Volleyball | Volleyball European Championship: Germany draws courage for the Olympics despite Aus

Poland is still too strong for Moritz Reichert (M.) and Germany's volleyball players. The goal remains the 2028 Olympics. Photo: IMAGO / NurPhoto/Artur Wida There was hope again in the third set. The German national volleyball team was already two sets behind against world number one Poland in the quarterfinals of the European Championship. But now the DVV men had temporarily led by four points and, with the score at 16:15, had the chance to extend their lead to 17:15 after a blocked ball. But Poland's defense stood its ground and defused Tobias Brand's cracking backfield attack. Instead of pulling away to two points, the Germans conceded the equalizer.

The Poles took control of the game again. By the end of the period, Germany only managed one more point. The team was eliminated from the tournament against the defending champions on Tuesday evening with 0:3 (23:25, 17:25, 17:25).

That hurt because new national coach Massimo Botti's team had reached the level of the top favorites at times in the first set and until the middle of the third round. Ultimately, however, head national coach Christian Düns also has to take stock: "We are still a bit short of this level." Already in the group phase, Olympic champion France had inflicted the only defeat on the German team and with a 3-0 win "showed the limits for the first time," said former national player Dünes.

"We're on course for the Olympics and will squeeze out every percentage point that might still be missing."

But the positive takeaway from the European Championships is that even if there is still a gap to the European leaders around Poland, France and world champion Italy, the team around captain Jan Zimmermann can keep up with many other competitors. At the European Championships, the selection of the German Volleyball Association (DVV) beat two nations that were better placed in the world rankings before the tournament: Turkey at the start and, in a dramatic round of 16, hosts Bulgaria 3-2 after being 0-2 down.

The Germans had prepared particularly intensively for the opening game against Turkey because it was crucial for the rest of the tournament. How the team found its way into the game and tournament without the injured top scorer Georg Grozer was quite impressive. Erik Röhrs, who is usually deployed in the outside attack at his employer Olympiakos Piraeus, learned quickly and represented the veteran not only as a point provider, but also as an emotional leader. The tournament can therefore also be interpreted as a separation from the now 41-year-old exceptional player who had carried the team for the past 20 years.

»It has been seen that there is no longer a single leader here. Everyone has their own area and everyone is aware that no one will carry such a big leadership burden alone anymore," explains setter Jan Zimmermann. That's "not a problem, just a different kind of team structure, the way it has to be."

Germany also won against their worse-placed opponents, but the loss of sets against Romania and Switzerland was a problem. “Perhaps there was a bit of a lack of consistency; we also gave up sets against opponents against whom we were significantly better,” analyzes the head national coach. “We can and must stop that in the next two years in order to qualify for the Olympics.” Because for the world rankings, in addition to victory or defeat, the set result and the strength of the opponent also count. “Taken together, it can end up hurting,” warns Dünnes. After the preliminary round of the 2028 Nations League, the last three starting places for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles will be awarded via the world rankings.

The highlight of the European Championship was undoubtedly in the round of 16 against runner-up Bulgaria. The way the team withstood the immense pressure of serving in front of over 12,000 fans of the hosts in Sofia, remained patient and trusted in their own chances and strengths and finally played themselves into a flow was a milestone in the development of this team on the way to the Olympic Games. “That was an absolute exclamation mark in terms of performance and morale,” praises Dünnes. “Huge compliment, I’m incredibly proud of the team.”

The German volleyball players were not deterred by personnel setbacks. Libero Julian Zenger had to withdraw before the tournament, as did middle blocker Lukas Maase, diagonal attacker Filip John and Grozer. Setter Johannes Tille was out during the tournament with a broken metatarsal, so veteran Zimmermann was the only trained setter available in the knockout round. This is not only extremely demanding physically and mentally for the 33-year-old carpenter, but it also prevents tactical variants such as a double substitution and makes training more difficult.

It was no longer possible to nominate another director because the powerful Moritz Karlitzek had already had to leave injured and libero Lenny Graven had been nominated to replace him. This means that the only permitted subsequent nomination for medical reasons has already been exhausted.

Even under these circumstances, reaching the quarter-finals can be seen as a success. The goal for next summer is to improve consistency in all elements and to broaden the team's personnel in order to gain more tactical options. After the strong European Championships, Dünnes can say with conviction: "We are on course for the Olympics and will squeeze out every percentage point that might still be missing."

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