The name is not yet known, but a SuperLega Credem Banca team will certainly take part in the 2024 CEV Champions League Finals: if on one side of the scoreboard it will be Ziraat Bank Ankara (which ousted Piacenza) and Jastrzebski Węgiel who will compete for access to the last act, on the other hand it will be the Italian derby between Cucine Lube Civitanova and Itas Trentino that will establish the second finalist. The first round of the Italian Semifinal will be tomorrow evening, Wednesday 13 March, at the ilT Quotidiano Arena at 8.30pm. The return match will be played eight days later, Thursday 21 March, at the Eurosuole Forum in Civitanova Marche. The red and white have won two Champions Leagues (2002 and 2019), and three have been won by the yellow and blue (2009, 2010 and 2011).
In the Champions League, Lube dominated Pool E, collecting five victories with the maximum margin and one defeat in the tie break. A path that earned them access to the quarterfinals for the sixth season in a row. Round passed thanks to the 3-1 away success in Ankara in the first leg match and the encore within friendly walls with the same result.
Trentino Itas arrives at the match having won seven of the eight matches played in the competition (the only defeat was a tie break with Resovia on 17 January at home).
The one that opens on Wednesday is the eighth Champions League semi-final in the history of Trentino Volley. Since 2021, the penultimate act of the tournament has been divided into a double match (home first leg, away second leg) and no longer a single match to be played on a neutral pitch during a Final Four (as happened in the first five semi-finals gialloblù), Trentino Volley has always faced an Italian team at this point of the scoreboard. The match against Civitanova comes after the 2021 and 2022 semi-finals played against Perugia. The Club of via Trener has, among other things, a particular feeling with the Semi-final of the event, having managed to pass the round and therefore qualify for the Final in six of the previous seven circumstances: 2009 edition (3-0 over Macerata in Prague), 2010 (3-1 against Bled in Lodz), 2011 (3-0 against Jastrzebski), 2016 (3-0 against Civitanova), 2021 (3-0 and 2-3 with Perugia) and 2022 (3-2 and 2-3 with Perugia, winning golden set). The only defeat was in 2012 (1-3 against Kazan). After winning the 2019 Champions League, the Italian vice-champions of Cucine Lube Civitanova dream of returning to play in a European Final.
In SuperLega Credem Banca captain De Cecco and his teammates are coming off two defeats against Monza in the Scudetto Play Off Quarter Final series. Race 3 is scheduled for Sunday 17 March (6.00 pm live on Rai Sport) at the Eurosuole Forum to reopen the series. A rosier situation for Trento, which clearly won Game 1 of the Quarterfinals at home against Modena and conquered PalaPanini at the tie break in Game 2; third act scheduled in Trento on Sunday, at 5.00 pm (live VBTV). The hosts are without setter Riccardo Sbertoli, who is out for a few weeks. Alessandro Acquarone has been promoted to starter and the Frenchman Matthieu Garcia has been signed. The Cucineri, however, are recovering Ivan Zaytsev, who has returned from a long muscle injury and was kept on the bench with Monza.
CEV Champions League 2024 – Semi Finals, Home match
Mercoledì 13 marzo 2024, ore 20.30
Trentino Itas – Cucine Lube Civitanova
Arbitri: Ivaylo Ivanov, Tudor Pop
Diretta DAZN
Telecronaca di Sara Ravanelli
Mercoledì 13 marzo 2024, ore 20.30
Jastrzebski Węgiel (POL) – Ziraat Bank Ankara (TUR)
Arbitri: Aleksandar Vinaliev, Igor Porvaznik
