Highlights | Germany vs. Bulgaria | CEV Enel EuroVolley 2026 Men

Graven comes into the squad, then En-Libre to join shots. Tim Peter is their serving specialist. And then for Bulgaria, well, I've already mentioned the big three. Nikolov, Vardarov. Two sides with great players, two sides in good form. In the red, Germany. Guests here in Sofia, in Bulgaria, taking on the home side. Better serve, good pass. Oh, dear. That is a mad set and it's gone in. Brandt, quiet so far in the match. That's a good serve, though. Thrown high and over, somehow went between the antenna. But a free-flowing attack from Germany. It was a block, though, because it hit the attacker. Bremer's OK. And Germany will be delighted about Ryker taking the pace off. Right, crowd getting involved now, giving Bremer the bird. What a service. Good chase from Moni Nikolov. Alexander off the block and just on the line. He thought he won the point. Pacer, but good. Great ball control from Germany. Right, here we go. Bulgaria for the set. It's been all wingers at the moment. Relatively few balls down the centre of the court through the middles, but the wingers have played with power and precision. And Bulgaria have the lead over Germany by one set to nil. A bit of a rocky, so Germany by a set to nil. Germany know that the way back into this game is to try and ride this incredible run of serving power from Bulgaria. Digg, Sparu off, picks off Krik. And, well, there'll be a few words after this one from Germany because they are not happy, but you can't answer that. Moni. Well, Velichkov's passing in the main has been really good. De Libro sends another one into Moni Moni. And maybe drifting into losing a bit of focus, a bit of showboating. Keep them on their game. Another good pass from Velichkov. Another absolute invite to put a dent in the floor. Vardarov is happy to oblige. But the latest crop of Bulgarian players are pretty amazing, too, aren't they? Unreal. And because there's no pressure on the scoreboard, Bulgaria are just playing. They're just playing without any kind of pressure. Another score. Nice move. And they're going to need to find some good stuff themselves. Oh, no, the casualties of float serve aces from Denis Slav. Vardarov, take your eyes away from the atmosphere and the action, both of which are tremendous. That's not the best from Brand. Set three, Bulgaria one away from a quarterfinal place against Poland. What a match that is in prospect. Germany in the red have got to come back from two sets to nil down and win it in five. Eric Roers starts with the right attitude. He goes into double. Vardarov out. Artanozov in. Artanozov passes well. Again, the middle isn't found all that convincingly. And the block. Excellent. That's a pass. What a pass. Oh, and a flashing drive through the middle. Crick. Set three. Did it touch the block? Got the thumb. Toby Crick is absolutely right. Serve is good from Zimmermann. Out of system swing for Artanozov and he's not going to have a swing. He's just going to dump it over. Chance for a three point lead. Germany. Roers takes it and Germany have got quality on their side. If anything else happens, not your problem. It was a rocket. It's a brilliant pass. Oh, Bremer and Germany are really playing now. Roers, their top scorer. Bremer. Ace. Nailed. Five set points to turn things around here. That'll do it. That'll do it. Ace from Brand. 25-19. And suddenly things feel very, very different here in Sofia. Away we go with set four. This game is wide open. And Germany. It's only about us. We'll play whoever. Good serve from Zimmermann. Pass is nice from Velichkov. And again, that dark shot used by Alexander Nikolov. Top spin last time. Can he get back to his sharp float? He can. Good pass. Bremer remains at 100% through the middle. Roers is the next man to try and inflict some pain at the service line. He does so. Good dig. It's in from Schott. Mone comes in again to make the set. Same player, same result. Schott digs again. Tight ball. Zimmermann taps it over. Bulgaria get an out of system swing. Nikolov can't beat the defence of Raikert. Roers, he can beat the defence of Mone Nikolov. Roers being allowed to go straight back to serve. It's a good one. Real problems here. And the problems just get bigger and bigger. Germany with the block and they take the lead. Germany were in control, but Bulgaria can steal it away. Another great service from Asparuov. Roers defended. Ball in the air. Artanisov is blocked by Raikert. In play, Roers doesn't hit it hard. Just make sure of it. Comes back, though, with interest. Artanisov hammers it. Can he ace it to draw level? Mone Nikolov, it's a massive serve. Schott keeps it in play. Very tight. Hit hard, hit out, says the referee. But we're going to get a challenge because Tobias Brand thinks he's got it. No, no yellow circle. Oh, there is a yellow circle. Late appearance because it has just clipped the fingers. One of their home fans here in Sofia find themselves in an absolute scrap to stay in the tournament. Moritz Raikert, brilliant. Good pass, Velichkov, too high on the set from Mone to Grozdanov. Bulgaria do well to recycle. And Roers gets recycled himself straight into the floor by the Bulgarian. There was a point in the match when it looked like Tim Peter had served his last, but Germany are still in it. Another great hit. Out of system ball. Nikolov is slowed down. Germany to score and get the break back. Raikert off the hands. Velichkov, goalkeeper style defence and Bulgaria save it. Oh, what a rally. What a sensational piece of defence from the youngster Velichkov. This is heroic. He's done. Mone goes to his brother. He makes the shot and then a golden opportunity to take this home. Another magic serve. Oh, what a reach from Mone. Confused as to why he's been taken off. Pass is good. Set is tight. Kruger's got a piece of it. Bulgaria go again. Kruger gets a piece of it again. It's still off the floor. Roers hits it off the block and Germany score an unbelievable point. In play. Pass is good. Bulgaria are still in the game and they are still in Eurovolley. Atanasoff will serve into the net. And Germany have done something quite spectacular here in Sofia. They have beaten Bulgaria in five sets, but they've beaten them from two sets to nil down.