Luxembourg, March 18, 2021. The CEV Champions League Volley Men semi-final pairing between Trentino Itas and Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia will decide which of the two will represent Italy at this year’s Super Finals that will be played in Verona, Italy on 1^st May and thus have a 50/50% chance of winning the Champions League Volley crown.

The first of the two matches will be hosted today by the BLM Group Arena with the two meeting for the second leg only a week after at the Pala Barton Arena in Perugia.

Both matches will be live on CEV’sEuroVolley.TV!

*Geo-restrictions may apply

Head to Head

Today’s encounter will be the first time that Trentino Itas and Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia will be facing each other in Europe’s premiere club competition. However, considering that the Italian League is one of the best represented ones in the competition, both clubs have had to fend off Italian opposition before with Trentino having a negative record of 5 losses out of 8 matches, all against Cucine Lube Civitanova, while Perugia boasts a 5 wins out of 7 matches record.

At this stage of the competition, Trentino (2 wins) and Perugia (1 win) have both managed wins against fellow Italians Civitanova which means that for the first time one of them will be on the losing side of an Italian duel in the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Trentino looking to continue perfect season

Trentino Itas has been having an incredible season making it this far in the competition having started as early as the 1^st Round and managing 12 wins out of as many matches on the way. A three-time Champions League winner, only behind Zenit Kazan (6) and tied with Belogorie Belgorod, as well as a four-time finalist, Trentino is one of the most successful and experienced teams in the competition having lost only once in the semi-finals, against Zenit Kazan (2011/12).

• TRENTINO Itas (W12-L0) can become the first side to claim more than 12 wins in a single edition of the Champions League.

• Nimir Abdel-Aziz (155) is this season's leading points scorer in the Champions League. He has scored at least 40 points more than any other player. Abdel-Aziz has achieved 32 points from serves, more than double the amount of any other player.

• Srecko Lisinac has collected 23 points from stuff blocks this Champions League campaign, at least five more than any other player.

Perugia in search for their first triumph

After losing the final to Zenit Kazan in 2017, Perugia will be feeling now is as good a moment as ever to make the push and attempt to win their first CEV Champions League Volley trophy, relying on a solid run of 13 wins out of their last 15 matches in the competition. However, the two losses suffered have come against Italian opposition, with defeats against Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA (1-3) in this season's fourth round and versus Leo Shoes MODENA (0-3) in the quarter-finals on 23 February.

• Wilfredo León Venero (91) is Sir Sicoma Monini PERUGIA's top scorer this Champions League season. Last season, he finished as the team's leading points scorer on 102 points.

• León Venero and Sebastián Solé have both won a team-high 16 points from stuff blocks this CL season, more than any player registered for Sir Sicoma Monini PERUGIA in the 2019/20 campaign (14 by Roberto Russo).

The return leg of this semi-final is scheduled to take place next week, on 24^th March.