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The Lions won the last three matches

The team from Corsica seem to have reserved five set matches in advance, as they played four of those in their last five matches. They did not fare well against Lyon lately

CEV

Lyon are having the best season in franchise history, and it's becoming more and more apparent they'll enter the playoff. In some ways it would be injustice if they did not, considering the performances they showed, but coach Prandi is keeping both feet firmly on the ground:

- It's true we're in a good position, but we've still got many matches to play, there is no reason to celebrate yet. The position you enter the playoff  from also matters, so we have to get in the best possible position by the end of the championship- said the Italian expert, adding also:

- I've seen a lot in my career, but I've never seen such a uniformly strong league.

FIVB

The immense experience and reputation Prandi has lend weight to his words , but one only needs to look at the ranking ladder to get the same conclusion. Six teams are within two points (from third to eighth place) and every set, let alone point, is extremely important.

Lyon won four of their last five and six of their last eight. Interestingly enough, they suffered both their defeats at home (Beuvais 1-3 and Chaumont 2-3). Those six wins include an away victory against Cannes and a 3-0 victory over Tours, while their last round match was an easy three set win against Nantes, played away.

- We achieved our goals, took three points, and are now turning to preparations for the very important match against Ajaccio- said captain Nikolov.

They beat Ajaccio the last three times they met, two of which were played on Corsica. The first match they played this year was won 3-0, with 21 points by Van Lankvelt and just seven by Nikolov. They still had a huge advantage on offense and in blocking, which brought them three valuable points.

- Ajaccio are an experienced team with a clear tactic. They have few ups and downs, and we won the first match because we were a level above them. That match does not guarantee us victory in this one though, every match has it's own set of circumstances and starts with 0-0 - said the Lyon coach.

Today he will be deprived of services of middle blocker Jouffroy due to an injured meniscus (about four weeks to recover).

And while Lyon are on the upswing (or so it seems), Ajaccio are slightly stagnating. They lost their last two home matches, Paris and Cannes winning in five sets, and this pushed the Corsican team towards the bottom part of the top eight. Taking into account that the victories against Tourcoing and Montpellier were both 3-2 wins, it's clear why some teams jumped ahead of them.

-It's frustrating to lose in five sets, especially when you're not the worse team. We struggled receiving, the absence of Lavagne took its toll. However, I've got nothing to object to my players, they played their heart out in both matches - said Frederic Fernandez, Ajaccio coach.

Four of the last five matches they played were decided in five sets, and they had issues against weak Tourcoing as well.

- There's been a noticeable drop in our performance, but we're still contending for third or even second place. This team has character, and I'm certain they'll show it in the coming matches- said president Exiga.

The key player for Ajaccio is Simovski, and without his 20 points per match they struggle to win points. Bratoev and Lacassie are both good receivers, but more offensively than defensively oriented, making their reception a weaker segment, and libero Watten cannot cover the entire field alone.

The reason why Lavagne missed the Cannes derby is unknown, as is whether he'll bee on the team today. Regardless of that, Fernandez pointed out:

- The match at Lyon is very important, but a defeat would not be a tragedy either. We're not thinking about their series, we have to focus on our game and take advantage of our own strengths.