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TOURS VB - BERLIN Recycling Volleys

TOURS VB

• Despite the defeat in Germany, which put an end to a fine run of 11 consecutive wins in all competitions, Tours VB managed to win in Narbonne in the league despite a Dantean journey to get back from Germany because of the strike at German airports the day after the match: BERLIN - AMSTERDAM by bus, then AMSTERDAM - MONTPELLIER by plane, then MONTPELLIER- NARBONNE by bus... to return 3 days later after a week's travel to Tours.
• Tours Volley-Ball missed out on the first leg in Germany and, despite their tiredness and the succession of matches and travel, will be determined to make the match last in the hope of playing a golden set.
• To achieve this, TOURS VOLLEY-BALL should be able to count on all its players, as Julien FAGANAS, who has until now been out with an abdominal injury, should make his return to the squad on this occasion.
• TOURS VB will also be able to count on a large crowd for this CEV Champions League 2024 play-off. Given the number of bookings already made, we can expect the GRENON venue to be SOLD OUT for this Franco-German duel on Thursday 8 February.
• Among the large crowd expected, some German fans will be making the trip to support the BERLIN team.

BERLIN Recycling Volleys

• BERLIN Recycling Volleys are dreaming of reaching the top eight in Europe for the fourth time in a row. Most recently, they were beaten three times in a row by Italian teams in the quarter-finals. After the 3-1 home win a week ago, the leaders of the German Bundesliga still have to win two sets or the "Golden Set" at TOURS VB.
• For the first time since 30 January 2018, the Berlin team is back on French soil for a European Cup match. Back then, the BR Volleys won 3-1 at Spacer's TOULOUSE.
• The last away win in a knockout round of the CEV Champions League was celebrated by the team from the German capital in 2017, when they sensationally beat Dynamo MOSCOW (3-2, 3-2) to reach the Final Four and travelled to Rome.
• The last "Golden Set", which is of course also possible on Thursday in Tours, was contested by the German serial champions in the same year (2017). Back then, they beat ISTANBUL BBSK 15-11 in the most exciting of all European Cup scenarios after trailing 2-3 in the first leg and 0-2 in the second leg.
• The match in Tours will be played in front of a former champion coach of both clubs. After Cedric Enard spoke about the clash in an interview before the first leg, he will not be missing out on the deciding match.
• Joel BANKS (head coach): "The game in Tours will be very difficult. First and foremost, Tours are a good team, and they can play regularly better than what they played last week in the Max-Schmeling-Halle. That's not taking anything away from our performance, but I think that they will feel they can play at a higher, more consistent level with less unforced errors. They are well known in France for their home reputation. It's a difficult place to go and play. People and colleagues from France have confirmed that to me once again. It's one of the most challenging games on the calendar. I expect that they will be full of self believe. We need to go there with the right balance of fighting spirit and patience. Even though our opponents will have their good moments, we must keep cool heads and keep thinking about executing our own game. That is what we did very, very well last week. Like always, the serve-and-reception battle is key again. We served extremely well at home. We'll try to repeat that.“