Just over a week ago, there was deep disappointment among the teams and fans of Perugia and Zawiercie. The Italians had to surrender the scudetto to Trentino, while the same happened in Poland, where underdog Lublin surprisingly claimed the national title.

But both vice-champions were determined to salvage their season in the Champions League Final Four. Except for the match against Halkbank, Perugia had won all eight of its other matches. And it was not the Turkish side they had to face in Łódź, where Belgian referee Marie-Catherine Boulanger was honored to officiate as second referee. The Italians had learned their lesson, and this time Halkbank was swept aside 3-0.

Zawiercie, for its part, had gone 9 for 9 in the Champions League—among others against Knack Roeselare.

In the stunning, packed arena of Łódź, the tension was palpable, especially with two Polish teams clashing in the semifinals. And what a thriller it turned out to be. Jastrzębski won the first two sets, but Zawiercie fought back to level at 2-2. The tiebreak was pure drama, with several match points, and in the end, Zawiercie claimed a miraculous win at 20-22.

Coach Michał Winiarski’s team—on the brink of becoming the first Polish coach to win a Champions League Final Four—tried to pull off another upset in the final against Perugia. After two sets, they had found a way to counter the heavy hitting of the Italian vice-champions and once again leveled the match at 2-2. But Perugia didn’t let it slip this time, and after a 10-15 win in the tiebreak, they celebrated their very first Champions League title.

A Japanese player took center stage—Yuki Ishikawa became the first Japanese athlete in history to win the Champions League.
Marie-Catherine Boulanger, this time as first referee, officiated the bronze medal match where Jastrzębski beat Halkbank 3-1.

And in France, Tours was crowned champion again after a 3-0 win in the final against Poitiers, who had surprisingly won the first leg 3-1. Once again, Ryan Sclater (17 points – 59%) was the top scorer.

(Compiled by Marcel Coppens)
Photo: CEV