Battle of Polish giants in the Champions League! Huge stakes at the very top
PGE Projekt Warszawa and Bogdanka LUK Lublin. This is the “Polish quarterfinal” of the ongoing edition of the Champions League volleyball. The first installment will be available on Tuesday, March 24.
It so happened that the second and third teams of the PlusLiga regular phase will face each other. The layout of the games will be similar, first we will play in Warsaw, on the premises of PGE Projekt, and then there will be a rematch – in the hall of the Polish champions, Bogdanka LUK Lublin.
What is worth emphasizing is that the team from Warsaw was already in this position last season. Then, in an only explainable way, PGE Projekt failed to eliminate Halkbank Ankara, winning the rematch in Warsaw, but losing the final battle in the additional golden set. Thus, the Warsaw team did not manage to break into the best four of the Champions League, which played in the Atlas Arena in Łódź in mid-May 2025.
Volleyball Champions League: Battle of the PlusLiga giants. PGE Projekt versus the champions!
The inhabitants of Warsaw will certainly be eager to break the spell of those disastrous memories from the previous edition of the Champions League. Will PGE Projekt be able to beat Bogdanka LUK Lublin? The Polish champions are debutants in the competition, but it is difficult to look at this team in such categories when the team includes, among others: Wilfredo Leona.
Last season’s Challenge Cup winners are looking to attack the next ambitious challenge coming their way. Interestingly, Bogdanka LUK won the Challenge Cup in the 2024/25 campaign, and a year earlier the title was won by… a rival from Warsaw.
The team from Lublin seems to be the favorite. Bogdanka LUK is being built to play for the highest goals on several fronts. However, the Warsaw team has shown many times that they cannot be written off before each match begins. Recently, the team from the Italian Itas Trentino experienced this on their own experience. After winning 3-2 in Warsaw, in the rematch the team from the Italian Peninsula lost 2-3 and were eliminated after losing the golden set to their Polish rival.
Bogdanka LUK did not have to take part in this part of the competition, taking first place in its group. The Lublin team won, among others: the mentioned nightmare of the club from Warsaw – Halkbank Ankara (3:0 at home and 3:2 away).
Let us add that in the regular phase of PlusLiga in Lublin, the hosts won 3-0, and in the Torwar hall in Warsaw, the visitors added a valuable 3-1 – so it is 2-0 in the series, looking at the league realities. It is worth remembering, however, that the first clash was played in the face of crazy personnel realities on the PGE Projekt side. The team, devastated by health problems, played out of necessity, among others. with Damian Wojtaszek as the receiver. The show was unforgettable, but the match did not bring the Warsaw team any points – the favorite showed that it has its own, high sports quality.
The first meeting starts on Tuesday (i.e. March 24), late afternoon, from 6:00 p.m. Broadcast on Polsat Sport 1, Polsat Sport Extra 2 and, among others, Polsat Box Go online platform.
Rematch on April 1 at the Globus hall in Lublin. The Champions League Final Four is scheduled for May 16-17.
