Panathinaikos is an ideal self-starter, going for the breakthrough and overthrow in France

Panathinaikos has bent at the critical point and is going for a total upset in France! The “greens” gave it their all in the Mets against the amazing Turku, they managed to draw it with terrible upset in the fourth setleading the match to tie breakwhere they suffered an unrepeatable “blackout” from their own +3 and in the end they were defeated 3-2 sets.

Excellent coaching by him Dimitris Andreopoulou throughout the contest, with Turkua turning the match in the details and cleaning up the victory at the crucial point with Lavin and Kukachev deciding the contest.

Great performance by Nilsen, Voulkidis, Kasampaliat their height, Protopsaltis and Gasman. The rematch is scheduled for November 19 in France with the “clover” seeking transcendence.

The match:

A very dynamic start for Panathinaikos, who found themselves leading 3-1 with the “good morning” and taking advantage of the guests’ mistakes, reaching 7-4. The team of Dimitris Andreopoulos, with the main protagonists of Kvalen, Voulkidis and Nielsen, also reached +4 (9-5) with the French reacting with the block of Kukartsev and the mistake of Elgert bringing the score to 12-11. The French team temporarily tied with Luengas, but with an amazing reaction, first-time attacks and an excellent block, Panathinaikos widened their gap to +5 (18-13). The specific distance seemed safe for Panathinaikos, who finally took the set with Gasman’s winning point for 25-20.

Turkua struggled at the start of the second set as Nielsen and Protopsaltis found scoring with Rugg, Luengas and Kukartsev carrying their team to a 10-10 tie. The two teams went hand in hand, until the middle of the second set, with Turkua making a significant deceleration and reaching the score at the most critical point at +4 (16-20). Despite the efforts of Gasman and Voulkidis, as well as the excellent serves of Kasambalis that brought Panathinaikos within striking distance, Turkua seemed calmer, found important points with Lavin and finally took the set with Kvalen failing in the last attack (22-25).

A highly balanced match in the fourth set with Turkua under pressure from Panathinaikos’ serve, but reacting and escaping, with Lavin as the protagonist at +3 (8-11). The French team, stepped on the gas and with excellent Luengas and Kukartsev, brought the score to 10-15, forcing Dimitris Andreopoulos to hastily call time-out. This specific move woke up the Panathinaikos players who with a partial 5-1 reduced the score to 16-15, with Voulkidis as “frontman” and Nielsen and Gasman as key supporters. In fact, the “greens”, putting…against the fast game of Turkua, constantly equalized and took the lead 22-21. Like the experienced ones, in such situations, guests, “overturned” the match and took the set with 23-25.

Fantastic in terms of quality and variation in the fourth set with Turkua holding an early lead which hovered around three points (6-9). In all cases, Panathinaikos reacted and with Gasman helping completely over the net and Voulkidis scoring at important moments, the home team initially equalized and then reached +2 (19-17). The thriller continued with Turkua having an excellent night from Lavigne, who with Kukarchev’s contribution erased the shamrock’s set ball, tying the score at 24-24. One tie followed another, but Panathinaikos with well-organized attacks managed to equalize the sets in overtime (28-26) and send the match to the tie break.

Fully aware and calm in the tie break, the Panathinaikos players took a boost from the excellent night that Nielsen and Gassman had, pressing on the serve and raising a wall at the net. The team of Dimitris Andreopoulos, despite the fact that they were behind in the score 2-0, found their mental reserves and with an impressive 5-1 score took the lead (5-3). The momentum was now clearly “green” with Panathinaikos leaving at +3 (8-5). The French managed to move their game close to the net and make it difficult for the “cloverleaf” as a result of which the score came to 10-10 and Dimitris Andreopoulos hurriedly called a time-out, which however did not act as a catalyst, since Turkua taking advantage of the block outs he took the lead in the score (10-11). The guests, as a team, better quality and more “powdered” in matches of special conditions, managed not to lose their composure from 11-11 to Panathinaikos brought the score to 11-13 and finally took the match 12-15.

The sets: 2-3 25-20, 22-25, 22-23, 28-26, 12-15)