First stage at the PalaPanini in Modena against Francesco Petrella’s Valsa Group. Not just any opponent for coach Roberto Piazza. Cities and people who already meet on the first day of the Superlega Credem Banca 2023/2024 championship. Appointment on October 22nd. In one of his rare days of rest in a busy summer, including with the Dutch national team, the Allianz Milan coach talks about the calendar, his Milan and his opponents.
Ready to go it will be climbed immediately, with a series of mountain grand prix… surprised or was it in the plans?
“Objectively, I expected a more or less similar start. We have to remember that we finished last year’s regular season in eighth place, while two seasons ago we finished fifth, so the matches happened a little differently. I always say that you have to play against everyone, sooner or later. This year we will have some teams in the first days that are already super equipped”.
Modena, Piacenza, Cisterna, Lube and Trento…
“Yes, the first five games will be tough. And no one thinks of drawing breath against Cisterna in the middle. I remember well what happened last season with them. We lost all 6 points up for grabs. No opponent should be underestimated, but neither should alarm bells be exaggerated if something doesn’t work right away.”
It will be a very short championship, five and a half months, also including the Cev Cup. Preceded by many international commitments. You will begin by having a good part of the sextet available for only a few days. How will you schedule the start of the tournament?
“I will move along the lines of what I did at the beginning of the summer with Holland. The players arrive highly trained, some hyper-trained due to the Olympic qualifying tournaments, which are a commitment everyone cares about. Yuki (Ishikawa ed), Loser and Mergarejo are three very important players for our team and will be protagonists of the Olympic qualifying tournament. I’ll have to put them in right away and handle them with the dropper. We will have three full weeks of work. In one month we will face the two finalists of the last season Lube and Trento. But we are equipped to play against opponents of this caliber. Of course, it will be necessary to evaluate if and when to let someone rest, without stretching their neck too much “.
