Everything is ready for the return semi-final of the CEV Champions League between Cucine Lube Civitanova and Trentino Itas, scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday 21 March, at the Eurosuole Forum in Civitanova Marche. It will be the last round before the Finals on 4/5 May (venue yet to be made official). In the first leg, Trentino won 3 to 1: kick-off scheduled for 8.30 pm, live on DAZN.
The hosts of Cucina Lube Civitanova will attempt a comeback in front of the friendly public to try to win the Final. A difficult but not impossible task, with the team coached by Chicco Blengini who will have to close the match 3 to 0 or possibly 3 to 1 and then prevail in the following Golden Set.
On the other side of the net there will be Fabio Soli’s men who, thanks to the 3 to 1 obtained in the first leg in the setting of the IlT Quotidiano Arena, will be able to gain the pass for the final act of the top European competition by winning at least two sets in the race that will take place tomorrow evening in the Marche region.
If the comeback for captain Luciano De Cecco and his teammates were to materialise, Lube would find themselves playing in their fourth European final, while in the event that the Trentino team were to celebrate at the end of the match, Marko Podrascanin and his men would play the third Final in the last four editions.
It will be act number 99 of the eternal challenge between Cucina Lube and Itas: it is the Marches who lead this match, having won 53 times against the 45 of the club from via Trener, but in the current season it was Fabio Soli’s men to prevail, both on the outward journey and on the return journey. Fourth meeting in the Champions League semi-final, however, for the two teams.
The qualified team will find the winner in the Finals between Jastrzebski Węgiel and Ziraat Bank Ankara, with the Poles having won in three sets in the first leg match. The return leg is scheduled for today, Wednesday 20 March, at 5pm Italian time (7pm local time) in Turkey.
CEV Champions League 2024 – Semi Finals, Away match
Thursday 21 March 2024, 8.30 pm
Cucine Lube Civitanova – Trentino Itas
Referees: Michail Koutsoulas, Bruno Muha
Live DAZN
Commentary by Gianluca Pascucci
First leg: Itas Trentino – Cucine Lube Civitanova 3-1 (25-17, 16-25, 25-18, 25-23)
Wednesday 20 March 2024, 5.00 pm
Ziraat Bank Ankara (TUR) – Jastrzebski Węgiel (POL)
First leg: Jastrzebski Węgiel (POL) – Ziraat Bank Ankara (TUR) 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 30-28)
