Olympiacos and Maccabi to deliver final #CEVChallengeCupM showdown
News
The 2023 edition of the men’s CEV Challenge Cup will be reaching its climax on Wednesday night in Piraeus – with the return match of the finals featuring home heroes Olympiacos PIRAEUS and Israel’s Maccabi Yeadim TEL-AVIV. Olympiacos are the heavy favourites following their 3-0 victory in the previous matchup in Israel (25-20, 25-23, 25-14).
Alberto Giuliani, head coach of Olympiacos: “For sure, we have a lot of respect for Maccabi, a team that plays good Volleyball but in front of our fans, it will be different. We are in good shape, we are ready, and we want to win. We will get much energy from the stands. Our goal is to play better than usual. The atmosphere will help us to play beautiful Volleyball. I am waiting to breathe in the atmosphere, to feel it. The Greek fans and our fans especially are very hot. It is something that everyone who is involved in sports expects and dreams of. It is a great privilege for us to play a final in a stadium like this. I live in the moment.”
The match will be taking place at the iconic and historical Peace and Friendship Stadium, which has been turned into a volleyball arena – as it usually hosts the basketball home matches of Olympiacos.
Dragan Travica“These finals are not one match, but two. So, that is the most interesting thing. You can play a very good match in the first round, but not in the second one. Therefore, this is the most important match. We want to play a very good game, and we want to finish our job. We want to make our fans and the whole of Greece happy. We want to make our fans proud! We are very much focused on the match.”
Player of Olympiacos
Gal Galili, head coach of Maccabi: “Obviously, for us it is undoubtedly a very important game. It is already a great achievement for our team that we are in the finals this season. After the result of the first match and knowing that Olympiacos is playing at home and is such a strong team, of course they have an advantage. However, we believe in our strengths, we will give everything, and we want to do our best even though we believe that Olympiacos has a big advantage.”
Genadi Sokolov“As the coach said, Olympiacos is a very strong team, but this is a historic final for Maccabi and we really believe that we can push Olympiacos, play a good game, and take the victory.”
Player of Maccabi