Luxembourg, November 22, 2018. Titleholders VakifBank ISTANBUL will be taking to the court later tonight to complete the programme of the first leg in the pool stage of the 2019 CEV Volleyball Champions League – Women and they will be doing so in a home match versus Germany’s sensation Allianz MTV STUTTGART. Earlier this season, the Germans beat last year’s silver medal winners CSM Volei Alba BLAJ in Round 3. Another contender for Europe’s most coveted crown, Italy’s Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA, will play Poland’s Budowlani LODZ while the Polish reigning national champions, Chemik POLICE, are hosting Romania’s rookies C.S.M. BUCURESTI.

VakifBank ISTANBUL (TUR) vs. Allianz MTV STUTTGART (GER) - 17.00 UHR (CET)

• VakifBank have claimed each one of their four CEV Champions League crowns without suffering any losses along the way to the title.
• VakifBank have played in the CEV Champions League Final Four for six consecutive years and seven times in total. They have reached the gold medal match on as many as eight occasions if you count also the 1998 edition of the Champions Cup.
• VakifBank boast a winning streak of 22 matches in the CEV Volleyball Champions League. Their last setback came in April 2016, when they lost the gold medal match to Italy’s Pomì CASALMAGGIORE in Montichiari.
• VakifBank will face each of the three teams drawn in their pool – Allianz MTV STUTTGART, BEZIERS VB and Maritza PLOVDIV – for the very first time in Europe’s elite club competition.
• VakıfBank have won 33 of their last 34 CEV Champions League matches.

Giovanni Guidetti, head coach of VakifBank: „Our team is in a good shape. I like the way we played the last two matches. We are improving and we are trying some new things that we want to implement in every match. We are very excited to start our Champions League adventure and we are looking forward to playing against Allianz MTV STUTTGART. They did an amazing thing by qualifying for the group stage. After losing in Romania, they won four sets in a row including the Golden Set against CSM Volei Alba BLAJ. This means that they are a strong team with a great character and much fighting spirit. I like every German team that plays with great discipline and good organisation in block and defence. Therefore, I do not expect an easy match.“

Melis Gürkaynak, team captain of VakifBank: „It is a great honour for us to start this season after taking the Champions League crown for the last two years in a row. Allianz MTV STUTTGART made it through an extremely tough qualification round, defeating their last opponent at the Golden Set. We are aware that we will play with a very strong and competitive team. I hope we can catch a good start to our Champions League journey with this game.“

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