The same Kazan
The game with Zenit-Kazan is one of the most serious tests in the PARI Super League, if not the most serious. For some time after the end of the era of Leon in Kazan, they groped for ways to compensate, missing out on titles even with Erwin Ngapeth, but now, it seems, found a new path to greatness. He relies on the triangle, only in a slightly different interpretation. If earlier it was a percussion trio Leon-Anderson-Mikhailov, now the first violin is played by the setter Mike Christenson, and the same unfading Mikhailov and, perhaps, the best Russian player Dmitry Volkov.
Lacking Leon's height (who has it?), Volkov compensates for her speed, diversity and genuine passion on the court. Mikhailov is Mikhailov, and Christenson is definitely one of the best setters in the world. If he has a lead, then a broken block is almost guaranteed. If there is no lead, then there will be at least comfortable conditions for the attackers.
And there is someone to attack and defend in Zenit besides Volkov and Mikhailov. The second player is the leader of the Belgian national team Sam Dero, better known for the English reading of Deru's surname. In the center is another legend Alexander Volkov, the most experienced Artem Volvich and two young promising own pupils Alexei Kononov and Roman Romanovsky. But there is also Dmitry Shcherbinin! Five central - bust, and the club has a certain rotation. So, Volkov was not registered for the previous game against Fakel.
Andrey Surmachevsky and another young local talent, Mikhail Labinsky, are seriously squeezing the base in the finishing game.. Surmachevsky is known for his cannon feed, and Labinsky can also play diagonally, where there is also Denis Zemchenok. As the saying goes, what is not a name is a surname, and we can see all of them in action at the Premier Arena. It remains to introduce the libero: Valentin Golubev, who played for the Russian national team, who was almost ousted from the site by another local pupil and candidate for the national team Ilya Fedorov.
Talking about the chances of Gazprom-Ugra to win is about the same, what to try to compare the speed capabilities of a solid Toyota and, allowable, "Lamborghini". different categories. Suffice it to say, that Kazan won the last six matches "dry". Our command, of course, beat Zenit from time to time in the past, for the last time in the last round of the championship 2019-2020 of the year, and, Zenith is in a similar position. 3:0. For us, that victory opened the way to the playoffs that did not take place due to covid, and Kazan, neither more nor less - deprived of the championship.
But categories, repeat, various. To have chances against Zenit, you need to at least move their reception away from the grid, which in itself is not easy. But Christenson will eat and from the negative reception probably the best in the league, say it, without even looking at the stats. Plus the team is very flexible., plays well in defense, in insurance cleans almost everything. So is there any chance?
They are always there - at least, for a worthy fight, which our team imposed in recent matches on Dynamo Moscow, and with Novosibirsk "Lokomotiv". The chance for beautiful volleyball next Saturday in Surgut is very high! Gazprom-Ugra will fight to the limit, there is no doubt about it, and there - how the volleyball gods will decide.
