Plock, Poland, November 27, 2018 - Last year's FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship runners-up Cucine Lube Civitanova take on 2017 winners Zenit Kazan in Plock on Tuesday.
Head-to-Head· Cucine Lube Civitanova and Zenit Kazan meet for the second time at the Club World Championship after last year's final.
· Zenit claimed their first title in the competition by defeating Lube in straight sets.
· Lube and Zenit also met in last season's Champions League final. Zenit won their fourth successive title in the competition after a 3-2 win against Lube in that final.
· Zenit have recorded all of their three CL victories against Lube in five sets. Lube have defeated Zenit twice in the CL, both in straight sets.
Cucine Lube Civitanova· Cucine Lube Civitanova won their opening match of the 2018 Club World Championship 3-1 against Polish side PGE Skra Belchatow.
· In 2017, their only previous CWC campaign, Lube won their first four matches in the competition before losing 3-0 to Zenit Kazan in the final.
· Lube have now played three of their six CWC matches against Polish sides, winning them all. They lost their only match against Russian opposition.
· Osmany Juantorena, the most valuable player of the 2017 Club World Championship, won 12 points for Lube against PGE Skra. Among teammates, only Yoandy Leal Hidalgo scored more (16).
Zenit Kazan· Defending champions Zenit started the 2018 Club World Championship with a 3-2 loss against Fakel Novy Urengoy.
· That defeat ended Zenit's run of five successive victories at the Club World Championship in which they did not lose a single set.
· Zenit have twice lost consecutive CWC matches, once in 2011 and once in 2012. On both occasions, an Italian team was involved in that streak (Trentino in 2011 and 2012).
· Including Monday's match against Fakel Novy Urengoy, Zenit have failed to win any of their five five-setters in the competition.
· Zenit had only five players scoring points in their 109-point effort on Monday (including 39 opponent errors). Earvin Ngapeth and Maxim Mikhaylov led the way with 19 points each.