Despite their two defeats in two games, the Touraine did not miss their European meeting. Neither in the game, nor in the minds.
All defeats are not equal, and the Volleyball Tours can attest to this, he who has just chained three. A first, just a week ago, against Cambrai (1-3), in League A. And two others, Wednesday and Thursday, against Civitanova and Perugia (0-3). It is an understatement to say that there is a world between the Champions League and the A League, between the two hyperpowers of the Italian championship and the promoted Northerner. This is why, despite these two setbacks in the biggest cup in Europe, enhanced by a success on the green carpet due to Izmir’s package, Pascal Foussard, the director general of TVB, finds many reasons to be satisfied. of this tournament which Tours had the privilege of organizing in Grenon, and the disadvantage of making it private.
What conclusions do you draw from this first week of the Champions League?
“Today, I don’t know which club is stronger than Civitanova and Perugia … I don’t see. So from the draw, you know you’re going to play for almost third place. We have already jostled big teams at home, but it was in a full hall. The context here was different, of course. We nevertheless had a decent level of play, which we perhaps didn’t think we would have after our match against Cambrai. Of course, you are never satisfied with losing 3-0. But when you play against supernatural players like Leon (in Perugia) and Juantorena (in Civitanova), it’s not quite the same. And the two also took the game on their own against us. “
Your team has nevertheless been able to raise its level of play …
“The players did not give up in front of the mountain, when they could have. Faced with these teams, each ball requires a requirement, a physical and mental investment that we cannot imagine. Even in the national team, we do not meet such a level. And yet, we held on all the time, until the end, except that we did not put these little balloons, these little details that succeeded them all, on the contrary. But I am satisfied with the mentality shown. That’s what I told the players, “you are building something.” “
It may seem paradoxical, but the European Cup has become for Tours a tool with a view to national objectives …
“This time again, the staff come out of this tournament with things to build on, that’s interesting. The Champions League has always served us during the play-offs on important moments. Europe is helping the team to grow. For French clubs, it is clearly the composition of the pool that decides what we can claim in the Champions League. If you come across two Russian or Italian clubs, it has become very complicated. “
Times are very different from when TVB won or played in the Final Four.
“At that point there were two Italian clubs, two Russians, and hardly any Poles. There, there are three clubs for each and the best players in the world are spread over six teams in Europe. What can others do? A team can sneak in, as could be the case with Berlin after the withdrawal of the Poles from Jasterzebski, but that’s it. You have to accept it. We are obliged to use Europe individually and collectively. “
In this case, your players were there individually?
“They all lived up to the event, our sharp to a lesser extent. However, we were emerging from a fortnight post-Covid complicated. The players have been on high standards, otherwise we would have been swept away. The Champions League is their calling card. Even a Pablo Natan Ventura, who was a substitute, he entered, put two aces, we saw it. Last year, after our victory over Warsaw (synonymous with second final place but no qualification), we lost three players. It’s that simple… “
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