13/04/2016 09:45
TRENTINO vs CIVITANOVA – Facts and figures to get ready for much-awaited Italian derby
2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Men
Luxembourg, April 13, 2016. This coming weekend TRENTINO Diatec and Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA will be hoping to provide Italy’s Volleyball family with something more to cheer about and to follow in the footsteps of Pomì CASALMAGGIORE when competing at the Final Four tournament of the 2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Men. Three-time CL gold medal winners TRENTINO and 2002 champions Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA will be travelling to Krakow determined to stop the negative streak from the semis of the Italian Superleague where they are currently trailing 0-2 in their respective series with DHL MODENA and Sir Safety Conad PERUGIA.
A bit of history
On Saturday TRENTINO and CIVITANOVA will be playing the first all-Italian semi-final in the CEV Volleyball Champions League since 2009, when these two teams were also competing for a place in the final. TRENTINO beat Cucine Lube in three sets in that semi-final seven years ago before edging Iraklis THESSALONIKI of Greece in the final to claim the first of three consecutive crowns in Europe’s elite competition.
These teams, apart from the semi-final match played in 2009 in Prague, also crossed their ways in the Playoffs 6 of the 2012 edition, where TRENTINO had the upper hand at the golden set following a 3-2 loss in Macerata, which they erased with a 3-0 home victory. TRENTINO settled for the bronze medal at the 2012 Final Four in Lodz, losing to eventual winners Zenit KAZAN in the semis before edging Turkey’s Arkas IZMIR in the ‘small final’.
Though Italian teams have always been a major force to be reckoned with since the CEV Volleyball Champions League was established 16 years ago, only one Italian team has reached the final in the last four editions: Bre Banca Lannutti CUNEO were runners-up in 2013 after losing a dramatic gold medal match to Russia’s Lokomotiv NOVOSIBIRSK.
Head-to-heads
Rivals TRENTINO and Cucine Lube have met on 48 occasions, with TRENTINO winning 28 times and Lube 20 times (these figures account for 104 sets won by TRENTINO and 92 claimed by Cucine Lube). Focussing on games contested on ‘neutral ground’, like the semi-final coming up this weekend in Krakow, TRENTINO currently lead the way with five wins out of nine matches.
TRENTINO and Cucine Lube will meet for the fourth time this season. Both teams won their respective league home matches: TRENTINO recorded a 3-2 win on December 13, 2015 and Cucine Lube cruised to a commanding 3-0 win on March 6, 2016. On February 6 TRENTINO beat Cucine Lube 3-2 in the semi-final of the Italian Cup before losing the title-deciding match to DHL MODENA.
TRENTINO Diatec
TRENTINO Diatec are making their first Final Four appearance since 2012 when they settled for the bronze medal. They have not reached the final since 2011, when they won their third Champions League title in a row edging Russia’s Zenit KAZAN in front of a partisan crowd in Bolzano.
The Italians have won nine of their 10 Champions League matches this season, only losing in five sets to TOURS VB in France during the League Round.
Belgium’s Simon Van de Voorde (32 points) and Argentina’s Sebastián Solé (29) top the charts of the best blockers this season. TRENTINO have an average of 3.1 points from blocks per set, the best average of all teams.
Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA
Cucine Lube – previously known as MACERATA and TREIA – have reached the Final Four for the fourth time, after 2002 (champion), 2007 (4th place) and 2009 (4th place).
The only time Cucine Lube won the Champions League, in 2002, the Finals were also held in Poland (Opole). Their current captain, Serbia-born Volleyball legend Ivan Miljkovic, was part of that Champions League winning team and the only player still on the roster.
Lube have lost two matches this Champions League season; these include a 3-1 defeat to Belgium’s Knack ROESELARE in the group stage – however that result was not going to have any impact on the final pool standing – and a 3-2 defeat to Halkbank ANKARA in the second leg of the Playoffs 6 before the Italians had the upper hand at the golden set.
Lube have scored most points this Champions League season (634), two more than second-best PGE Skra BELCHATOW (632) of Poland.
Dragan Stankovic scored 13 points from blocks in the Playoffs this season. Only TRENTINO’s Simon Van de Voorde had more (15).
Click here for further information and visit the official website www.assecoresovia.pl/en/newsfinalfour/
A live gallery of the competition will be available right here; on social media please use the official competition hashtags #CEVChampionsLeagueM and #CLF4Krakow
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