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Croatia, led by Samanta Fabris and Matea Ikic, claimed another victory at the Golden #EuroLeagueW after an intense five-setter, this time vs. the defending champions from the Czech Republic. After winning on Wednesday in five sets vs Belarus, on Thursday the players around head coach Daniele Santarelli disappointed the strong team of Czechia in a match that lasted exactly 134 minutes. The slightly better performance on attack and block became the key to the success.
This is the first defeat at the tournament for Czechia, but even so, with 13 points in the standings, they have already secured finishing on first place in Pool C, thus booking a ticket to the Final Four tournament that will take place on June 19-20 in Ruse, Bulgaria. Croatia, on the other hand, have 8 points, and will finish on second place.

- Czechia started better in the match, opening thanks to 4 aces in the first set.
- Croatia responded immediately in the next one, with the duo Fabris - Ikic shining in the decisive moments. Czechia put up a real fight but lacked some concentration, and Croatia could emerge victorious.
- A great battle was delivered in the third set, with none of the teams giving up. With 50% efficiency on the attack in these moments, the players around Santarelli took the lead.
- Good play by Klara Peric in the middle of the fourth set helped Croatia to build a small point difference, but Czechia had a wake-up call, and with nice contribution after the 20th point by Andrea Kossanyiova, were able to bring the match into a tie-break.
- In the last decisive part, Croatia showed better nerves and congratulated themselves with the victory.

„I am verry happy! Especially about the way we came back to the game in the fourth set. I belived in my team and I must extend my thanks to all of our staff for the great work, beacuse without them, we wouldn ́have been able to play so many matches in such a short time.“
Giannis Athanasopoulos, head coach of Czech Republic

„I don ́t know if am happy or sad now. We lose the chance for Final Four but we played good Volleyball, the best in this tournament. This is my first win against the Czech Republic so I am glad for that. We are going to fight tommorow.“
Daniele Santarelli, head coach of Croatia