Double the fun in the CEV Champions League Fantasy game, with #CLVolleyM throwing off

It’s double the fun this week, as the CEV Champions League Men throws off in style, with 10 matches, after the women’s top-tier European competition started last week.

And with that, we have both our CEV Champions League Fantasy games live, as the fans get ready to delve in and watch the competitions even more closer than ever, counting the number of points secured by their players, carefully chosen in the teams.

The first-of-its-kind experience for CEV, gives fans the opportunity to become the coach of their own team across the men’s and women’s European premium competitions. Fans can pick a team of twelve players with specific assigned positions inside a dedicated team budget of 100 million euros.

Haven’t you already signed in and chose your team? Don’t worry, we got you covered. 

So, the rules are quite simple and can be found here. To start, you must select a squad of 12 players with an initial budget of 100 million fantasy euros. The initial squad selection must consist of: three outside hitters, three middle blockers, two setters, two liberos and two opposites. You must select 7 players from your squad of 12 players to form your starting roster for each game week.

Of course, the risk of having a player not featuring on the court is high, as proven in the first round, where plenty of teams rested their key starters. We have learnt and adapted and now we get ready to our second draft in the CEV Champions League Women Fantasy.

KEY STARS:

Tijana Boskovic (€15m): Boskovic is undoubtedly the star of her side, Eczacibasi Dynavit Istanbul, and was the top scorer of the last season, with 259 points in the European premium competition. In the first match of the season, against Tent Obrenovac, where the Turkish side cruised to a 3:0 win, Boskovic scored nine points, playing only two sets, but with a stronger opponent in Palmberg Schwerin, Boskovic should be on the court for all three sets.

Magdalena Stysiak (€12.5m): The Polish star spent all three sets on court in Fenerbahce Medicana Istanbul’s 3:0 win in the first match against Grot Budowlani Lodz and scored 18 points, averaging six points per set, one of the five largest outputs for a single player. In the Fantasy game, she also had 65 points, the third largest output for a player. With Fenerbahce aiming for another win against Vasas Obuda Budapest, Stysiak should be primed to deliver another excellent performance.

Ana Carolina da Silva (€11m): The Brazilian middle blocker was key in her side’s win, 3:0, against CSO Voluntari 2005. Da Silva had five blocks, and with a tougher match on the horizon, against Allianz MTV Stuttgart, she should shine even more, as she will get to be a crucial part of the team in the next match. With 61 points so far in the Fantasy game, she was the best middle blocker of the first round.

KEY DIFFERENTIAL
Merit Adigwe (€5.5m): With Conegliano resting some of their biggest stars in the first round, Adigwe, who is only 18 years old, proved her credentials as a rising star and scored 25 points, for an average of 8.33 points per set, in the win against Mladost Zagreb, 3:0. Now, the reigning champions go to Plovdiv, for the match against Maritza, and the reasonably priced Adigwe, who had 85 points in the Fantasy game, the best performance in the first round, will try to replicate her performance in the second match.

The CEV Champions League Fantasy Men is also throwing off this week, with the start of the 4th round in the European premium competition.

With a well-balanced competition in the pool phase, teams will be eager to start with a win, therefore the biggest stars are due to be on the court. Once again, we went with a balanced squad, trying to cater to every possible surprise.

KEY STARS:
Łukasz Kaczmarek (€14m): Last season, when he played for ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle, Kaczmarek finished 10th in the top scoring standings of the European premium competition, with 148 points, despite playing only eight matches. His average, of 4.48 points per match was excellent, and now, moving to Jastrzebski Węgiel, he will aim for a fantastic start. Taking a large chunk of the budget, at €14m, Kaczmarek will be key to a good opener in the Fantasy game.

Erik Rohrs (€11m): The German outside hitter had a good start of the season in the Italian league and he will try to emulate that also in the CEV Champions League Men. Last season, Rohrs scored 82 points in six matches for SVB Luneburg, for an average of 4.1 points per match. In Italy, Rohrs averaged 3.9 points per match and will hope to bring Vero Volley Milano their maiden win of the season against Olympiacos.

Micah Maʻa (€7m): Ma’a enters his third season with Halkbank Ankara, having been a consistent setter over the previous two ones. In 2023/24, the American setter had a 45.45% efficiency over nine matches, while one season before, Ma’a enjoyed a 47.67% efficiency in his performances over the course of his maiden season at Halkbank in the European premium competition.

KEY DIFFERENTIAL
Mitar Tzourits (€6.5m): Olympiacos are far from a powerhouse, rather than an underdog, but Tzourits had a fantastic last season in the CEV Champions League Men. He averaged 1.27 blocks per set, the largest one in the competition, having 14 blocks in 11 sets played. The Greek side plays against Vero Volley Milano in the first round, therefore Tzourits will have to up his game and bring points to his owners.