After four rounds Hypo Tirol has not brought home any points yet although the Austrians have showed good performances while playing Lube Banca Marche MACERATA and Fenerbahce Grundig ISTANBUL. Having been assigned to a very tough group the Tyroleans knew they had a very demanding task to cope with but still have not lost their enthusiasm and motivation.
Lokomotiv comes to Innsbruck with the intention to take 3 points and stay atop of the standings in Pool E. The Russians were significantly strengthened via the addition of their Cuban-born opposite Michael Sanchez and before Christmas routed Fenerbahce twice, always in straight sets, before taking also the national cup for the second straight year.
The hosting team around head coach Stefan Chrtiansky is ready to put up a good fight against the Russian favorites and will give everything to collect their first points in the competition. The players are hoping for the fantastic support of their fans, which always positively pushes them and their performance.
Head Coach Stefan Chrtiansky says: “Unfortunately we will be probably playing the last home match of this year’s Champions League. We know exactly whom we are facing, meaning that Lokomotiv is showing great performances and results in the last period winning against Fenerbahce two times without losing a set and taking the Russian cup. They are definitely in great shape, but we will try hard to challenge again one of the top teams in Europe. Hopefully we will show at least a similar performance like we did playing MACERATA. If this is enough to gain our first points for the ranking is still very hard to say”.
