02/03/2016 09:20
Injury-plagued TRENTINO host ASSE-LENNIK in much anticipated re-match
2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Men
Trento, Italy, March 2, 2016. After finishing first in Pool C, Italy’s national champions TRENTINO Diatec were drawn to play Belgium’s Volley ASSE-LENNIK in the Playoffs 12 of the 2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Men. Two weeks ago TRENTINO claimed the first matchup 3-2 in Maaseik, thereby getting a small edge for the upcoming return match which is scheduled for Thursday, March 3.
A victory with any score will be enough for TRENTINO to secure their qualification for the Playoffs 6 of Europe’s elite competition. However, their Bulgarian-born coach Radostin Stoytchev will not be able to count on team captain Filippo Lanza and opposite Mitar Tzourits, who are side-lined by knee and shoulder injuries, respectively. They will be replaced in the starting six by Oleg Antonov and Gabriele Nelli, with the latter having delivered a superb performance two weeks ago in Belgium. This matchup will be somehow a special one for the Belgian-born middle blocker of TRENTINO, Simon Van de Voorde, who will be crossing the way of many players he knows very well.
TRENTINO will be playing their match no. 70 in Europe’s elite competition with a record standing at 57 wins and 12 losses so far. The 2009, 2010 and 2011 gold medal winners of the CEV Volleyball Champions League have at least made the Playoffs 6 four times over the last six years. In 2015 they participated in the CEV Volleyball Cup where they had to settle for the silver medal after losing to Russia’s giant Dinamo MOSCOW in the finals.
“The result of the away match is actually not a real advantage: we still need to win and we do not have to underestimate our opponents,” says the coach of TRENTINO Diatec Radostin Stoytchev. “A hard task is awaiting us, and this game is just as important as the last match in Belgium. Volley ASSE-LENNIK are a team which plays often quick passes, thanks to their experienced setter [Frank Depestele] and they are very solid in defence as well. We really have to prepare for this match as carefully and thoroughly as possible.”
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