On January 10, as part of the 3rd round of the group stage of the Champions League 2022/23, SC Prometey will play against the Romanian team Alba Blaj. The match will take place at the nominally home arena of the "red and whites" Klimeška in Kutná Hora. Starts at 19:00 Kyiv time.
In the last round, Ivan Petkov's team won their debut victory in the main draw of the most prestigious club European competition, beating Le Cannet in a tie-break. But the game was indicative - the Ukrainians are ready for any challenge.
Grand of Romanian volleyball
In their domestic arena, "Alba" has total dominance: they are the current champion of their country, as well as the winner of the Cup and the Super Cup. Currently, she leads the Romanian championship table with the maximum results (10 wins in 10 matches and 29 points).
In addition, this club has quite a successful experience of performances in European cups. For example, in the 2017/18 season, the team reached the final of the Champions League, where they lost to the Turkish "Vakifbank" with a score of 0-3.
If we talk about new achievements, then the players of "Alba" were the semi-finalists in the last drawing of the European Cup. From this, we can conclude that we will be dealing with very serious opponents.
"Alba Blaj" team composition
There are many legionnaires in the Romanian team, the lion's share of whom are Serbian volleyball players. In particular, outside hitter Boyana Milenkovic, and middle blockers Nadia Ninkovic and Jovana Kocic. This is not surprising, because the club is coached by Serbian Stevan Ljubychic.
In general, the composition of "Alba" consists of interesting and experienced performers who can give a good fight to anyone. Its best scorers in the Romanian championship are the russian Victoria Russu (who scored 132 goals), the aforementioned Serbian Boyana Milenkovic (106), and the Bulgarian Gergana Dimitrova (98).
SC "Prometey" is the leader of the Czech championship
SC "Prometey" approaches the confrontation with the Romanians as the sole leader of the Czech championship. After the last triumph over the "Přerov" team, Ivan Petkov's team overtook "Prostejov" in the standings. According to the results of 17 matches, they have 14 victories and 42 points.
Oleksandra Milenko (218), Svitlana Dorsman (209), and Yevhenia Khober (140) are the most successful volleyball players of the "red and white" team. We expect a good game from these and our other players against Alba Blaj.
The current position of the teams in the "standings" of the Champions League
After two rounds of the group stage of the Champions League, SC Prometey and Alba Blaj occupy the third and fourth places, respectively. The Ukrainians first lost to the favorite of the group, the Italian Vero Volley, 0-3, and then won a strong-willed victory over the French Le Cannet.
For their part, the Romanians lost both matches, although they could count on much more, especially in France.
Game results:
1-st round
"Vero Volley" — SC "Prometey" 3-0 (25:17, 25:20, 25:21)
"Le Cannet" — "Alba Blaj" 3-2 (25:23, 18:25, 23:25, 25:21, 15:7)
2-nd round
SC "Prometey" — "Le Cannet" 2-3 (24:26, 17:25, 25:14, 25:15, 15:10)
"Alba Blaj" — "Vero Volley" 1-3 (25:20, 16:25, 21:25, 21:25)
Watch the broadcast of the match between SC "Prometey" and the team "Alba Blaj" on January 10 at 19:00 on YouTube-channel DIVISPORT VOLLEYBALL.