Allianz MILANO end Crvena Zvezda’s winning streak in #CEVChallengeCupM

After securing four consecutive wins, Crvena Zvezda BEOGRAD were facing their toughest opponent so far in the men’s CEV Challenge Cup. As a team coming from one of the strongest, if not the strongest European league, Allianz MILANO was a clear favourite coming into the matchup scheduled for the 8th Finals of the competition. However, the home team was not willing to give up, and as said by their head coach Ivica Jevtic before the game, they had the right to hope for small miracle.

The first set started strong for both teams, but after the initial exchange, it was clear that the Italian side was in control and they broke off very early on without ever giving the Serbian team any chance of coming back into the set. Although Red Star was playing by far their best game so far, even without their starting outside hitter Alija Bekric who was not playing due to an injury, they were just outclassed by the visiting team (16-25).

The second set brought a far closer game, and with the clear advantage on the opposite side Red Star players gave their all and played neck and neck throughout the second part of the match. Sadly for the Serbian fans, that was not enough and as they closed in, Allianz MILANO switched gears and finished off the set (23-25) bringing into what ended up being the final part of the game.

It was clear that Red Star was spent after the second set, and although they were not giving up, Allianz MILANO were just a better opponent and they stayed in control of the result for the entirety of the third set (18-25). A few flashes and burst from the home team, however futile, still brought an interesting game, which, even though looking at the results looks very one sided, was far from uncontested.

The most points in the match, 20, were scored by Ferre Reggers for MILANO with Ahmed Omar leading the home team with eight. The re-match is in a week’s time in Milano, where Allianz will have to take two sets to secure their progression to the quarterfinals.