The playoffs for the men's volleyball European Champions League were held on Wednesday, February 15th local time, and Berlin Recycling Volleys (Germany, hereafter referred to as Berlin), of which Ide Satoshi plays, defeated ZiratBank Ankara (Turkey, hereafter referred to as ZB Ankara) 3-2 (24-26, 25-21, 25-20, 18-25, 15-9) to advance to the quarterfinals.
Ide played as a libero and started in every set, contributing to the team's victory with his stable defense.
First set starting lineup
Berlin
OH: Karl (France), Schott (Germany)
MB: Brehme (Germany), Štalekar (Slovenia)
OP: Sotra (Czech Republic)
S: Tille (Germany)
L: Ide
ZB Ankara
OH: Atanasov (Bulgaria), Juan Torena (Italy)
MB: Bulbul (Türkiye), Tosun (Türkiye)
OP: Terma (Netherlands)
S: Eksi (Türkiye)
L: Bayraktash (Türkiye)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
The stats for this match areHere
Match Report
Originally, the playoff was scheduled to be decided by two home and away matches, but due to the recent Turkish-Syrian earthquake, it became difficult to hold matches in Turkey, so the winner was decided by a single match in Berlin.
A moment of silence was also held before the match.
The first set started with a service ace from S. Tille, and the match continued with both teams trading side outs until the middle of the set, with Berlin scoring points through OH Karl and ZB Ankara scoring points through OP Termer.
From a 13-12 situation, ZB Ankara made consecutive attack mistakes, giving Berlin a three-point lead at 15-12. With a service ace from MB Brehme and a block from MB Starekar, Berlin continued to score breaks and took a four-point lead at 24-20, heading for the set point first.
However, from there Berlin made a series of attacking mistakes and was unable to get a side out, allowing them to be caught up at 24-24. After that, OH Yuantorena and OH Atanasov scored spikes, and ZB Ankara made a huge comeback and took the set at 24-26.
From the beginning of the second set, Berlin's S. Tille concentrated the ball extremely in the middle, and the players responded by scoring one point after another, giving Berlin a 7-4 lead.
ZB Ankara also temporarily took the lead at 8-9 with a service ace from MB Tosun, but an attack and serve from OP Sotra put Berlin back in the lead at 17-15.
From there, Berlin's two MB players continued to get side outs one after another, and finally OP Sotra scored another service ace, giving Berlin the set, 25-21.
In the third set, Berlin continued to win side outs mainly from the middle from the beginning, and with a service ace from OH Karl and a block from MB Brehme, they took the break and took a 12-7 lead.
After that, ZB Ankara narrowed the gap to 13-11 with serves from OH Yuantorena, but Berlin further extended the lead to 21-15 with spikes from OP Sotra and OH Shot, and finally OH Karl scored a spike to give Berlin the set 25-20.
In the fourth set, Berlin took a 3-0 lead early on with an ace from S. Tille and a blocked OH shot, and then extended their lead to 9-4 with attacks and aces from OP Sotra.
However, a mistake by OH Karl allowed ZB Ankara to tie the score at 15-15, and then they went on to break five times in a row from OH Yuantorena's serve, with a spike from OH Atanasov and an ace from ZB Ankara's own side, to take the lead to 16-21.
And finally, OH Yuantorena scored a sharp pipe attack to give ZB Ankara the set, 18-25.
In the fifth set, Berlin got a side out with MB Brehme and a break with a block and spike from OH Karl to take a 6-4 lead.
From there, ZB Ankara made consecutive mistakes and the score changed hands at 8-5, and Berlin further extended the lead to 13-7 with service aces from OH Karl and S. Tille.
Finally, OP Sotra scored a powerful spike from a serve receive by libero Ide, and Berlin took the set 15-9, winning 3-2 against ZB Ankara.
MVP: MB Anton Brehme (17 points (2 serves, 2 blocks), attack success rate 651 TP 3 T)
Ide contributed to the team's victory with his stable defense, including a serve reception success rate of 451 TP and 3 T.
Highlight video ↓
Full match video ↓
This means Berlin has advanced to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League, where they will face Perugia (Italy) for a place in the semi-finals.
The home game will be held on Wednesday, March 8th at 19:30 local time, and the away game will be held on Wednesday, March 15th at 20:00 local time.
Comments from Satoshi Ide after the match
--How do you feel looking back on today's game?
Ide: Of course, there were good and bad things in the game, but today was a game where all we needed to do was win, so I'm glad that we were able to complete the most important part of that.
--You lost the first set after an unexpected comeback from 24-20 down. What was happening on the court at that time?
Ide: I think it was a matter of mindset there, rather than technique or strategy. I felt like I was pushed back a bit and lost, so I think that was the cause of that first set. I was on the receiving end of it a bit too. It's not that I lost the feeling that I had to go after my opponent and fight at the end of the first set, but I was pushed back by my opponent's momentum and became passive, so I think that was definitely an issue.
-How did you recover from that point onwards in the second set?
Ide: At the end of the first set, we were completely overwhelmed emotionally, and it was like everyone flipped a switch, or the energy on the court was completely different, and everyone was positive, or rather, they were always playing positively towards their opponents. I think that was the big difference. But at the end of the fourth set, we were a bit overwhelmed, and although we were in the flow, we kind of sank. I think that it's not just us who are at a disadvantage when that happens, but I think any team will be forced into a disadvantageous situation, so that's the problem.
--As you went into the fifth set, was there any encouragement from within the team?
Ide: It's not like the strategy itself wasn't working, so we didn't change anything. We were more positive, pushing the opponent more and more, and had a fighting spirit, and the opponent made a lot of mistakes in the fifth set, so I think that helped us out quite a bit. Also, in the fifth set, our serves were strong, and conversely, our serve reception wasn't broken down, so I think that was a big factor.
-It seemed like you were encouraging the OH curl and shot players especially strongly towards the end of the match. What did you say to them?
Ide: I told them to go all out even if they made mistakes, or to hit the ball as hard as they could, and we talked about having just me and Ruben (Schott) do the floaters for the reception. Tim (Timothy Karl) was the target, and he himself wasn't that good at receiving serves. It was a crucial moment, and we had to do our job there, so I called out to him, or in a sense it was a strategy, but I talked about things like that.
--The opposing team included former Italian national team player Juan Torena. What were your impressions of playing against him?
Ide: When I was playing for the national team, I played against Juan Torena once for the Italian national team, but he was a very experienced player and led the team with his play, so he was quite an unpleasant player for us, and it was difficult to play against him. After all, just having him there created an atmosphere like "Oh, Juan Torena is here," so I guess that's his power, and he's a name, and technically he's still at the top, so in that respect he's a player you don't want to face.
--Today, more than 5,000 fans packed into the venue to cheer you on. Do you usually have this many people coming to watch your shows?
Ide: In the German League, the seats on the upper floors are not often filled, but in the Champions League, it is usually this full. Even in the German League, it varies a lot depending on the day of the week and the time of the game, but on average, about 3,500 people are in each game, so the lower seats are always full. Turkey was also amazing, but the atmosphere at our home in Berlin is unique and you can't experience it anywhere else, and I think one of our strengths is that the fans create an atmosphere that supports our play.
--Please say a few words about the next quarter-final match against Perugia.
Ide: I think everyone already knows this, but I think Perugia is a team that has the power to become the best in the world at the moment, so I don't think it will be an easy game, and I think it will be a very difficult game. But there are some things that you can't know until it starts, and I think we'll just go for it like we did today. I think everyone knows that they're a strong opponent, but instead of being pushed back and becoming small, we just have the mindset to go for it. On the other hand, I think the opponent is more pressured on us, so in a sense, that's an opportunity for us, and I want to go with that mindset.
Photo: Author, CEV
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