Lucky draws for Novara and Chieri who miss the first rounds. While waiting for the preliminaries, Conegliano with Resovia and Plovdiv, for Milan VakifBank and Kamnik while Scandicci draws Bielsko-Biala and Stuttgart
Directly from the CEV headquarters in Luxembourg, today, Tuesday 16 July, the groups of the next CEV Champions League and the first pairings of the CEV Cup and the CEV Challenge Cup were drawn: the race of the Italians will start again in November, who will have the burden and honor of defending the treble achieved last season with Conegliano, Chieri and Novara.
As regards the top European competition, the reigning champions of A.Carraro Imoco Conegliano led by coach Daniele Santarelli were drawn in Pool A against the Polish side of Developres Resovia, the Bulgarian champions of Plovdiv and a team that will leave in October from preliminary qualifying round between the Bosnian side of ZOK Gacko and the Croatian side of Mladost Zagreb. The runner-up of the last edition, the Vero Volley Milano of the new coach Stefano Lavarini, will instead take the field in Pool C and will face, once again, against VakifBank Istanbul and the Slovenians of Calcit Kamnik, in addition to the winner of the match of the third qualifying round between FC Porto and CV Gran Canaria. Finally, Pool E for Stephane Antiga and his Savino Del Bene Scandicci, who will challenge the Polish side of Bielsko-Biala, the German side of Allianz Stuttgart and the winner of the preliminary round between the Macedonian side of Rabotnicki Skopje and the Romanian side of CSO Voluntari.
The group stage will start in the week of November 5-7, will continue the following week with the second day and between the 26th and 28th of the same month with the third. Return match scheduled between 10 and 12 December and finally with two rounds in the second and fourth week of January.
As for the other two competitions, a lucky draw in the CEV Cup for coach Lorenzo Bernardi’s Igor Gorgonzola Novara, who will skip the round of 32 and will comfortably wait for the winner in the round of 16 (first leg 26-28 November and second leg 10-12 December) of the round between the Polish side of Lodz and the loser of the preliminary round of the CEV Champions League between Porto and Gran Canaria. Similar fate in the CEV Challenge Cup for coach Giulio Cesare Bregoli and the Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri ’76, who will begin their adventure directly from the round of 32 (first leg 5-7 and second leg 12-14 November) facing the winner of the round of 32 clash between the Swiss of Geneve Volley and the Spanish of Sant Cugat.