It was a tough final match for Spacer’s Toulouse VB in the men’s Champions League, as they were short-handed two players due to them not being able to obtain Russian visas to play.
The French squad fell to Zenit Kazan 3-0, (25-15, 25-10, 25-17) in their final match of the Champions League. Kazan has been the top squad in the elite European competition for the past three season, looking to make 2018 their fourth straight title year.
Two of Toulouse’s players were unable to attend the match, though, as they were not issued Russian visas – Canada’s Ryan Nikifor and Danny Demyanenko. Though the two players were not the top scorers for the squad their absence from the match left the French team with just 10 players, lowering the options for head coach Stefan Sapinar.
“Of course, for us, it was a difficult game. My team showed everything they could and tried to battle against a strong team. Unfortunately, we did not come to Kazan in the optimal condition as out hitter Bram van den Driss got injured and has left the team for the remainder of the season. Along with two of our Canadian players – Ryan Nikifor and Danny Demyanenko – who stayed in Toulouse because they were not given a Russian visa. I do not know why because all of the other guys on the team got visas. As a result, we had just ten players,” said Sapinar to Sport Sport Online.
As a result, Toulouse ended the fourth round with a 0-6 record, dropping them from the competition.
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