On Wednesday, November 30th local time, the third round of the UEFA Champions League was held in Poland between Zawiercze (Poland) and Berlin (Germany), where Ide Satoshi plays, with Berlin winning 3-1 (25-21, 20-25, 29-27, 27-25).
The European Champions League is the highest of the three European club leagues organised by the Confederation of European Volleyball (CEV), and he is the third Japanese player to play in this league.
In recent years, Taichiro Koga from Paris Volleyball (France) participated in the tournament in the 2016/17 season.
Ide (technically, her surname was changed to "Tsuki" when she got married, but in this article we will refer to her by her familiar maiden name) plays for Berlin, a powerhouse club in the German league. The club has won the league six consecutive times, excluding the season that was canceled due to COVID-19, and is currently in first place this season with a perfect record.
As a result, Berlin has participated in the European Champions League every year, with their highest finish being third place.
On the other hand, their opponent that day, Zabiercze, is currently third in the Polish league and is participating in the UEFA Champions League for the first time this season. However, Zabiercze is generally considered to be a stronger team than Berlin, and in fact Zabiercze had defeated Berlin 3-0 in a pre-season match.
However, on this day Berlin managed to get revenge and pull off a big victory.
While Berlin performed well with their side-outs and serves, Xabierce made noticeable mistakes with their serves.
In particular, Berlin's OP Sotola (Czech Republic), who won the MVP award, put in an impressive performance with 21 points, an attack success rate of 601 TP and 3 T, and made a major contribution to his team's victory.
We spoke with Ide after the match.
-Congratulations on your victory.
Ide: Thank you.
-How do you feel looking back on today's game?
Ide: I knew it would be a very difficult match before the match. I lost the last match, but it wasn't a good loss. Today's start was important, and I think the fact that I started the match pretty well was a positive thing for me, and to be honest, I think I was helped a lot by my opponent's serve mistakes.
--You said that your opponent's serve error helped you, but what other factors do you think contributed to your victory this time?
Ide: Our side-out was very good. Of course, I think the opponent's serve mistakes were a factor, but more than that, we were able to return some passes and our side-out was quite good. Also, I think the setter Hannes (Germany) was very good at managing the game.
-What do you think of Ide's personal performance?
Ide: Honestly, I personally feel like there are a lot of unnecessary service aces. Like hitting the out-ball a little bit. It was unlucky, but I think we need to eliminate those kinds of mistakes. If I can eliminate those kinds of mistakes myself, I think we can improve the team mentality a little bit, although I don't think it will be an easy game.
-You lost 0-3 to the same Xabierce team in the preseason match, but what was the biggest change between then and this time?
Ide: To be honest, (at the time of the last match) we knew that our team would be facing Xavierche in the Champions League, and of course we were trying out various members because it was preseason, but I think one of the reasons was that the members changed drastically from then. Also, I don't think they had much data, so I think that was a big factor.
-How do you feel having played three games in the UEFA Champions League so far?
Ide: The pressure of every match is completely different from a normal league match. The Champions League is long, of course, but the league is even longer, and the price of winning or losing is quite high in the Champions League. So I'm fighting under a lot of pressure every time, which is a very good thing for me, and it's a big plus for me. There are some parts that are quite tough mentally, but I hope I can grow in that area as well.
- Regarding the German league, Berlin has been undefeated so far, but how is it going this season? Please tell us about the differences between this season and when you were with Frankfurt last season.
Ide: I always have a feeling of being a challenger, but when I was in Frankfurt last year, there was a champion called Berlin, and I was challenging them, so to be honest, I didn't feel much pressure. But now, on the contrary, like last year, we're going to the next round with almost all our league games won, so we can't lose, or rather, we can't lose. It's the same in the Champions League and in the current league games, but there's a pressure there, or rather, we can't lose, and of course we will lose sometimes, but there's an atmosphere in the team that we can't lose, and there's that kind of pressure from various places, so I think that's quite different from last year.
What are your goals for this season?
Ide: Of course, Berlin has been the German champion for six years in a row now, but I want that to happen again this year. This is my third year in the German league, so I want to win the gold medal. In the league. I want to win the gold medal in the league. The first goal is to clear that as a minimum. Also, last year we made it to the quarterfinals of the Champions League, and if I didn't make it, it wouldn't be my fault, but I think of it as a negative point, so I want to make it to the quarterfinals at the very least, and then aim for one more place from there.
-Are you also aiming to return to the Japanese national team?
Ide: Of course. To be honest, there will be the qualifying rounds for the next Paris Olympics, but I think this will be my last time playing for the national team, considering my age, so I think this year will be a crucial year for me, and I think the only way to show my skills to the coach and others is to show results, so I'm keeping that in mind.
-What are your goals for your future club career?
Ide: I'm not thinking about retiring yet, so I want to go to a higher and higher club. I also have the chance to play in the Italian League or the Polish League, and the libero I was in until last year is now here at Zabierche, so I think there are more chances to play in a big club, play in the Champions League, and be seen by managers and agents of various clubs, and I think Berlin has more chances than other clubs. I personally would like to challenge myself in the Italian League and Poland, although they are not at the top level of the world, of course, Berlin is a pretty good club and the level is high. Rather, it comes down to two choices, but my ultimate goal is to participate in those leagues. That's what I want.
-Could you comment on Japanese players going overseas, in particular Japanese liberos who are at a world-class level?
Ide: If you want to challenge overseas now, for example, the level of liberos in Japan is really high, and I think there are players who are good liberos but cannot play in games due to various team circumstances. I think there are many players who want to challenge overseas but have various concerns, such as who to choose as an agent and how to go about it, but I really want them to challenge more and more. I want to tell everyone that if I was able to go, everyone can definitely go, not that you were able to go because of me, but that everyone can probably go because I was able to go, and by more and more Japanese players playing in overseas leagues, more and more players who can go to big clubs will appear, and when that happens, the level of the national team will also rise, and if you play at that level all the time, even when you go to the national team, even if you face foreign players or strong countries, you will think that it's because you're playing with those people, so I want you to challenge more and more and more. Of course, I think that not only libero but also spikers can be successful.
-Does that mean any spiker position, not just outside hitter?
That's right. Japanese players are really good at passing, and even in overseas clubs, Japanese players are much better. I can't say it out loud, but there are definitely Japanese players who are much better, so I want them to keep trying. Of course, there are various issues, like in the case of the Japanese V-League. There are things like employees, so I can't really force them, but if you want to go, you only live once, you're young, and to be honest, I still think I'm young, so I think anything's possible, so I want them to keep trying.
Photo: CEV, author
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