Next for Perugia is a playoffs quarter-final series against Verona with the first game to be played Thursday away from home. The series will be played on the best of five. The Block Devils finished in fifth place and with an encouraging victory at the expense of Latina in the last round.

“A new championship begins from Thursday – said libero Andrea Giovi – We’ll start from scratch. We have to be positive, with belief in our ability. We were left with a bitter taste after the unlucky game in Moscow, but we also realised we could play face to face with any top level team. We proved that both technically and in terms of character we can have our say, we just have to show it in every game. Next is Verona, we know each other very well, the impact of game 1 will be very important”.