V-Day Sustenium
Trentino vs Macerata in League final on Sunday
The biggest game of the whole season is just around the corner. Trentino and Macerata are the teams that made it through the semi-finals and that will fight it out for the title of Italian champions 2012. The Mediolanum Forum in Milan is expected to be packed for the occasion as there are less than 700 tickets left for the game (www.bookingshow.it).
Despite the fact that the two clubs have met 35 times, this will be an unprecedented final. Trentino has more experience at the biggest stage having taken part in the last five finals, while this will be Macerata’s second in history following the one won 6 years ago in what was the first final played on one single game.
LEAGUE FINAL – V-DAY SUSTENIUM
Sunday April 22 at 5.30pm – Mediolanum Forum Assago (MI)
Itas Diatec Trentino – Lube Banca Marche Macerata
(Sobrero-Pasquali)
Group A | |||
1 Itas Diatec Trentino | |||
8 M. Roma Volley | Itas Diatec Trentino 2 | ||
12 Energy Resources San Giustino |
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3-0; 3-0 | Itas Diatec Trentino | ||
Group D |
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4 Sisley Belluno |
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5 Casa Modena | Andreoli Latina 0 |
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9 Andreoli Latina |
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| Italian champion | ||
Group B |
| 2011/12 | |
2 Lube Banca Marche Macerata |
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7 Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza | Lube Banca Marche Macerata 2 |
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11 Marmi Lanza Verona |
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1-3; 3-2; 3-0 | Lube Banca Marche Macerata | ||
Group C |
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3 Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo |
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6 Copra Elior Piacenza | Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 1 | ||
10 Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia |
V-Day Sustenium – League final
Itas Diatec Trentino – Lube Banca Marche Macerata
Past encounters: 35 (21-14 Trento)
This season: 5: twice in the Champions League playoff 6 (3-2 Macerata and 3-0 + Golden set for Trento in return leg); Twice in regular season (2-3 for Macerata and 0-3 for Trento); in the Italian Cup final won by Trentino 3-2.
In the playoffs: 4: they met in the semi-final 2009-10 (3-1 Trento)
Matey Kaziyski (Itas Diatec Trentino): “We know our opponents and how good they are. I guess this will be another very tight contest. We’re preparing the game, in terms of tactics too. We know how to face this kind of games, in which there is enormous pressure, but that does not worry me that much. I really believe in our team”.
Andrea Bari (Itas Diatec Trentino): “It’s always great to take part in a league final but being on the tricolor court is not enough because nobody remembers the losing teams. We have worked all year long thinking about this game, we want to win it as a team more than individuals. This will be a top level game, so a difficult one but I’ve been counting the minutes to the start of this game. Macerata is a very strong team on the serve. We know each other very well now. But after many meetings this season here comes the game of all games”
Igor Omrcen (Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “This is the first league final of my career, and this will also be my last game in the Italian league before moving to Japan. The V-Day is a dream I had for a while, this is undoubtedly the most important moment of my career and I really have to thank my teammates for making it possible, winning the semi-final game 3 with an extraordinary performance, despite all the difficulties including the fact I was disqualified. On the other side of the net, there will be Trento, a team against which we just couldn’t make it this season, but I think we have shown character in the playoffs and that we can make it hard even for this superb Trentino team. This is the game of our life, for me and also for my teammates, we’ll need maximum determination but also a certain composure that we should have acquired knowing what we’re capable of. The favorite remains Trento, but we also have our chance, we really want this league title”.
Simone Parodi (Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “Last year I had to watch the final from the sideline because of a knee injury, so this is great to be back in the V-Day. This is a target I wanted to reach at the start of the season and I am extremely happy to have gotten there, and also with the way we did it, turning things around incredibly in the semi-final. But now we need to win and that won’t be easy. Trento has already beaten us in the Italian Cup and in the Champions League this season. There could not possibly be any better revenge than beating them for the league title. And we will give absolutely everything to make it”. <SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: IT" lan