Phantom Director Mirsad Mirojeviฤ stated at today's press conference that no one has managed to win five consecutive titles in the Champions Cup and that he expects this year's title to be contested by Phantom's city rival and Euroleague winner Spider, as well as Germany's Bayer Leverkusen.
"I hope we will succeed in that. Throughout the history of sitting volleyball, we are the most successful collective in Europe of all time. With our eight European champion titles and ten Euroleague winner titles, we are officially the best team that has played this sport in Europe so far. Anything that is not first place in this city does not count, so we expect to return with a new title," Mirojeviฤ declared.
He added that the team's preparations have been excellent, and the domestic championship has helped Phantom's volleyball players to prepare even better for this major competition.
Team coach Sead Mrลกo emphasized that all players have performed excellently in preparations and that he expects a new European champion title.
"The best test for what we have been doing was in the last match against the European vice-champion, Sinovi Bosne from Lukavac, where we won a fantastic match 3:0. We are going to Naples full of optimism to defend the title and become European champions for the ninth time," he said.
Phantom captain Mirzet Duran mentioned that this year's competition will feature two new teams from Turkey and Ukraine, but they are well acquainted with their quality and players.
"It can happen that some years these teams do not participate, meaning they are not champions of their countries, and that is what is limiting regarding this competition. The team from Ukraine is essentially the national team of Ukraine, and those are players well known to us, while in the Turkish team Karaman, mostly Turkish national team players also compete. They are a good team, strengthened by players from Iran," Duran explained.
He added that the Phantom team is ready to perform in the Champions Cup and that coach Mrลกo will certainly face "sweet dilemmas" when it comes to selecting the starting lineup for the upcoming matches.