Trento, 30 September 2020

Champions League, Thursday at the BLM Group Arena the third and last match of Pool F

On Thursday 30 September at the BLM Group Arena, the three days of matches valid for Pool F of the first preliminary round of 2021 CEV Champions League will end, which Trentino Volley organizes at home this week; after the match on Tuesday, Trentino Itas will face the Serbians of Ok Vojvodina Seme Novi Sad for the third and last day that will determine the final ranking of the group and the qualified for the next turn. The kickoff is at 20.30: live on Radio Dolomiti and www.eurovolley.tv.
HERE TRENTINO ITAS After the 3-0 over London, the gialloblù team is back at work this afternoon to prepare for the match that will decide their fate in Champions League; with a win, they will continue in Champions League, while a loss will make them slip in the CEV Cup.
“It’s the decisive match of this first group and we are preparing to be at our best. We need to overcome an opponent that we don’t perfectly know but that any way we will face with great attention” has explained already on Tuesday the coach Angelo Lorenzetti who, apart from Michieletto, can count on every player of the team.
FIRST TIME IN THE PRELIMINARY PHASE The tenth participation at the biggest continental championship for Clubs started for the first time in the preliminary phase for Trentino Volley. Never before the gialloblù Company has to do a qualification turn before the Main Phase. This singular circumstance is because Trentino Itas is at the start of the event thanks to a wild card granted by the CEV and not for sporting merits, given that for qualification, the ranking of the Italian championship 2019/20 was valid at the time of the start of the lockdown (then with Civitanova, Modena and Perugia in front of Trento).
THE NUMBERS OF TRENTINO VOLLEY IN THE EUROPEAN CUPS The one just started is the tenth participation ever of Trentino Volley in CEV Champions League, the fifteenth overall in Europe. Excluding the wins of the 2009, 2010 and 2011 editions, the third place in 2012, the presence in the Playoffs 12 in 2013, the one in the Playoffs 6 in 2015 and 2018 and the second place overall in 2016, the Company of Via Trener has participated during the 2004/05 season without too much luck before at the Top Teams Cup (where it was eliminated by the Dutchs of Ortec Nesselande Rotterdam in the preliminary phase at the BLM Group Arena) and then at the CEV Cup, won in 2019 and characterized also by two finals lost at the golden set (in 2015 with Moscow, in 2017 with Tours). Taking into account all European competitions played, Trentino Volley has played 131 official matches: 105 wins (53 in Trento, 52 away) and 26 losses (20 in Champions League, 5 in CEV and 1 in Top Teams Cup).
THE OPPONENTS These days, one of the most traditional volleyball clubs in Serbia has arrived at the BLM Group Arena; founded in 1946, in Vojvodina Novi Sad champions of absolute level have taken their first steps like the Grbic brothers (Vladimir and Nikola) and other players of the likes of Geric, Mester, Kovac, Miijc and Podrascanin. Between the 80s and 90s, it won championships (11) and National Cups (7), finding international prestige with the third place in Champions League in the 1989 and 1996 editions. However, the most recent and most prestigious result was obtained in the 2014/15 season: after being eliminated by Trentino Volley in CEV Cup at the round of thirty-two, the biancorossi team moved in Challenge Cup, winning the championship in Lisbon against Benfica. The one in progress is yet another participation at the Champions League (in which, between the 80s and 90s, it also obtained two final second places), thanks to the win of the national championship (the fourth in a row). In the team coached by Sinisa Gavrancic, completely local and traditionally very young, the player with the most experience is the middle blocker and captain Simic, while the most representative player is the opposite spiker Blagojevic (in Molfetta in the Italian championship a few seasons ago).
It arrives at the appointment with the first seasonal success for its own palmarès in the last weekend; the national Supercoppa, won in the final against Partizan Belgrado by 3-1. The sporting director of the Club is Slobodan Boskan, former Trentino Volley’s spiker in the first two seasons of activity (from 2000 to 2002). The team of Ok Vojvodina Seme Novi Sad: 1. Stevan Simic (c), 2. Radoslav Brboric (l), 3. Luka Cubrilo (p), 4. Lazar Bajandic (s), 6. Filip Kovacevic (s), 7. Stefan Negic (l), 8. Nemanja Masulovic (c), 9. Aleksandar Bosnjak (c), 11. Boris Busa (o), 13. Aleksandar Blagojevic (o), 15. Veljko Prisic (s), 16. Vuk Todorovic (p), 17. Andrej Rudic (c), 18. Pavle Peric (s). Coach Sinisa Gavrancic.
POOL F’S SITUATION AND THE FORMULA After the win by 3-0 over London on Tuesday, Trentino Itas is at the top of the Pool F’s ranking and waits for the match of this evening between English and Serbians to know the progression for the qualifications. To advance in the Main Phase (to which Civitanova, Modena and Perugia are already qualified), Trentino Itas must qualify in the first place of Pool F and then also of Pool H, in which there are the winner of Pool F, the Russians of Dinamo Mosca or the Austrians of Aich/Dob (running to win Pool D) and the first of Pool E (one from the Belgians of Maaseik, the Swiss of Amriswil and the Belarusians of Soligorsk).
PRECEDENTS Two matches are already in the history between Trentino Volley and Vojvodina Novi Sad. Both are referred to the 2015 CEV Cup, then ended in the second place for the gialloblù team. The two Companies faced each other in the round of thirty-two; in both cases the gialloblù team won: by 3-1 in Novi Sad the 5 November 2011 in the first leg, by 3-0 in Trento two weeks later. In total, the matches against the Serbian teams are six, considering the precedents in the 2012 edition of the same championship as well, when the gialloblù team faced Partizan Belgrado in Pool C of the Main Phase, obtaining in both matches a win by 3-0, and C, won at home in three sets and by 3-1 in the away game.
THE REFEREES The match will be arbitrated by the Slovenian Blaz Markelj, the first referee from Ljubljana, and by the Dutch Daniel Jettandt (from Enschede). The latter also arbitrated the game on Tuesday evening, while to find a precedent with the Slovenian referee we need to go to the 10 December 2013: success by 3-1 in Lugano in the group's phase.
RADIO AND INTERNET The match will have live and full coverage from Radio Dolomiti, network partner of Trentino Volley. The frequencies to tune into the regional network are on the website www.radiodolomiti.com, where you can listen to the commentary live streaming as well.
Also, there will be live streaming on “EuroVolleyTv” at www.eurovolley.tv; paid service. For info on the packages offered www.eurovolley.tv/en-int/page/pricing-and-faq.
To follow the point-by-point evolution of the match, it will be possible to consult the official website of the CEV at https://cevlive.cev.eu/DV_LiveScore.aspx?ID=38486, which will have the live score, or the one of Trentino Volley www.trentinovolley.it that will offer the report set by set a few minutes after the conclusion of each individual set. Updates will always be active on the Gialloblù Social Networks (www.trentinovolley.it/facebook, www.trentinovolley.it/instagram and www.trentinovolley.it/twitter).
RULES FOR ACCESSING THE BLM GROUP ARENA For this appointment, thanks to the effective collaboration established with the Autonomous Province of Trento, the APSS and the Protezione Civile, Trentino Volley will be able to access a maximum of one thousand spectators in the stands of the Via Fersina stadium. Thursday 1 October the cash desks of the BLM Group Arena will remain closed to avoid possible gatherings. Each holder of a mini pass must present the self-declaration of Covid-19 prevention at the entrance to the match, which can be replaced by the Immuni App correctly installed on their smartphone. At the entrance to the BLM Group Arena, the security officers will measure the temperature; if higher than 37.5 °, the person must stop in a specially reserved space before a new check. Spectators will have to respect the routes traced for access. During the entire stay in the BLM Group Arena it will be mandatory to wear a mask and it will be forbidden to bring any type of banners, flags or other items inside. The expected interpersonal distance within the plant is 1.5 meters; groups of people not subject to distancing (cohabitants) will be exempt. The spectator will not be able to leave his seat except to go to the toilets. At the end of the game there will be no contact between the public and the players. The outflow must take place in an orderly manner, avoiding gatherings and following the order that will be given by the speaker and the control staff.

Trentino Volley Srl
Press Office