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A match worthy of the Champions League

Both teams have high ambitions in the CEV Cup, but one of them is going to end up in the Challenge Cup after the first round

Hacking played in the Champions League for the last four seasons and after they didn't manage to qualify for the Champions League final, along with winning the Cup, they were hoping to get an invitation for the Champions League. They didn't get it. The club management and coach Paduretu were disappointed by that, so this season the primary goal is going to be the championship.

- We were expecting an invitation for the Champions League, but we didn't get it. Therefore, our main goal in the new season is the championship. The rest comes after that. However, this doesn't mean that we won't be committed to the CEV Cup - said coach Mihail Paduretu.

Many players left Haching, many new players came and they still haven't showed their true colors. The three players from Italy are the biggest reinforcement. The Croatian setter Tsimafei Zhukouski came from Ravenna, the receiver Schwartz came from Perugia, and another national team player came back after a season in San Giustino, the middle blocker Marcus Bohme. Another German national team player is back to Haching, the libero Tille. Finally, the arrival of the Israeli Sokolov should also be mentioned. The team is very young. Most of the players were born between 1988 and 1989 and the eldest are the middle blockers Shumov and Bohme.

They played two matches in the Bundesliga. In the first round they got defeated by the current champions in Berlin with 3-1, whereas in the second match they easily defeated the league rookies, Coburg. Bohme will be out for the match because of illness.

- I think we can reach the CEV Cup quarterfinal, but the matches against Antwerp won't be easy. They have a quality team with a few Dutch national team players and the first match is very important. We will be without Bohme, but we are going for the win - said coach Paduretu.

Precura Antwerpen are, along with Noliko and Roeselare, the best Belgian club and we need to respect that. Last season they reached the CEV quarterfinal in which they were stopped by the Turkish Maliye Mili Piyango after the golden set in Antwerp. The club management is not in doubt because of that and they decided to improve the last season's result. The most important thing is that they kept the excellent Dane Ditlevsen, who was joined by two more Dutchmen, Van Bemmelen and the excellent setter Van Harskamp. The Dutch national team players Jorna and Koelewijn stayed in Antwerp, while the Hungarian Bagics and the Latvian Pekmans arrived.

Coach Kris Tanghe can be satisfied with this year's team. They practically didn't lose any of the key players and with the new players they seem to be even stronger than last season. It is interesting that Antwerp still haven't played a single match in the championship. Next weekend they are playing away against Noliko and the only official match this season was the Cup match against the second league team Lendelede which they easily won.

As the title says, if this game was in the Champions League, it wouldn't be uncalled for, and I cannot understand how Haching are so favored. OK, they're a home team, but Antwerpen have a trick or two up their sleeve as well.
Haching change half of their team, while Antwerpen's only important change was their setter, and they Haching can't be favorites by 1,20 or 1,25. Still, we have a pretty low margin for this game, which seems five or six points too low, and even then the margin would have value for a smaller stake.
I definitely don't expect this match to be a one-way street, quite the contrary, I expect a huge fight for every points and I wouldn't be surprised if the winner is decided in fifth set.