Jakub Balcerzak summarized the last Saturday before the start of the 2026/2027 league season. He assessed that the slogan "Beat the champion" will motivate the rivals of Michał Winiarski's team, and each of them will approach the matches with full commitment. He cited the match between Trefl and Sordyl as an example and wondered how many weaker teams would manage to play in a similar way. According to Balcerzak, Lublin was in better shape at this stage of preparations than a year earlier. He praised the creativity of Ran and Ogawa as well as the play of the latter, and positively evaluated the start of preparations for Mikołaj Sawicki, whom he considered well physically prepared. The author was pleased with Roberto Piazza's presence in the Polish club, but noted that there is a lot of work ahead for PGE Project Warszawa, as the Italian coach had only started working with the team a few days earlier. He assessed that Romano could help Warsaw achieve a major trophy this season. After the match against Lublana, he pointed out that the average age of Project's players on the court was almost 33 years. He also wrote that Śliwka's injury means at least a month off, and noted that the captain of the Polish national team has played only 31 percent of league matches in almost three years. Balcerzak called Tymoteusz Lenik one of the best Polish middle blockers from the 2005 age group and younger. He believed that Gheorghe Crețu is guiding the player well and predicted that Lenik would make it to the senior national team next season. He pointed to 22-year-old Mateusz Nowak as a possible successor to Bartłomiej Lemański in Bełchatów and as the best player of Skra during the preparation period. He described Szymon Jakubiszak as one of the leading Polish middle blockers and wrote that he should join a club competing for the Polish championship. Regarding the Italian league, Balcerzak praised Basil Dermaux's performance in Milan, where he scored 27 points, including seven aces. He indicated Hryhoriia Khotsevycha as a potential discovery of the new season of LegaVolley, and described Pardo Matia as an increasingly important player in Modena's offense. He added that his collaboration with Tizi-Oualou was going very well. Assessing the teams from Japan, Balcerzak stated that there is a lot of work ahead for Suntory Sunbirds Osaka and that the team no longer commands the same respect as in previous years. He positively evaluated the new Nagoya and the performance of Norbert Huber, while considering Osaka Bluteon the best team currently in the country, with a significant advantage over rivals. The photograph was signed with the name K. Łukawski. #podsiatka #siatkówka #sezonligowy #Polska (translated)
