Drzyzga moved by his return to Rzeszów. "He will always be close to my heart"

Asseco Resovia defeated Fenerbahce Medicana Istanbul in the quarterfinal rematch 3:1 (17:25, 25:19, 25:21, 25:19) and advanced to the CEV Cup semifinals. The Turkish team featured Fabian Drzyzga, who spent eight years in Rzeszów.

- It was great to come back to the city where my family lives. I have many wonderful memories from this arena, which I know well. Rzeszów will always be close to my heart. There was no better draw for me personally, to come and meet my family, friends and see again this beautiful audience that filled the entire arena. A revelation for me - said Drzyzga, who played at Podpromie as a guest after eleven years.

His team started the match promisingly, just like in the first meeting in Istanbul, but over time the initiative belonged to Asseco Resovia.

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- Theoretically, the first set did not foretell what would happen later. It was the same in Istanbul. We played the first game well, at a higher level that we sometimes present, but it is hard for us to maintain it. It was the same in Rzeszów, we won, we played normally, but we made 2-3 mistakes. Later on, we know that Resovia played more loosely, whether on serve or in attack, they had an advantage in all elements and deservedly won two matches and advanced further because they were the better team - said the former setter of the Polish national team.

His team took a risk in service, which resulted in winning the first set, but in the following sets the Rzeszów team responded with the same weapon.

- The lack of Bartek Bednorz was definitely a weakness, because from what I watch Resovia's matches, I can see that he is, so to speak, a workhorse and often held the team on his back. It was a big loss, but they also have players who can play volleyball and it's not like they were suddenly afraid or gave up, especially since they had a good result in the match in Turkey. They did their thing, and we had to risk our serve, because it would be hard for us to equalize it with other elements today. We are not such a physical team to block them or, I don't know, play some "dirty volleyball", because we don't have that kind of technique either - said Drzyzga.

Fenerbahce is the third foreign club for the two-time world champion after Olympiakos Piraeus and Lokomotiv Novosibirsk.

- I guess the only thing we can complain about is the traffic jams in a city of 30 million people like Istanbul. Sometimes, travelling to the airport is the most difficult thing for us. Once we get around our training and match zone, there are no such problems. We are quite used to spending about 40 minutes. However, I miss nothing there, apart from my family, of course - Drzyzga emphasised.