Trentino looking to return to SuperLega Final on Wednesday

The first team to advance to the SuperLega Credem Banca semifinals, Itas Trentino want to be the first ones to make it to the Italian League final too, and they will have the first opportunity to make it happen on Wednesday, when they face Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza at home.

Currently leading the series between the teams 2-0, Trentino will secure a spot in the Scudetto Final if they prevail again in their third duel, which is set to start at 18:00 local time (16:00 UTC), in Trento. At the same time, Cucine Lube Civitanova and Allianz Milano will try to get the go-ahead victory in their series, which is tied 1-1.

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Looking to return to the SuperLega Final for the first time since 2016-2017, Trentino have last lifted the trophy in Italy back in 2014-2015. The 2022 FIVB Men’s Club World Championship silver medallists are just one win away from accomplishing their goal after downing Piacenza twice at the start of the series.

Trentino have displayed strength, sweeping the Coppa Italia champions at home in the series opener and beating them 3-1 on the road on Sunday. Despite their advantage, the players try to stay ground ahead of what could be a decisive match.

“We’re ahead 2-0, but we know that Piacenza have players that will fight until the end and that are capable of playing at a very high level,” middle blocker Srecko Lisinac commented. “We are very aware of that and we count on our supporters, who have always helped us a lot, to show up again and push us to make it to the final.”

For Piacenza, the only option left is to beat Trentino on the road and extend the series to remain alive. The team apparently lost the momentum built with their incredible comeback against Valsa Group Modena in the quarterfinals, but that series is exactly where the Coppa Italia champions get their motivation from.

“I think we’ve proved that we’re a team that never gives up and we’ll fight until the end again,” setter Antoine Brizard stated. “We hope we can play better and we expect to return home for match four in a few days. We have given everything this season and we deserve to be here. We’re fortunate that there’s still a chance we can advance and we’ll fight for it.”

The series between Milano and Lube enters the third match tied after the team from Northern Italy secured a dramatic 3-2 victory at home on Sunday – Lube had won the first duel in Civitanova Marche in straight sets on Thursday.

Milano are more confident after leveling the playing field and now they want to upset Lube on the road in order to have a chance of endings the series in front of their home fans in match four, on Saturday.

“Match three is going to be different as we’re going to be on the road and won’t have the fans by our side,” opposite Jean Patry reflected. “We need to find a way to be able to play as we did on Sunday without the support from the stands. Returning to Milan with the opportunity of ending the series would be great and we need to give everything we have to make it happen and also have confidence in the work we’ve done so far.”

For defending champions Lube, the goal is to make good use of the homecourt advantage and implement minor adjustments in order to regain control of the series.

“Losses teach you lessons and help you find ways to improve, but at this point of the season, results are what matter,” setter Luciano De Cecco analysed. “We won’t have a lot of time to prepare for match three, but we need to be ready for another battle. We know Milano will be a strong opponent across the net and we were under no illusions that we could handle them easily after our 3-0 win in match one. We’ll need to limit our errors and be ready to compete.”

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