Bulgaria suffered its first loss at the Men's European Championship. The world vice-champions lost to Ukraine with 1:3 (23:25, 22:25, 25:21, 21:25) in their third match of Group B in "Arena 8888" in Sofia.
After clean victories over North Macedonia and Portugal, the Bulgarian team faced significantly tougher resistance. Ukraine took the first two sets, Bulgaria reacted in the third, but in the fourth, Oleh Plotnytskyi delivered the heavy blow with a series of serves and led Raul Lozano's team to victory.
The match lasted 129 minutes and was watched by 11,689 spectators.

Ukraine won both contested first sets, and the only part where Bulgaria managed to consistently impose its game was the third. Bulgaria started well and took a 3:1 lead after a counter through the middle by Iliya Petkov and an ace by Simeon Nikolov. However, Ukraine quickly equalized, and Oleh Plotnytskyi started creating serious problems from his serve. After 12:12, the Ukrainians took a 15:12 lead, but the hosts found a response. Martin Atanasov and Simeon Nikolov helped equalize at 18:18, and a counter by Atanasov turned the score to 19:18. In the decisive rallies, Ukraine again took the initiative. Maksym Drozd helped for a 22:20 lead, and at 24:23, Vasyl Tupchii finished the attack for 25:23. The second set was even until 6:6, before Ukraine pulled away to 9:6. Bulgaria got closer to 13:14 after strong performances by Alex Nikolov and Simeon Nikolov, but failed to equalize. The visitors pressed again and took a 19:15 lead, and at the end, Dmytro Yanchuk closed the set at 25:22. At 0:2, Gianlorenzo Blengini had already made changes. Preslav Petkov and Asparuh Asparuhov were given a more significant role, and Bulgaria took a 7:4 lead in the third set. This time, the hosts maintained control, increased their lead to 19:14, and reached 25:21 after an attack by Alex Nikolov. However, the hope for a comeback was crushed in the fourth set. Bulgaria led 8:7, but an exceptional series by Oleh Plotnytskyi from the service line followed. The Ukrainian outside hitter made four consecutive aces, and the score turned to 13:8 for Ukraine. Blengini used both his timeouts in an attempt to stop the run. Ukraine continued to 17:11 and 20:14. The Bulgarians made a last attempt to get back into the match, and two consecutive aces by Alex Nikolov reduced the difference to 21:23. However, the visitors did not allow a comeback, and Plotnytskyi finished the match with a block-out for 25:21 and 3:1.

Statistics show where Bulgaria lost the match

The numbers paint an unusual picture – Bulgaria has a serious advantage in both attack and block, but nullifies it with the huge number of points gifted to the opponent. Ukraine receives 40 points after Bulgarian errors against only 22 in the opposite direction. The serve also tips the scales towards the visitors, with Plotnytskyi's series in the fourth set proving particularly heavy.Alex Nikolov with 27 points, Plotnytskyi with 23

Alex Nikolov was the top scorer in the match with 27 points and 51% attack efficiency.

However, Plotnytskyi became the key figure for the winners - 23 points and 7 aces, and it was his serve that broke the Bulgarian reception in the decisive fourth game. Asparuh Asparuhov made a good contribution for Bulgaria, scoring all his 9 points from attack with 75% success rate. Simeon Nikolov also finished with 9 points - an unusually high tally for a setter, including 3 blocks and 2 aces.
In the Group B standings, Bulgaria is now in third place with 2 wins, 1 loss, and 6 points, behind leader Ukraine, who has 3 wins and 9 points, and Poland with 2 wins and 6 points. However, the Poles have played one less match. The loss to Ukraine also heavily affected Bulgaria in the world rankings. Before the match, the national team had 277.51 points, but the 1:3 defeat cost them 8.96 points. Thus, Bulgaria's total drops to 268.55 points. The team remains in ninth place in the world rankings, but the lead over its pursuers is significantly narrowing.

photos: Nikolay Varadinov