Crvena Zvezda through to #CEVChallengeCupM 16th Finals

With Crvena Zvezda BEOGRAD emerging victorious 3-2 a week earlier, everything was still to play for in the return game featuring Red Star and Croatia’s Ribola KAŠTELA in the 32nd Finals of the men’s CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup.

Last week, Crvena Zvezda had come back from two sets down to win the tiebreak. This time, the game was very competitive and either team could have won – even though in the end the hosts from Serbia’s capital city secured a 3-0 home victory (25-18, 25-20, 26-24). Red Star started confidently in the first set, while Ribola fought back multiple times but the home heroes did not allow any surprises. In the second set, Ribola was trying even harder and throughout the set the difference was never more than just a few points, but again Red Star did not make mistakes when it mattered and was able to confidently win the second set. The third set showed an even more eager Ribola, as they had the control for most of the time. However, Red Star again focused when it mattered and finished the job, thus qualifying to the next round, where they will play another Croatian team, Mladost ZAGREB. 

The head coach of the home team Ivica Jevtic emphasised how proud he was that his players had risen to the occasion and won a very tough match, congratulated Ribola on great games, and stated how they are now focused on the next game. Opposite Milan Krstic also congratulated Ribola, and confirmed that even though the result was 3-0, the match was very even and could have gone both ways.

The head coach of the losing team Ivan Rancic congratulated Red Star on going through to the next round, and pointed out better serving and focus in the key moments were the deciding factor against his team.