Olympiakos will compete for the challenge cup, having beaten Panathinaikos away with a score of 3:1 and, together with the “golden” set, received a ticket to their 8th final of the European volleyball tournament. His opponent will be Maccabi.

The second leg of the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup was supposed to take place the day before yesterday, but due to the police throwing chemicals, it was postponed until yesterday. Panathinaikos, by decision of the police, played without fans and, although they were in the lead in the first set, they then faced serious problems, mainly in reception. As for Hernandez, while he helped the Greens take the lead, his recent injury (he was absent from the first leg) kept him from catching his famous performances.

The second (25-27) and third set (21-25) turned into a derby similar to the history of the two clubs, with Olympiacos dominating the details. On the contrary, in the fourth set the “red-whites” dominated (17-25) and everything showed that the ball… weighed in the hands of the hosts. This was also seen in the “golden” set, where there was only one team inside the closed Agios Thomas, Olympiacos, and this is clearly seen in the big score with which they won it (15-6) and canceled their defeat with a score of 1. -3 in the first match. In the final of the Challenge Cup, the Piraeus team will play against Maccabi, with the first game taking place in Tel Aviv (8/3) and the second in Rentis (15/3).

“It was a great win and I am proud of my team. We had nothing to lose and we took all the points,” said Rafael Koumendakis.

Panathinaikos coach Dimitris Andreopoulos attributed the large percentage of Olympiacos’ defeats to Wednesday’s events. “We are very disappointed with the field. Through no fault of the team and its fans, this happened the day before yesterday for no reason. Olympiacos interfered with our serve and knocked us out of the rhythm. Together we brought Panathinaikos here, and we will continue in the same spirit. One day in December, on the bench in Istanbul, we promised that Panathinaikos would reach the European final and win it,” he said after the game.