:11 and helped his team pull away to 19:11, with his run including four aces.
Mujanović finished as the top scorer with 14 points, including 4 aces, 1 block, and 9 successful attacks. Rok Možič and Alen Pajenk added 10 points each.

Belgium and Serbia won their first matches in Pool C

Belgium started the championship with a 3:1 (25:14, 18:25, 25:17, 25:14) victory over the Netherlands. The Belgians convincingly took the first set, the Netherlands responded in the second, but then Belgium won the next two sets.
Serbia also started with a 3:1 (25:23, 26:24, 26:28, 25:22) victory against Estonia.
One of the key moments came in the second set. Estonia reached 24:21 and was one point away from leveling, but Lazar Marinović went to serve, Nemanja Mašulović recorded an important block, and Dražen Luburić completed the comeback – 26:24 and 2:0 for Serbia.
In the third, Serbia led 9:6, after which Estonia made a run of six consecutive points for 12:9. Another contested finish followed, but this time the Estonians took the set 28:26.
The lost set did not change the final outcome. Serbia reached 14:10 in the fourth set and this time maintained their lead to 25:22.
Dražen Luburić was the top scorer for Serbia with 20 points. Lazar Marinović and Pavle Perić added 16 each, while Nemanja Mašulović and Veljko Mašulović, who came off the bench, finished with 9 and 8 points respectively.
After the third day, Bulgaria's focus logically remains directed in two directions – towards the battle in their own Pool B in Sofia and towards the developments in Pool D in Cluj-Napoca. Our national team needs to accumulate victories and determine their own position in Sofia, but in parallel, the results in Romania are gradually outlining who might stand on the other side of the net in the Round of 16.