IRAKLIS THESSALONIKI – TRENTINO VOLLEY 1-3 (12-25, 25-21, 24-26, 22-25)
IRAKLIS THESSALONIKI : Konstantinov 3, Kravarik 9, Akhrem 14, Koulieris, Smaragdis 7, Charitonidis, Nilsson 18, Gkortsaniouk 2, Tischer 4, Sena Da Conceicao (L). Dnp Brooks Bongo, Kanellos. Coach. Gulinelli Flavio.
TRENTINO VOLLEY : Grbic 5, Winiarski 9, Kaziyski 17, Bari (L), Garcia Pires Ribeiro 5, Della Lunga 1, Birarelli 5, Vissotto Neves 21. Dnp Zygadlo, Stefanov, Piscopo, De Paola. Coach. Stoytchev Radostin.
Trentino Volley is on top of Europe. At the end of an extremely tense game against Flavio Gulinelli’s Iraklis team, Stoytchev’s men managed to win the title in its debut season in the competition. They made it 12 victories in 12 games, which shows who deservedly they brought the cup back home. The last Italian team to win it was Treviso in 2006.
Grbic and co played to perfection in the first set. It was all one-way traffic and Iraklis never showed any sign of a comeback (12-25). Gulinelli’s boys began to play in the second set. A different attitude combined with the good work of Kravarik and Nilsson meant the game was all tied at 1-1 (25-21). In the third set, it controlled the game better but still struggled to play a flowing volleyball. There is a lot at stake and both teams are making mistakes. Trento trailed 8-6 but Kazyiski took over and, helped by a better work at the net, it went 2-1 up. In the fourth set, Winiarski and three consecutive points from Riad sent the Italian Champs 8-3 up at the first technical timeout. The greeks didn’t give up though but Vissotto was everywhere and Kaziyski was doing some damage on the serve. And it’s on one of his serve that the 1500 Trento fans that travelled to Prague celebrated a historic triumph in the Champions League.
CEV INDESIT EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – FINAL FOUR
Iskra Odintsovo (RUS) – Iraklis Salonicco (GRE) 1-3 (25-19, 22-25, 23-25, 23-25)
Trentino Volley – Lube Banca Marche Macerata 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-23)
Game for third place
Iskra Odintsovo (RUS) – Lube Banca Marche Macerata 3-2 (25-23, 25-23, 28-30, 21-25, 17-15)
FINAL
Iraklis Salonicco (GRE) – Trentino Volley 1-3 (12-25, 25-21, 23-25, 22-25)
