Pool D Preview: Olympic Champions of France lead the lines

Without a doubt, the biggest pre-favorite of the Pool C at the CEV EuroVolley 2021 - Men, to be played in Tallinn, Estonia, will be France. Including the title in 2015, they have won seven medals so far at the European Championship, and they will definitely want to take the top of the podium this time after the fourth place in 2019.

France showed how they are ready to win the EuroVolley in the Olympic Games. They performed very well throughout the tournament and succeeded in becoming the champion for the first time in their history by beating ROC 3-2 in the final match of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Alongside the last Olympic MVP Earvin Ngapeth, middle blocker Barthelemy Chinenyeze and libero Jenia Grebennikov, who managed to make it into the Dream Team, are the key members of the squad.

France's biggest rival in the group will be Germany. Participating in 13 of the 15 tournaments held since reunification, Germany took the silver medal in 2017. In the final of the CEV Men's European Olympic Qualification Tournament in 2020, France won the game against Germany with a clear score of 3-0.

However, the two teams met again in the 2021 Volleyball Nations League, and even though Germany was defeated by 3-2, they showed how dangerous of a team they could be. The experienced player György Grozer, who was selected as the "Best Opposite" of the 2017 EuroVolley, will lead Germany, aiming to do more than 8th place in 2019.

Although these two teams seem to be more likely to get through to the Round of 16 than their rivals, the contention for the remaining two spots will continue between the other four teams. One of these teams, the host Estonia, will try to improve 11th place, the best in their history in the European Championship. Although achieving 24th place out of 24 teams by losing all five games played at EuroVolley 2019, Estonia proved that this year will be better.

In the 2021 CEV European Golden League, the team reached the Final Four by defeating Latvia in the group stage and also won the bronze medal. The outside hitter Robert Taht, who was named Estonian Volleyball Player of the Year between 2016-2019, and others in the team will make a significant effort to qualify from the group in front of their fans.

Participating in the European Championship for the 11th time in their history, Slovakia achieved their best result in 2011 with fifth place. The team, which took 10th place in the CEV European Golden League this year, will fight as hard as possible to get another spot in the group.

However, Slovakia is not the only team seeking the successive elimination round. Croatia, which will take part in this tournament for the fourth time, will end its longing since 2015. The team finished fourth in the CEV European Silver League this year, and they will try to show their best performance under the leadership of Ivan Raic.

The team with the least EuroVolley experience in this group will be Latvia. They will participate in this tournament for the second time in their history after 1995. Their job seems a little more difficult, but the opposite Hermans Egleskalns, who won the championship with Olympiacos in Greece, will continue to score for the team and try to push the limits.

Group D will host the current Olympic champions France and challenging Germany while excitement and contention for the remaining two spots will continue between Estonia, Slovakia, Croatia, and Latvia in Tallinn, Estonia.