Resovia wants to make the second step.

This Wednesday the 17th February at 18.00 in Podpromie sports hall Asseco Resovia RZESZOW will be playing the return game against Bulgarian runner-ups – CSKA Sofia. In the first leg of this duel, Polish team defeated Bulgarians in SAMOKOV 3-1. It is clear that the Poles want to achieve another victory in CICL and secured their place in Playoffs 6.

It will be a big event for all the supporters in RZESZOW who are very satisfied with the results achieved by their team up to the present. Resovia as a debutant in CICL has a great chance to get promotion to the next round. However the local team head coach, Ljubo Travica, warns his players against too big optimism.

-  The biggest mistake we can commit at this moment is to think that it will be an easy game for us and that we are already in Playoffs 6. At this stage of the competition every match is difficult and we have to be ready for the big battle against CSKA SOFIA. I hope that my players will be very focused on that game because a lot of things depends on their attitude on the court. I wish that they could do their job without any additional pressure and needless tension - he admitted.
- I am sure that Bulgarian players will do everything what they can in order to complicate our situation. They are coming to Rzeszow already on Monday which is very significant because all the other teams were coming to us only one day before the game. In my opinion they believed that they would win at home and that is why they had planned to come to Poland sooner to be better prepared and ready for the revenge. Anyway, we know their characteristics of play. We will be prepared tactically for them. We feel that we have stronger team but we have to prove it on the court. Nothing is decided yet – added Travica.
- Last week in Bulgaria we made a first step and now it is time to make the second one. It would have been silly for us if we had not profited of this great occasion to advance to the next round. That is why we will do our best and make everything in order to get this promotion. Personally I think that CSKA players will not play better in Rzeszow than they played at home. Besides, now can count on our fans who will be supporting us very much and I am sure Bulgarians will be impressed by our crowd in Podpromie sports hall. It should be a very interesting game because CSKA players will do everything what they can in order to stop us – stated Krzysztof Gierczynski, Asseco Resovia captain.
On the other hand, CSKA SOFIA head coach and players believe that they are able to compete with Resovia until the last ball and make this duel still open. - I hope that we will play well in the second leg. We have learnt a lot from our mistakes in previous away games and we can perform better this time. We are aware of the fact that our chances to continue CICL competition are weaker after defeat at home. I am sure that in RZESZOW we will face a huge crowd, but it is not a problem for us to play in front of full stands and excited fans. We played well in the last two sets in SAMOKOV and now we want to show a better level of reception. The advantages of CSKA are strong team spirit and block – expressed Aleksander Popov, CSKA SOFIA head coach.
- It is clear that now, after disadvantageous result in SAMOKOV, our chances to go through the next round are not so high. Anyway, we have to stay positive. Despite the fact that we started the first leg bad, we found an inner strength later on and we fought until the end. We will keep the same attitude for the return game in Poland. We have decided not to give up without a fight and even though Resovia needs only two sets to qualify, we will make them sweat to get it. Until the last referee’s signal, we will play to win – ended Daniel Peev, CSKA SOFIA experienced libero.

(CAROL)