The best of European clubs gathered for four days at the Parc de la Rauze in Montpellier for a spectacular competition

Les Montpelliérains en quête de titre européen. MBV

La Coupe d’Europe des clubs se déroule de jeudi à dimanche sur les terrains en plein cœur de Montpellier. Les locaux emmenés par Arthur Canet font partie des favoris pour le titre.

The grounds of the Parc de la Rauze will host the European Club Cup from this Thursday, the equivalent of the football Champions League in beach volleyball. For four days on the sands of Montpellier, the 16 best women's teams and as many men's teams will come to compete for the coveted continental title.

“This year, we did not organize the traditional Montpellier Beach Masters because there were the Olympic Games, explains Stéphane Canet, manager of Montpellier Beach-Volley. The idea is to be able to highlight our club, its power and its structure. The European Volleyball Confederation (CEV) believes that the development of beach volleyball in Europe goes through the clubs. In this sense, Montpellier is a European reference in terms of development since the MBV is both popular, accessible to all with 500 members and has a high-level sector specific to the discipline. For the CEV, this is a model to be duplicated throughout Europe."

Guaranteed spectacle on the sand of the MBV

In parallel with the competition, Montpellier Beach-Volley through the voice of Stéphane Canet and that of Ljubljana in Slovenia will host a working meeting to present their model and their project.

On the sporting front, both for the women and the men, the 16 teams are divided into four groups of four. Each match consists of two games and a golden set to decide in the event of a tie.

The teams ranked at the top of each group qualify directly for the quarter-finals which will take place on Saturday. The second and third-placed teams will play a play-off match to reach the top 8. Guaranteed spectacle: “We will see developments such as the role of the coach who can give instructions during the matches and make changes”, notes Stéphane Canet.

Montpellier Beach-Volley will represent France in the men's event as winner of the Coupe de France. He will be accompanied by the club of the Ile de Ré, finalist of the national competition. In the women's table, the French clubs are Toulouse and Bordeaux.

Fourth in Turkey last year, MBV and its five players (Arthur Canet, Calvin Aye, Quincy Aye, Théo Marty and Noah Burlas) will have the advantage of playing at home to try to win European gold. With Arthur Canet, multiple medallist on the international youth scene, and his partners, the Héraultais have a real chance to shine in front of their home crowd.

Practical information

Program
Thursday and Friday: group stage (12 p.m.-8 p.m.)
Saturday: play-offs from 9 a.m., quarter-finals from 1:30 p.m., semi-finals from from 6pm
Sunday: small finals from 9:30am, women's final at 2:15pm, men's final at 4:30pm.

Tickets: free Thursday and Friday, 8 euros Saturday and Sunday. More info on montpellierbeachvolley.fr

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