Bulgaria took a 2-0 lead but lost 2-3 (25-21, 25-21, 19-25, 23-25, 12-15) to Germany in the round of 16 at the Men’s European Volleyball Championship in front of 12,198 spectators at Arena 8888 in Sofia on Saturday.
The match lasted more than two and a half hours. Gianlorenzo Blengini’s team was thus knocked out of the tournament. Germany will face European champion Poland in the quarter-finals on September 22.
Bulgaria recorded four wins and two defeats in the tournament, failing to reach the Top 8 for the second consecutive championship. Three years ago, the Bulgarian team – who were runners-up at the World Championship in the Philippines in 2025 – lost to France at the same stage of the tournament.
Bulgaria started with the familiar lineup of Simeon Nikolov, Aleksandar Nikolov, Aleks Grozdanov, Iliya Petkov, Asparuh Asparuhov, Denislav Bardarov and libero Zhasmin Velichkov.
Bulgaria won the first two sets 25-21 and 25-21. Germany responded by taking the third set 25-19, the fourth 25-23, to win 15-12 in the tiebreak.
Aleksandar Nikolov was once again Bulgaria’s top scorer with 23 points, Asparuh Asparuhov finished with 13. For Germany, Erik Rohrs led the way with 20 points, Anton Brehme – 14, Tobias Brand – 13.
Bulgaria Takes Lead, but Loses to Germany 2-3 at European Volleyball Championship THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-09-19 19:45:00
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BULGARIA NEWS – NEWS AGENCY 2009–2026 2026-09-19 19:45:00