The Volleyball Champions League is entering its decisive phase, with three Bulgarians continuing the battle for the trophy:
🇮🇹Alex Nikolov(Cucine Lube Civitanova)
🇵🇱Alex Grozdanov(Bogdanka LUK Lublin)
🇪🇸Dobromir Dimitrov(Guaguas Las Palmas)
🏆 Group Winners of the Champions League 2025/2026
| Group | Winner | Points | Wins | Losses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Ziraat Bankkart Ankara | 18 | 6 | 0 |
| B | Bogdanka LUK Lublin | 15 | 6 | 0 |
| C | Sir Siofoma Monini Perugia | 17 | 6 | 0 |
| D | Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie | 15 | 5 | 1 |
| E | Cucine Lube Civitanova | 15 | 5 | 1 |
Ziraat Ankarais the only team with a full tally of 18 points.
Perugia and Lublinalso finish undefeated.
Zawiercie and Lubesuffer one defeat each, but win their groups.
These five teams advance directly to the quarterfinals.
🟢 Playoffs (round of 16)
| Pairing |
|---|
| PGE Project Warsaw – Trentino Itas |
| Guaguas Las Palmas – Montpellier |
| Asseco Resovia Rzeszów – Knack Roeselare |
The biggest intrigue is in the clash between Warsaw – Trentino. Las Palmas gets a surmountable opponent in Montpellier, and Resovia is a favourite against the Belgian team.
🏆 Quarter-finals
| Quarter-final |
|---|
| Winner Warsaw/Trentino – Bogdanka LUK Lublin |
| Winner Las Palmas/Montpellier – Perugia |
| Cucine Lube Civitanova – Aluron Zawiercie |
| Winner Resovia/Roeselare – Ziraat Ankara |
Lube has a direct quarter-final against Zawiercie. Lublin awaits the winner of the tough play-off Warsaw – Trentino. If Las Palmas eliminates Montpellier, they will face Perugia. Ziraat, the best team in the group stage, awaits the winner of Resovia – Roeselare.
🇮🇹 Alex Nikolov (Lube)
👉Lube – Zawiercie
Polish obstacle without participation in play-offs. The Italian giant enters directly into the battle for a place in the Final Four.
🇵🇱 Alex Grozdanov (Lublin)
👉 The winner ofWarsaw – Trentino
This means a possible Italian or Polish clash already in the quarter-final.
🇪🇸 Dobromir Dimitrov (Las Palmas)
👉 Play-off againstMontpellier
With success – a quarterfinal againstPerugia.
❓ Is a Bulgarian derby possible?
In the quarterfinal – no.
For Nikolov and Grozdanov to meet:
Lube must eliminate Zawiercie
Lublin must pass through Warsaw or Trentino
And both teams must reach the final
Only then is a direct clash possible. The other option is for both teams to go to the semifinals, where after elimination, they play for third place.
🏐 The Road to the Final Four
The draw is already made:
Lube is in the half with Zawiercie
Lublin is in the half with Warsaw/Trentino
Las Palmas is in the half with Perugia
Ziraat awaits the winner of Resovia/Roeselare
The eliminations begin – and the battle for a place among the best four in Europe enters its most intense phase.
All quarterfinal pairings and the path of the Bulgarians to the Final Four are already clear – only volleyball remains to decide.
❌ Who drops out of the Champions League and goes to the CEV Cup?
The remaining third-placed teams conclude their participation in the CL but continue in the CEV Cup tournament.
| Team | Group | What's next |
|---|---|---|
| Berlin Recycling Volleys | C | CEV Cup |
| Galatasaray Istanbul | B | CEV Cup |
| SVG Lüneburg | D | CEV Cup |
| ACH Ljubljana | A | CEV Cup |
These are serious names, especially Berlin and Galatasaray, who are surprisingly eliminated early from the Champions League but will be favorites in the second strongest European tournament.
❌ Who is completely eliminated from Europe? (the fourth-placed teams in the groups)
The teams that finished 4th in their groups conclude their participation in European tournaments for the season. They do not continue in either the Champions League or the CEV Cup.
| Group | Team (4th place) | Points | Wins | Losses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Tur VB | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| B | Halkbank Ankara | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| C | VK Lvi Prague | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| D | Sporting Lisbon | 6 | 2 | 4 |
| E | Volley Haasrode Leuven | 1 | 0 | 6 |
Tur VB and Halkbank are eliminated despite their serious ambitions, especially the Turkish grand, where Matey Kaziyski and Tsvetan Sokolov play, under the leadership of Radostin Stoychev, who remained far below expectations.
Lvi Prague and Haasrode Leuvenfinished without a win and logically conclude their participation.
Sporting Lisbongathered the most points among the fourth-placed teams (6), but this was not enough to continue in Europe.
photo: Nikolay Varadinov
