The Bulgarian national volleyball team suffered its first defeat at the European Championship in Istanbul, Turkey, at the hands of the Russians, bowing out in straight sets, 0:3 (21:25, 23:25, 22:25) in the last match of the group phase of the 2009 European Championship on September 10 2009.
 
This game will not affect substantially the final outcome in the semi finals, as late on September 11, the draw will be made which will designate the pairs for the further phase of the competition.
 
The only thing that is certain, however, is that Bulgaria will not be facing the second team from the corresponding group, but will, in theory at least, face a potentially stronger opposition.
 
Russia is now the winner of Group F with six victories out of six outings, with Bulgaria securing the second place.
 
Silvano Prandi, the Italian head coach of Bulgaria, initially fielded his big guns, but after Bulgaria lost the first game, gradually replaced them with his substitutes. The secondary team, which took on the Russians for the remainder of the match, was made up of Georgi Bratoev, Metodii Ananiev, Krassimir Gaidarski, and Tsvetan Sokolov.
 
Regardless of the defeat, Bulgaria’s second team performed well and gave the Russians a run for their money, losing the second and third game by a margin of only two and three points respectively.
 
In spite of the defeat, both teams had already cemented their participation in the semi-finals from their previous round in Group F. Perhaps, due to the possibility that Bulgaria could be paired against Russia again later on in the draw, Silvano Prandi decided to field Bulgaria’s substitutes in this encounter.