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Russia going for their first European title

Italy have managed, even without Savani, to beat the Bulgarians who fell apart. Russia have confirmed the status of tournament's top favorite by exacting revenge on the Serbs for the defeat two years ago.

Zbornaya have reached their fourth Eurovolley final since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Looking at the result, it might seem they had problems with Serbia's young team, but in reality Russia were the better team in all four sets. They had four to seven points advantage in each of the sets, but when ahead, they would relax too much and make mistakes, letting their opponents come back in the game. Statistically, they outplayed Serbia, with an advantage in every aspect of the game, thus exacting revenge on the Serbs for the defeat two years ago in Vienna.

Pavlov and Musersky get the most credit for reaching the final, scoring 19 and 17 points respectively. Sivozhelez scored 14, but also a major contribution from Apalikov must be mentioned, as his serves made a difference, with several series of four to five points. Coach Voronkov had some mistakes, especially in the second and third set, when he didn't try to stop Serbia's runs with a timeout, but he "saved" the match with a single sentence. At 24-23 in the third, Voronkov said: "You're not really going to lose to these kids?!" From that point on, Russia returned to their game from the first set and demolished Serbia.

- It's a great feeling to reach the Eurovolley final. Objectivelly, we're a better and more experienced team than Serbia, but they gave us a lot of problems in the second and third set. It was partly our own fault, we loosened up at +7, and you don't underestimate a team like that. In the end, we're in the final deservedly and we're going for the gold - the excellent setter Sergey Grankin said.

Will the fourth time be the charm for Russia remains to be seen. What they must avoid are the periods of disinterested play in the second and third set. In addition to a historic first title for them, special motivation for them could be the title won by their countrywomen at the women's Eurovolley a few weeks ago. If successful, they would unite the titles in female and male competition, a feat achieved by Serbia two years ago.

- I'd like to congratulate my players for reaching the final, but I do have some complaints about the play. We shouldn't allow such declines as in the second and third set. We should have won in straight sets, this way we wasted our strength unnecessarily. We've reached the final, but we still haven't won the title and we must be careful. I don't think it makes any difference whom we'd play in the final, since both Italy and Bulgaria are top teams - Russia's coach Andrey Voronkov concluded.

Italy played the second semifinal against Bulgaria in front of a crowd of five thousand at Parken Arena. Before the game both captain Savani and receiver Parodi were questionable, having suffered injuries during the tournament. Coach Berruto surprised everybody by starting Savani, but he didn't last long and he had to be return to the bench. He was replaced by Parodi, who helped his team reach their second final in a row. The Italians didn't start the game well, losing the first set for the fifth game in a row. The were the better team for the rest of the match, however, winning 3-1 (19-25, 25-22, 25-15, 25-22) and reaching the big final. 

- We had another slow start in the game, that was maybe our worst set in the tournament. I'm at a loss for words to express my pride in our team - coach Berruto said after the match and added:

- We had to change our starting lineup again. We've played our best three sets after losing the first, and we must repeat that against Russia as well. We're not favorites and we're playing a strong team with all the prerequisites for winning, but we must fight and fight and fight, and then we might have a chance.

In the first set there was only one team on the court. The Bulgarians were doing what they wanted, and the sleepy Italians could only watch the balls hit by Sokolov and Skrimov. They woke up by the second set, and there was an even contest until the final moments of the set, when the Italians, led by Parodi, Zaytsev and Vettori, turned the score in their favor, and eventually the match as well. They flew through the third set as the Bulgarian game fell apart, with mistakes mounting, so Italy had a lead in the match. After a good start to the fourth set, they relaxed a little, allowing Bulgaria to regain the lead. However, with two series of three points each in short time, they finally broke the Bulgarians, bringing the set to an end routinely, in spite of their lead being cut to 23-22 at one point.  

Bulgaria stopped Zaytsev, so he didn't get too many attacks, but the young Vettori showed his quality again by scoring 21 points with 49% of realization. Birarelli cooperated with Travica well, winning 15 points, 3 of which on the block. Italy were great at avoiding Bulgaria's strongest weapon, the block. Eventually, they had an advantage in that segment with 11-9, just like on the reception. Savani is obviously not ready, so he's not likely to play against Russia, although Berruto might have him on the bench, mainly for the psychological advantage, rather than playing.

- I knew we could win it, but they surprised us in the beginning. What counts is that we've again shown our character and won the game - Travica said, and the best scorer Vettori added:

- Against Russia, we'll try to achieve the goal we set a long time ago. I'm satisfied with my play and I hope for another good game against Russia.

The two teams have met many times in recent years. This year they played three times, all in the World League, with Russia winning twice. First they played in the group stage, each team winning once. They met later in the semifinal, with the Russians prevailing 3-1. They've beaten Brazil in the final, showing the team's power. One thing is certain, Italy is up for a difficult task.

Russia are on the verge of their "Holy Grale" - the European Champions title. This mighty volleyball nation has won everything there is and today they want to go all the way in order to complete their trophy collection. Some of the players from this team (Mikhaylov, Grankin, Musersky, Apalikov, Ilynikh) won the bronze medal two years ago and now they have a chance to do better. After the defeat against Germany, Russia have comfortably won five games in a row, losing only three sets on the way. They dropped one set yesterday, but only because they got complacent. They dominated the match against Serbia by taking the advantage of their players' height. They will try to do the same thing against the Italians. Apalikov and giant Muserskiy have been blocking quite dominantly putting those 218 cm to a good use, Pavlov is probably the best opposite of the tournament and Spiridonov and Sivozheles can decide a match at any given moment. They're going to use serve to put Zaytsev under pressure because he tends to make a lot of errors in these situations. Russians have many games of this type under their belts, while Italians have been playing with 8 players who hadn't played at the European Championship before and it could be crucial. In addition, the Italians have been having injury problems. Savani played yesterday, but he was obviously injured so he was substituted. Parodi came in and played a good game, but it's unsure whether he has any energy left after that match. An additional bonus for this tip is the fact that the Russians have had more time to recuperate. For them, this is a historical moment, a great chance which they're definitely not going to miss.