Trento, 04 March 2019

2019 CEV Cup, the returning match of the semifinal on Tuesday at the BLM Group Arena

Both returning matches of the semifinals of 2019 CEV Cup, the second most important European club competition will be played on Tuesday, 5th March. Trentino Itas is about to take part in its eighth European match of the season, the fifth at home: it will play against Olympiacos Piraeus at the BLM Group Arena in Trento, it has already won 3-0 against it in Athens on 26th February. The match will begin at 8.30 pm: live on Radio Dolomiti and on streaming on DAZN.
Here Trentino Itas To qualify for the seventh final in the European history, the World Champions have to win at least two sets on Tuesday evening, or achieve the golden set at the 15th point that will be played just if the opponents will win 3-0 or 3-1. Trentino Itas is about to reach the appointment, having rested just a few hours after the away game in Busto Arsizio on Sunday, but at the same time with the confidence resulting from the success against Milano and Olympiacos.
“We managed to do a great performance in Athens, above all for what concerned our attitude - explained the coach Angelo Lorenzetti - we were at peace, determined but at the same time we have shown the right aggressivity. I hope the team can do the same performance, because we really want to access to the Final. 2019 CEV Cup is one of our main goals of the season and we want to get a step closer to the trophy, proving our worth also in this match, worth that as volleyball teaches us, is never a given"
The training sessions set for today in the evening and tomorrow in the morning will be useful to dispel the last doubts regarding the starting six, Lisinac may again not be one them (was precautionary resting also in Busto Arsizio, on Sunday).
Fifty-seventh European match at the BLM Group Arena On Tuesday the BLM Group Arena will host the fifty-seventh European home match in the history of Trentino Volley, the thirty-fifth of CEV Cup, in which it has already won twenty-nine times (only five losses: two against Ankara in the 2005 edition, one against Moscow in the 2015 one, one against Fenerbahce and Tour  in the 2017 one). The last home win is the one on 13th February, 3-0 in the returning match of the quarterfinals against Amriswil. Trentino Volley will take part in its 803rd official match and in its 160th international one (131 wins and 28 losses).
The opponents Olympiacos Piraeus will come to Trento seeking redemption. The Greek Champions had their worst week of the season, not only because of the 0-3 loss against Trentino Itas (first home loss of the year) but also because of the ko against Foinikas Syroy, that broke the long row of fourteen consecutive wins and made them lose their invincibility in the tournament. It has a notable past also at European level since it has already won two times the CEV Cup (in 1996 and 2005). The most relevant international title is the one obtained on the occasion of Champions League 2002, during which it reached the second place after Lube Banca Marche Macerata in Opole (Poland). During the last season it almost won in the Challenge Cup losing at the final against an Italian team, Bunge Ravenna. Olympiacos Piraeus’s roster: 1. Konstantinos Christofidelis (libero), 2. Paraskevas Tselios (middle hitter), 3. Nikos Zoupani (s), 4. Nikolaos Smaragdis (middle hitter), 5. Konstantinos Stivachtis (setter), 6. Georgios Stefanou (libero), 7. Georgios Petreas (middle hitter), 8. Marcus Boehme (middle hitter), 9. Theologos-Christos Daridis (libero), 10. Andreas Andreadis (middle hitter), 12. Gavin Schmitt (opposite hitter ), 14. Eemi Tervaportti (setter), 15. Todor Aleksiev (spiker), 17. Rafail Koumentakis (spiker), 18. Jeroen Rauwerdink (spiker).  Coach Fernando Munoz Benitez.
Trentino Itas will make it to the Final if… To have access to the seventh European final of its history, Trentino Itas needs to win two sets; thanks to the 3-0 win in the going match, Giannelli and his teammates can even lose at the tie break to avoid going at golden set with Olympiacos, that will be played just in case the Swiss would win in four sets. The regulation is the same used in the phase of 12 Playoffs of CEV Champions League. Who will qualify will face the winning team between Galatasaray Instanbul-Kuzbass Kemerovo (the returning match will be played on Tuesday evening, after the win of the Russian team in four sets during the going match).
Previous matches On Tuesday the fourth match between the two societies that have already faced each other two times during the round phase of 2010’s Champions League and in the semifinal of the current CEV Cup. Trentino Volley is ahead with 2-1 thanks to the victories achieved in Athens (3-2 on 2nd December 2009 and 3-0 on 26th February 2019); on the other hand Olympiacos has won the only previous match played in Trento: on 20th January 2010 at the tie break. The one on Tuesday will be the eighth match for Trentino Volley against the Greek team, considering also the 3-1 win against Patra in Odense (Denmark - CEV Cup) on 13th November, the success in four sets against Iraklis Thessaloniki in the final of CEV Indesit Champions League 2009 in Prague and the two victories against Paok Salonicco (3-1 in an away match on 18th November 2004 and 3-0 in a home match on 19th January 2016) in the 2016’s edition of CEV Champions League.
Referees The match will be directed by Piotr Krol, first Polish referee coming from Katowice and by Svetlana Zotovic, from Serbia, second referee from Belgrade. They have not directed a Trentino Volley’s match before.
Radio and Internet The match will be transmitted live on Radio Dolomiti,  broadcast partner of Trentino Volley, first broadcast around 8.25 pm. It is possible to have access to all the frequencies of the regional network by accessing the “on air” section at the link www.radiodolomiti.com. You can follow the match on DAZN, a live streaming and on demand platform, available on vast range of devices, like Smart TVs, PCs, smartphones, tablets and game consoles.
DAZN requires a registration and offers the first month for free (it will then become a fee-charging service, with the possibility of cancelling the subscription anytime); for each account, it is possible to associate up until six devices, two of them can be simultaneously connected.
To follow the scoring it is possible to visit CEV official website at the link https://cevlive.cev.eu/DV_LiveScore.aspx?ID=31580, that will provide the live score, and also Trentino Volley’s website www.trentinovolley.it, that will provide the match report just a couple of minutes after the end of each set. Updates are to be found on Trentino Volley’s social media (www.trentinovolley.it/facebook and www.trentinovolley.it/twitter)
Tickets. The match is not included in the 2018/19 seasonal ticket. The subscribers were given the time to confirm their usual seat at the BLM Group Arena up until 26th February. The pre-sale of tickets will be active until 5 pm of Tuesday at Trentino Volley’s offices (via Trener, 2 in Trento), at Promoevent, in via Suffragio, 10 in Trento and anytime on the Internet at the link www.vivaticket.it/ita/event/trentino-itas-olympiacos/127446. Tickets are available also on Tuesday evening at the BLM Group Arena, starting from 7.30 pm, time in which also the access doors of the Arena will be opened.

Trentino Volley Srl
Press Office