Panathinaikos-Olympiakos: For a place in the final of the CEV Challenge Cup

European derby “eternal” act two! Panathinaikos and Olympiacos face each other tonight (19:00, Cosmote Sport 7, bwinSPORT FM, sport-fm.gr) at Agios Thomas indoor for the second game of his semi-finals CEV Challenge Cup in which qualification to the double finals of the event will be decided.

In the first match at Rentis, a week ago, the Greek doubles had won 3-1 sets and need just two sets to be the ones who will qualify for the finals. The “greens” had a fantastic night in the first match Giri Kovarwho filled the void left by his absence Fernando Hernandez. The Cuban didn’t even play in the last league match against Athlos Orestiada for the 14th matchday, however he is expected to be available to Dimitris Andreopoulos for the match against Piraeus.

The coach of the “Clover” stated regarding the rematch: “We have played a lot of derbies with Olympiakos, but this one is special and is the most important so far as it is the semi-final of a European institution. We are preparing as best we can for victory and with the help of our fans we hope to reach the desired result”

The leader of Panathinaikos moved on the same wavelength with his statements, Axel Jacobsen: “I have played many matches against Olympiakos since I came to Greece, but the one on Wednesday is the most special. We know that the opponent will come to fight and we must be prepared”

On the other side, Olympiacos after the easy victory in Polichni over Aristotle and staying at the top of the Volleyball League he wants to produce his best performance of the season in Maroussi, even chasing a clean score victory to lead the derby to the “golden set” where he will exhaust the chances of qualification. His players Alberto Giuliani they want to make the big upset to be in the final and claim the fourth European title in the history of the volleyball division.

Statements about the derby with the “eternal” rival were made by the coach of Olympiakos, stressing: “It’s a very important match tomorrow. It is the rematch with Panathinaikos at home. It is a big game, in which we will see the pressure of Panathinaikos for victory and, of course, our desire to reverse the situation of the first game”

The Slovenian center of Piraeus also gave a victory slogan, Alec Pagenk: “It is, without a doubt, one of the most important matches for us so far this season. After the home defeat we experienced, we want to turn it around. So, we’re going there to win the match and the gold set. With focus and faith in our plan, we will do everything we can to return home with a win.”.

We remind you that after tonight’s match Panathinaikos and Olympiacos will face each other again on Saturday (18/2) in the indoor of Rentis “Melina Merkouri” for the 15th matchday of the Volley League.

See the highlights of the first match for the Challenge Cup

{“@context”:”http://schema.org”,”@type”:”VideoObject”,”name”:”Ολυμπιακός – Παναθηναϊκός 1-3 ΣΕΤ |HIGHLIGHTS|”,”description”:”Τα στιγμιότυπα του αγώνα”,”thumbnailUrl”:”https://i1thumbs.glomex.com/dC1icnltcWgyYzByMHgvMjAyMy8wMi8wNy8yMC8xNV8xOF82M2UyYjE1NmRiYjcyLmpwZw==/profile:player-960×540″,”duration”:”PT5M41S”,”uploadDate”:”2023-02-07T20:18:08.000Z”,”embedUrl”:”https://player.glomex.com/integration/1/iframe-player.html?integrationId=eexbs13jtbwtdve&playlistId=v-cqclucv6dej5″,”provider”:{“@type”:”Organization”,”name”:”glomex GmbH”,”logo”:{“@type”:”ImageObject”,”url”:”https://player.glomex.com/[email protected]”,”width”:136,”height”:146}},”regionsAllowed”:”GR”}