Düsseldorf and Saarbrücken make successful start to Champions League group stage
Reigning Champions League winners 1. FC Saarbrücken TT and German record champions Borussia Düsseldorf made a successful start to the Champions League group stage in recent days. Düsseldorf won 3:0 against Sporting Clube de Portugal in their first match and 3:0 against SPG Felbermayr Wels in their second match. Saarbrücken celebrated a 3:0 victory against Tesla Batteries Havirov.
After facing each other in the last Champions League final, the two Bundesliga clubs are also among the title contenders in the 2023/24 Champions League season. A successful start in the group stage was therefore mandatory and the two German clubs succeeded.
Sporting Clube de Portugal - Borussia Düsseldorf 0:3
On Monday, 23.10.2023, Düsseldorf went to Lisbon for their Champions League opener, where they had to play against Sporting Clube de Portugal. "Of course we are the better team and we have to win 3:0 with the lineup here," said manager Preuß. Düsseldorf had traveled with Anton Källberg, Dang Qiu and Timo Boll and had thus already set the signal that they wanted to start the competition confidently and safely.
And they succeeded: Anton Källberg needed just 15 minutes against Diogo Carvalho for his 3:0 victory. Despite being the clear favorite, he looked quite relaxed and made only a few mistakes. Dang Qiu was not quite as confident in his victory over the hard-fighting Diogo Chen. Nevertheless, he won 3:1 thanks to his experience and gave Düsseldorf a 2:0 lead. The final point for Düsseldorf came from Timo Boll, who was in good form after his cold. Against European Pupil Champion Tiago Abiodun, who is just 15 years old, a real generation duel took place, which the player from Düsseldorf won clearly 3:0.
Head coach Danny Heister after the match: "3:0 and 9:1 sets are a great start to the season, I'm very happy about that. It always gives you a good feeling when you start a competition confidently and takes some pressure off the kettle afterwards."
Borussia Düsseldorf - SPG Felbermayr Wels 3:0
The TTBL club was able to relieve further pressure directly two days later in the duel against the Austrian runner-up SPG Felbermayr Wels. Because there the record champion won even more clearly at home with 3:0 and did not lose a single set.
Dang Qiu defeated Andreas Levenko 3:0, Anton Källberg beat Jiri Martinko 3:0 and Timo Boll gave Felix Wetzel no chance.
1.FC Saarbrücken TT - Tesla Batteries Havirov 3:0
The reigning Champions League winners started the new Champions League season on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. They expected the opponent Tesla Batteries Havirov from the Czech Republic at home.
Also in the match for the TTBL club were the three newcomers Eduard Ionescu, Yuto Muramatsu and Cedric Meissner, who had earned the trust through strong performances in the TTBL.
Eduard Ionescu played the first match of the day and gave Adam Stalzer no chance with 3:0. "That was a pretty good start for us. I was a bit nervous at the beginning because it was my first match in the Champions League for Saarbrücken. I'm very happy that I won my match and we all showed a good game," said the Romanian.
After Yuto Muramatsu won 3-1 against Jan Valenta, losing the only set on the day, Cedric Meissner also made his Champions League debut: "Last week I struggled a bit with my performance, but today everything worked well. I was able to play consistently and won my singles relatively easily," said Cedric Meissner, who won 3-0 against Daniel Kostal.
