Volleyball fans can look forward to a busy and incredibly exciting night with as many as six matches scheduled for Wednesday in the pool stage of the CEV Volleyball Champions League – Women. There is much at stake since the race for a spot in the quarterfinals is getting ‘hot’. VakifBank ISTANBUL is playing at Allianz MTV STUTTGART in a sold-out SCHARRena.
Allianz MTV STUTTGART (GER) vs. VakifBank ISTANBUL (TUR)
• Weeks before the match, the organisers could already celebrate a sold-out SCHARRena. Two days before the match, all available standing spots are gone as well, thus accounting for 2,251 fans due to attend the matchup with VakifBank.
• Giovanni Guidetti is the merited coach of a back-to-back champion team: VakifBank are the titleholders in the Turkish national league, CEV Champions League and FIVB Club World Championships. Gold medals are paving their way.
• What an impressive sweep: VakifBank have not lost any of their last 26 matches in the CEV Volleyball Champions League. Their last defeat dates back to April 2016 in the gold medal match vs. Pomi CASALMAGGIORE. They have won 36 of their last 37 matches in Europe’s elite competition.
• VakifBank ISTANBUL have lost only one set in Pool A this far, and this happened when they hosted Allianz MTV STUTTGART in Istanbul.
• The challenging match-up with the best club team of the world is the ideal preparation for the upcoming German Cup final. In their 11-year-history in the German Bundesliga, Allianz MTV STUTTGART have managed to reach the Cup final five times. They meet SSC Palmberg SCHWERIN on Sunday, February 24 in front of over 10,000 spectators in Mannheim and live on German free-to-air TV channel Sport1.
Giannis Athanasopoulos, head coach of Allianz MTV STUTTGART: “We are really looking forward to playing VakifBank in our SCHARRena. We will fight for every ball and try to cause some difficulties to the best club team in the world. Our SCHARRena will be full, and we can rely on our great fans to support us and maybe make VakifBank feel a little uncomfortable.”
Molly McCage, middle blocker of Allianz MTV STUTTGART: “I am excited to play against such a high-level team. We all are! We play better against better opponents so it should be a good match. Moreover, there is no better way to prepare for the upcoming challenges (both the Cup final and our last Champions League pool play game) than to play against some of the best. I’d like to see how they perform because it is not easy to play in a sold-out SCHARRena!”
Giovanni Guidetti, head coach of VakifBank ISTANBUL: “We respect Allianz MTV STUTTGART a lot. They play a much-organised Volleyball and have some very interesting players in the team. However, what worries us mostly is the organisation of their game. We have to play very good.”
Lonneke Slöetjes, opposite of VakifBank ISTANBUL: “I heard already from my friend Kim Renkema that we will play in front of a sold-out house and I look forward to feeling the vibes and the atmosphere. We all know that this is not an easy match for us. Allianz MTV STUTTGART is a very good team. They know how to fight. I am very excited and look forward to the match.”
SWR Sport is providing a live-stream with commentary: online and on Facebook.
