Our men's champion team suffered a loss in a tough friendly match against the Turkish giant Fenerbahçe in Istanbul.

Head coach Nikolay Zhelyazkov's volleyball players lost 2:3 (27:25, 19:25, 15:25, 22:25, 25:23) in the sparring match with the strong opponent, which lasted nearly 2 hours.

The two coaching staffs had agreed to play 5 sets.

In them, the most productive player for 'the Blues' was Slovakian outside hitter Julius Firkal with 22 points (1 ace, 2 blocks).

Opposite hitter Venislav Antov scored 15 points.

In the Fenerbahçe squad, national player Denis Karyagin performed strongly, finishing with 21 points. Only Dražen Luburić had more than him (26).

Tomorrow, another friendly match between the two teams is scheduled.

The champions conclude their preseason friendlies with a tournament in Greece next weekend.

So far, they have 7 wins and 1 loss.

On October 12, the season kicks off with the eternal derby against CSKA in a semifinal of the Bulgarian Supercup tournament, which will take place in Levski Sofia Hall.