07 December 2023

Huge victory and qualification to the Final!

After the remarkable performance in Russia, Olympiacos won Surgut 3-0 in the rematch held at the sporting hall ‘’M. Merkouri’’ and qualified to the European final. Having the support of 1,200 fans, the ‘’Reds’’ celebrated an enormous qualification to the final, the fifth one in a European tournament. Olympiacos will face the Italian Ravenna, in a rematch of the Champions League final in 1992. The second match will be held in Peace and Friendship Stadium on 11 April.

Key action:

Olympiacos was the dominant without allowing Surgut to react. The ‘’Reds’’ went ahead with 16-12 in the second technical timeout. The Russians reduced to 19-18 but Olympiacos kept the lead and won the first set with the points of Christofidelis and Zoupani (25-22).

In the second set, Surgut preceded with 4-2. Then, Olympiacos ran a 9-0 streak for 11-4. The ‘’Reds’’ kept this margin until 21-14 and 23-16. A block by Petreas secured the second set and the qualification to the Challenge Cup final.

The team played more freely in the tird set. Surgut preceded with 8-7 in the first technical timeout but the ‘’Reds’’ reacted and went ahead with 18-15. Oivanen scored for 23-20 and Roumeliotakis did the winning point (25-21) giving another clear victory against the Russians.

Match stats:

The sets: 3-0: 25-22 (27΄), 25-17 (25΄), 25-21 (28΄)

1st set: 8-7, 16-12, 21-19, 25-22

2nd set: 8-4, 16-9, 21-14, 25-17

3rd set: 7-8, 16-15, 21-17, 25-21

Statistics:

Olympiacos (Munoz Benitez Fernando): Oivanen 12 (12/26 attacks), Petreas 8 (5/7 attacks, 1 ace, 2 blocks), Bohme 3 (3 blocks), Drzyzga 1 (1/1 attack), Aleksiev 10 (6/10 attacks, 1 ace, 3 blocks), Rauwerdink 6 (4/9 attacks, 2 aces, 43% pos-33% exc.), Stefanou (L, 50% pos-33% exc.), Christofidelis, Roumeliotakis 4 (45 attacks, 50% pos-50% exc.), Daridis (L, 40% pos- 20% exc.), Zoupani 3 (2/3 attacks, 1 block), Stivachtis, Andreadis

Gazprom-Ugra SURGUT: Glivenko 2 (2/11 attacks), Krsmanovic 7 (5/9 attacks, 1 ace, 1 block), Chefranov 7 (6/11 attacks, 1 block), Ursov 4 (3/6 attacks, 1 block, 71% pos – 57% exc.), Ivanov 4 (4/10 attacks, 33% pos – 33% exc.), Safonov 5 (3/3 attacks, 2 blocks), Andreev (L, 54% pos – 38% exc.), Platonov 2 (2/5 attacks), Bjelica 9 (9/13 attacks), Khabibullin, Ignatyev 2 (1/1 attacks, 1 ace), Beskrovnyi 1 (1/3 attacks), Troinin 1 (1 block), Kovyryaaev (L, 33% pos – 22% exc.)

Quotes:

Benitez said: ‘’We are very happy to qualify to the final. It is very important for our President, for our club Olympiacos and certainly for the work of all the players, the staff and those who work for this team. Now we will be glad and then we will prepare properly for these games, continuing the hard work. I would like to thank our fans that support us today and hope to be like today in every game. The following matches are those against Panathinaikos, the play-offs and so, we need their support.

Giorgos Petreas stated: "We had a great performance like this in Russia without allowing the opponent to win a set. Olympiacos had bad experiences against Surgut in the last three years. We proved that our team has the quality to handle every situation. We will continue the hard work and focus on each game separately. On Saturday, we have a match against Panathinaikos and then every game is a final for us to win all our goals. The fans showed their support today and we want to be her in every match. The final will be held at Peace and Friendship Stadium and hope that they have a great presence. They have many expectations from us and we want to make them happy celebrating a European trophy.’’