Game without draws

Lokomotiv-Belogorye did not retain the title of the strongest club in Europe

The Final Four of the Volleyball Champions League ended in Thessaloniki with the victory of the French Tour. The result is very disappointing for us, since Lokomotiv-Belogorye Belgorod lacked just one victorious match to overcome the incredibly difficult path to the decisive match.

“Everything is clean. It was a completely blind draw,” the leaders of the European Volleyball Confederation assured journalists. That may be true, but why would there be a 10-match preliminary round if its results are not taken into account at all in the draw? As a result, it turned out that the two strongest clubs of the Final Four wore each other down in the semi-finals, and the winner's laurels went to the very neat French Tour. “Belogorye” beat this same team without the slightest question exactly a year ago in Belgorod in the same “Final Four”.

It just so happened that the semi-final match “Iraklis” - “Belogorye” became the highlight of the tournament in terms of intensity and drama, but did not become a hidden final, as the vast majority of experts believed. After this match, everyone unanimously regretted that there are no draws in volleyball. In a match of absolutely equal opponents, everything was decided by the slightly greater experience of the Greek team. To be more precise, our champion was literally missing one more experienced player.

The “Greek gym” test in team sports cannot be compared with anything like it. And can you imagine what it was like for young Arkady Kozlov in this boiling cauldron of 10,000 people? And Sergei Baranov, in fact, played for the first time in such an atmosphere, when the hatred of the crowd was literally felt physically. The Greek public, like no other, knows how to channel their emotions for the benefit of their favorite team. In addition, the fans surprisingly threw out the next portions of paper onto the site in a timely manner. As a rule, this happened at the moment when one of our leaders was serving, and the opposing coach no longer had timeouts. While the site was being cleaned, we had an additional full break.

Our champion is still suffering from the summer loss of two central blockers - Alexey Kuleshov and Andrey Egorchev. Their simultaneous transfer to Dynamo significantly undermined the team microclimate of the national team on the eve of the Olympics in Athens, and for Belogorye it still reverberates to this day, without yet bringing any special dividends to the Moscow club. Kozlov will definitely grow into a great master, but in one year it is unrealistic to reach the level that is required today. And what is sufficient for domestic use does not work in the European arena. Fortunately, Shipulin guessed right with Spayich - the Argentine won the prize for the best blocker of the Final Four.

In general, it was strange to identify the strongest club in Europe. With all due respect to Tour, this club is somewhere between fourth and sixth in strength on the continent. But he taught a clear lesson in how to make the most of a situation. “Iraklis” came out to the final match to show off, followed by awards, and the French fought to the last. They deserve respect with their desperate determination, but it’s still a shame that our Lokomotiv did not get the chance to play with the new European club champion. “It’s time for the ECB to work in a more modern way,” summed up Belgorod team coach Gennady Shipulin for Vremya Novostei. -- The Champions League formula has long required reorganization. It is possible, for example, in the same “Final Four” to hold a one-round tournament followed by a match for first place. It's a shame when the element of chance outweighs months of work. What about the “miracles” of local line referees? In all sports there are teams consisting entirely of neutral judges, but here... Well, never mind, we will continue to work and take an active part in the reforms of European volleyball. Only for this we need to combine the efforts of the clubs and our volleyball federation.”

Vladimir STETSKO, Thessaloniki - Moscow