CEV announces schedule of 2012 Champions League Challenge Round – Volleyball news
Following the completion of preliminary robin round of the 2012 CEV Champions League, the European campaign is supposed to enter the next crucial stage on February 1.
The second round of the CEV Champions League will feature the competition among top 12 teams in respective male and female categories. The Playoffs 12 will take place from February 1 to 9, while the top six men’s and women’s teams will capture the limelight.
Furthermore, the powerful sides will advance to Final Four stage and finally the search for European champion will come to an end after the final showdown.
The CEV Men’s Champions League started of a total of 24 teams. Here is the list of teams, which exhibited up to mark performance and clawed their way to the Playoffs 12.
Men
Zaksa Kedzierzyn-Kozle - Poland Arkas Izmir – Turkey Generali Unterhaching - Germany Lokomotiv Novosibirsk – Russia Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Italy Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – Italy Noliko Maaseik - Belgium Trentino PlanetWin365 – Italy VfB Friedrichshafen - Germany Tours VB – France Stade Poitevin Poitiers - France Zenit Kazan – Russia.
A total of 12 matches will be played in the Challenge Round. Each team will get the chance to play at home and then meet the opponent on their home court. There will be only one match played on January 31, while rest of the Playoffs12 Openers will be kicked
off on February 1.
The Belgian Noliko Maaseik will host Trentino PlanetWin 365 of Italy at the end of this month. All the teams will appear in their second matches on Wednesday, February 8. At the end of Playoffs 12 half of the teams will be eliminated from men’s squad of
2012 CEV Champions League.
Women
The prelims of 2012 CEV Women’s Champions League featured 20 teams, while only 16 paved their way to the 1/8 final. Here is the list of second round qualifiers:
Fenerbahce Universal Istanbul – Turkey VK Modranska Prostejov – Czech Republic Atom Trefl Sopot - Poland Rabita Baku – Azerbaijan Volero Zurich - Switzerland Azerrail Baku – Azerbaijan Bank BPS Fakro Muszyna – Poland RC Cannes – France Eczacibasi Vitra Istanbul – Turkey Vakifbank TTelekom Istanbul – Turkey Volley Bergamo – Italy Scavolini Pesaro – Italy MC-Carnaghi Villa Cortese – Italy Dinamo Moscow – Russia
The women’s tournament will follow the similar formula, where each team will appear in two matches; one home and other away match. At the end of the quarter-finals, the top 8 teams will advance to the next round.
Afterwards, four success contenders of the campaign will qualify for the semi-finals. Eventually, the top three positions will be defined and the championship will be rounded off. The second round of women’s tournament will cover its length from February
1 to 9.
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