At a ceremony at the headquarters of the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV), the draw for this year's edition of the Champions League was held. For the first time in years, Poland will have four representatives in the most prestigious club tournament on the Old Continent. Bogdanka LUK Lublin, Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie, PGE Projekt Warszawa, and Asseco Resovia Rzeszów found their opponents.
Poland x4: record representation
Three of the Polish teams secured direct participation in the tournament, while Asseco Resovia Rzeszów received a wild card, which gave them the chance to compete in the European competition again. Before the draw, Warta and LUK were placed in the first pot, Projekt Warszawa in the second, and Resovia in the fourth.
According to the regulations, clubs from the same country cannot be in the same group. However, this rule does not apply to teams participating with a wild card. Thus, already in the group phase, we will witness spectacular Polish derbies - Warta and Resovia will directly compete for advancement from Group D.
Groups after the draw
Group A
Trentino Itas (Italy)
Ziraat Bankaasi Ankara (Turkey)
Tours Volleyball (France)
Winner of the 3rd round match 25/26
Group B
Bogdanka LUK Lublin (Poland)
Galatasaray Istanbul (Turkey)
Knack Volley Roeselare (Belgium)
Halkbank Ankara (Turkey)
Group C
Berlin Recycling Volleys (Germany)
Sir Safety Susa Perugia (Italy)
CK Lvi Prague (Czech Republic)
Winner of the 3rd round match 27/28
Group D
Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie (Poland)
SVG Luneburg (Germany)
Sporting Lisbon (Portugal)
Asseco Resovia Rzeszów (Poland)
Group E
Cucine Lube Civitanova (Italy)
PGE Projekt Warszawa (Poland)
Volley Haasrode Leuven (Belgium)
Montpellier Volley (France)
Curious moment: hand of fate
No less intriguing was the fact that the draw was conducted by the star of Polish and European volleyball, Joanna Wołosz, which certainly added extra symbolism and emotion for Polish fans.
Expectations and predictions
The groups look extremely competitive, and the task for Polish clubs will be complex, especially for Bogdanka LUK Lublin, where the national team captain Alex Grozdanov plays, who was drawn into a group with two Turkish giants - Galatasaray, where national player Martin Atanasov is still, and Radostin Stoychev and Tsetso Sokolov's Halkbank. This suggests at least two "Bulgarian" derbies in the group. At the same time, Warta and Resovia will have to fight not only each other but also Sporting and SVG Luneburg to secure a place in the knockout phase.
For Alex Nikolov and Lube, the group seems seemingly easier, and Bulgarian fans should regret Dimitar Dimitrov's departure from Montpellier, which deprived them of another "Bulgarian" clash, this time in Group E. The same applies to the Czech Lvi Prague, where Nikolay Kırtev played last season, but has since left the team.
The Volleyball Champions League once again promises true spectacles, and Polish fans have every reason to eagerly await the start of the tournament.
