Incredible scenario of the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final between and Cucine Lube Civitanova. The Italians, who suffered a severe defeat 0: 3 at home, were already leading with two sets in Poland and their thoughts were probably already at the golden set, in which they would fight for promotion to the semi-finals.
Amazing promotion of Jastrzębski Węgiel to the LM semi-finals! Lube is playful again
Jastrzębski, however, shook his finger at them, snatched the victory in the fierce third game and ensured promotion in the fourth, dominated by Poles set, and crowned this extraordinary work in the tie-break, which he was already playing by reserves.
This victory will forever go down in the history of Polish volleyball. Because no one played such an Italian tycoon as Grupa Azoty ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle last season and Jastrzębski Węgiel now. It is symbolic that these two teams will fight for promotion to this year’s final in a direct match.
Jastrzębski lacked the most important skill at the opening of the match
If someone thought that they had come to the hall in Jastrzębie-Zdrój to lose two sets, leave the Champions League and return home, then at 11:15 for Italians in the first set, they probably understood that it would not be an easy match for the Polish team. – Nothing is impossible for us. We are going there for victory and promotion – said the key player of the current Serie A champions, Robertlandy Simon, before the game.
The Cuban believed that Lube would manage to turn the tide of the game, although they needed not only a win in three or four sets to be promoted, but also a victory in the golden set. And the hawks had to win two sets to enter the semi-finals.
The Italians were playing the game, and the aforementioned Simon was increasingly taking his toll on Andrea Gardini’s team. – He is such a player that you have to accept that he will score at least ten points, block you three times and add two aces. It’s a pet, it’s huge, it’s great. He is fast on a short ball, tall and very dynamic. One person, if I were to take them out, it would be Simon. After a long, long time, no one and maybe Ricardo Lucarelli – said about Simon during the pre-match room on Twitter with the fans of hawkish Tomasz Fornal.
In the first game, Simon confirmed great class. Although the team was led primarily by Ivan Zaitsev. At 5:20 pm Coach Gardini’s face was still calm. As if he knew what was about to happen – Jastrzębski scored three more points and equalized. Simon, who had tried to raise the ball on the last of these actions, only hit the floor with his hand helplessly. However, Zaitsev probably improved his mood, who a moment later threw a powerful punch into the field and shouted loudly. Gardini did not foresee that Lube would wake up. At 21:23 the Italian got on his nerves and asked for a time, during which he sharply explained to the players what he was not happy about. Unfortunately, the Poles also ran out of cold blood at the end of the set. And fighting them is an important skill in matches such as with Lube. Jastrzębski may have fought, but he lost 24:26.
Lucarelli’s trick, Yant’s haemorrhage, and Clevenot’s catastrophic nipple
– I have no problem falling asleep before an important meeting. Maybe on the day of the game you can feel a little stress and excitement, but the day before the game you don’t – assessed Fornal in a Tuesday interview with the fans. What will he be doing before the game? Maybe he will play something, maybe he will watch something on Netflix. An important reset, rest, and then the standard match day with kick-up, short nap and the main show. – The emotions in such matches are greater, we get information that the entire hall has sold out, and we know that to fill it up, you need top-class teams. This is how the human brain works, that when confronted with a strong rival there is a slightly different attitude – added the Pole. There was no sign of stress during the match, but concern about how well Lube started off did.
Lube was starting to play. Substitution at 8: 7 for Jastrzębski in the second set, and after the Polish team hit the ball from above the net, Lucarelli tosses the ball with both hands behind his back. A strange, unusual move, although with a double-shot error, which was not whistled by the referees.
The Hawkers “played” a few minutes later, when Marlon Yant was blocked on the left wing and the ball coming back from Jan Hadrava was racing with such force that it hit the Cuban hard in the nose before he managed to fall after jumping onto the field. The host fell and blood began to leak rapidly from his nose. It turned out that the bleeding of the knocked out Yant was so great that he did not return to the field for the fourth game. Osmany Juantoren replaced him.
Lube and Jastrzębski played fairly evenly, but in the end the Italians took the initiative again. Trevor Clevenot’s fatal nipple poured out the cup of bitterness. The Olympic champion tried to gently strike the ball and bring it to the other side of the net, but it fell on the hawk side. Catastrophic play by the French at the worst possible moment. Jastrzębski made up one point a moment later, but then Robertlandy Simon showed his class with another attack. Thanks to him, the Italians gained two set symbols, they did not use the first one, but the second one, thanks to Zaitsev’s hitting a block of the Polish team, gave Lube victory in the second set.
The Hawkish people regained their shine
It started to get nervous. Lube came out everything that should be: the middle Simone Anzani played great, Simon added his own. At times, Zaitsev also played excellently, not too badly for Juantoren and Lucarelli. In Jastrzębski’s squad, Benjamin Toniutti was not doing the best. Jan Hadrava and Tomasz Fornal did what they could in the attack, and Łukasz Wiśniewski and Jakub Macyra also added points in the center.
What was missing: effective Trevor Clevenot, who was changed by Rafał Szymura during the third set, added pressure to Lube with an aggressive service and a flash. Something extra to surprise the Italians.
Jastrzębski gained this flash thanks to the great performance of Tomasz Fornal. It was the Polish representative who caught a good rhythm and led the team of Polish champions, kept in touch with the still well-disposed Lube. The hosts controlled the course of the set. It is true that the players of Gianlorenzo Blengini gained the first two set balls, but they did not use them. Jastrzębski finished with his second setball. The aforementioned Fornal went to the service. He tossed the ball high, but struck a big punch and with the service ace ended the third game at 28:26. – I do not get rid of my stress during the match, because it does not bother me. It’s actually more of an excitement, a thrill, not a stress. I don’t have to fight it. It can possibly be called a motivating stress – said the host on Tuesday in a Twitter meeting with fans.
Fornal show! He led Jastrzębski to celebrate even before the tie-break
And on Wednesday, when he was walking into the service field at the end of the third game, it was this motivating stress that allowed him to take Lube’s chances of winning without losing a set. This gave the Italians an ultimatum: they would either win the next set or say goodbye to the Champions League. They were against the wall.
And from the very beginning, fear looked into their eyes. After three effective strikes in just a few actions, it was possible to appreciate how successful Rafał Szymura’s change was. The host entered the field and played uncompromisingly. And this was beaten by the Lube block, and this he dealt with the Italians with a straight strike. Reliable so far, Jan Hadrava began to systematically harass his rivals with his powerful attacks and thus collect more points.
And Tomasz Fornal? First, he pierced a triple block of the biggest volleyball stars Lube has at his disposal. And then, as if nothing, he played three aces in a row, giving the Poles a seven-point advantage over Italy. Set was getting faster and faster with the team of Gianlorenzo Blengini out of control. The promotion to the semi-finals was driving away at the speed of light.
Andrea Gardini raised his clenched fist in the air and screamed with joy. He only got mad when his players stupidly lost two points. However, he motivated them so much that a moment later, after the unsuccessful reception of Jakub Popiwczak, the jastrzębianie blocked the ball from above the net to Simone Anazaniem. Anzani seemed to freeze, realized that it was all over. And although Lube kept the appearance of a fight until the end of the set, the advantage of the Poles was too great. The Jastrzębie team won 25:19 and could celebrate their promotion.
Historical achievement of Polish clubs. Lube went straight from the field to the dressing room. And he may despair
The Polish club threw Cucine Lube Civitanova for the second time in a row in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The players began to squeeze as if the match had already ended. Because not many people cared about the tie-break anymore, it stayed for the statisticians. The Italians again suffered a defeat that they will remember for years. Even the great Simon, Lucarelli or Juantorena had to get off the dance floor. And Gianlorenzo Blengini was left with the face of the fourth party. Pensive and worried, because no one can say that his future is sure. He couldn’t believe it was how it ended.
At the end of the game on the other side of the net, Andrea Gardini gave his team a winners’ gala. He brought the second six on the pitch, but his team played so loosely, played volleyball so much that nothing could stop them. Service aces, great play in the middle, powerful blows from the wings – all this was offered by this supposedly “reserve” line-up. Six points in a row on Eemi Tervaportti’s play made Italians realize that they had lost everything there was to lose in Poland and were completely compromised. The will to fight at the beginning of the match cannot be denied them. But how their hopes to stay were quenched by the hawkings was impressive. Despite the momentary jam at the end of the tie-break, the Hawkers won it anyway – 15:12.
All Lube players went straight from the field to the dressing room. They didn’t want to be in this damn place for a minute longer. And Polish volleyball players could continue the celebration. This is the club’s third promotion to the top four in the Champions League – previously in 2011 and 2014, when they finished third in the team’s history. In the semi-final, the team from Jastrzębie-Zdrój will play against Grupa Azoty ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle, which means that one of the Polish teams can be sure of the game in the final.
It is a great day for Polish volleyball. Such a style of winning and promoting Jastrzębski Węgiel only increased it. There is no doubt anymore: we are living in the best period in the history of Polish club rivalry in history. We are not only about the strength of Italy and the Russians. We are better than them at the moment. And there is no need to be ashamed to talk about it.
Source: Sport
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
