Friedrichshafen (Germany), 08 February 2021

Champions League, the guide to the three days of pool e of Friedrichshafen

The second and last concentration of Pool E of the MainPhase of 2021 CEV Champions League will be played in the next three days at the CAT Zeppelin A1 Halle in Friedrichshafen (Germany). Trentino Itas is in Germany with a strong first place in the round and still unbeaten in the competition, having won all seven games played so far (four of which in the preliminary rounds); it will face Lokomotiv Novosibirsk (Tuesday 9 February, 5 pm) and CEZ Karlovarsko (Wednesday 10 February, 5 pm) in rapid succession. The challenge with the hosts of VfB Friedrichshafen (originally scheduled for Thursday 11 February, 7.30 pm), which had to forfeit due to some cases of coronavirus within the team group, will not be played. The two giallo-blù matches will be broadcast live on Radio Dolomiti and Sky Sport.
THE FORMULA AND THE COMPLETE PROGRAM The Pool E of the MainPhase of 2021 CEV Champions League is divided into two concentrations of three days each, which will allow the entire program of twelve overall matches to end. After the concentration of Trento, which took place between the first and the 3 December 2020, the teams will meet again (with identical sequence of matches) also in Friedrichshafen (Germany). The absence, due to Covid, of the local team will reduce the program and will see the other teams winning 3-0 in the single match that they should have played with the Germans in the coming days. The ranking, already updated after the withdrawal of the VfB, sees Trentino Itas soar with four wins and eleven total points, in second place Novosibirsk (two wins and seven points), third Friedrichshafen (two wins and six points), last place for the Karlovarko (one win and three points). The winner of the group will qualify for the quarter-finals and could be accompanied in the final draw by the second, if it be among the best three second places of the five groups. In addition to the two matches that will see Trentino Itas take the field, the game Karlovarsko-Novosibirsk will be played in Friedrichshafen (11 February, 5 pm).
HERE TRENTINO ITAS The regular season of SuperLega has been definitively archived with last Saturday's home success against Ravenna, in the week that has just begun the giallo-blù team can concentrate exclusively on its European path. The goal is to confirm the first place currently occupied in the classification of the grouping to win for the tenth time the qualification for the final draw of the competition.
"Continuing the European championship is one of the main objectives of the second half of our season - confirmed coach Angelo Lorenzetti - . In order to achieve it we know we have to play for two days at a high level, because the opponents we will face are very competitive and will want to put us in difficulty. In particular, the first match will already be considerably important, because we will find ourselves in the presence of a different Novosibirsk from the one we overcame in the comeback in Trento two months ago and which must necessarily win to stay in the race. I therefore expect a difficult debut but within our reach, especially if we manage to put the right grit and determination on the pitch from the first exchange”.
Trentino Itas arrived in Germany on Sunday early evening, bringing all thirteen squad members; even the middle-blocker Podrascanin has in fact overcome the indisposition that had forced him to miss the match against Ravenna on Saturday and regularly went through training this afternoon for about ninety minutes at the Zeppelin CAT Halle A1.
This is the fifteenth ever participation of Trentino Volley in the European Cups, in which it counts four final victories (three Champions League and one CEV Cup). Taking into account all the continental competitions played, the giallo-blù Club has so far played 137 times: the balance is 111 wins (57 in Trento, 54 away) and 26 defeats (20 in the Champions League, 5 in CEV and 1 in Top Teams Cup). The most frequently obtained result is 3-0, recurring in 49% of cases (68 games, 40 of these in Trento); the one that has occurred the least number of times is 0-3 defeat (just five times).
FIRST OPPONENT: LOKOMOTIV NOVOSIBIRSK (9 February, 5 pm) Winning the two games with the greatest possible gap to try to catch a qualification that became complicated already in December, in the Trento bubble. This is the imperative of the Russian club in order to continue the race in the CEV Champions League, a trophy that Lokomotiv Novosibirsk won in 2013 by winning the FinalFour in Omsk which it had organized in Russia. The two defeats recorded at the BLM Group Arena against Trentino Itas (2-3) and Friedrichshafen (1-3) have in fact significantly reduced the chances of qualifying for the quarter-finals, also because on that occasion the red-green team had to reckon with numerous absences. Coach PlamenKostantinov should be able to count on all the players this time, among which the names of Serbian spikers Ivovic and Luburic and middle-blocker Kurkaev stand out. They played against Trentino Volley two times before; in addition to the 3-2 for the giallo-blù team of last December 1st, in the archive there is also the match related to the 2013 Club World Cup semi-final, played on October 19, 2013 in Betim (Brazil) and won 3-1 by the Russians. It is currently in sixth position in the national championship, with thirty-seven points in the standings, the result of twelve victories in twenty games played. The last one in the previous week with Belgorod of Nelli (3-0). The team: 1. Roman Martynyuk (l), 2. Slavi Kostadinov (p), 3. Roman Murashko (o), 4. IuriiBrazhniuk (c), 5. Alexander Voropaev (p), 8. Sergey Savin (s), 9. DrazenLuburic (o), 10. Dmitry Shcherbinin (c), 11. Denis Golubev (l), 13. Aleksandr Tkachev (c), 14. MarkoIvovic (s), 15. Pavel Kruglov (o), 16. DmitriiLyzik (c), 18. AlekseyRodichev (s), 20. IliyasKurkaev (c), 22. Roman Potaliuk (s). Coach Petar Shopov.
SECOND OPPONENT: CEZ KARLOVARSKO (10 February, 5pm) The second experience in history in the CEV Champions League, the sixth ever in the European cups, has not so far given particular satisfaction to the Club which refers to the city of KarloVary and which has a rather recent but already very important history, having been founded only in 2014. The three defeats suffered in Trento in December, winning just two sets, have in fact already marked the path of the team coached by Jiri Novak, therefore destined not to improve most brilliant continental result ever in the club's history (fifth place finish in the 2017 CEV Cup). It is currently in third place in the Czech Extraliga with three points behind but also one game less than leaders Ceske Budejovice (former opponent of Trento in the last edition of the Champions League) and therefore potentially still in the running for the first final place in regular season, before the Play Offs. The team: 1. Martin Fiser (s), 3. Daniel Pfeffer (l), 4. FredricGustavsson (o), 6. Tomas Houda (s), 7. Radek Balaz (c), 8. WesselKeemink (p), 10. Marcel Lux (s), 12. Marc Wilson (c), 13. LukaszWiese (s), 14. VojtechPatocka (c), 15. Lukas Vasina (s), 17. Daniel Rimal (o), 21. Martin Kocka (p), 23. Patrik Indra (o). Allenatore Jiri Novak.
THE REFEREES Lokomotiv Novosibirsk-Trentino Itas will be officiated by the Hungarian Laszlo Adler and the Liechtensteinese Aleksander Sikanjic. The Vaduz whistle will also officiate the operations in the next day's match (CEZ Karlovarsko-Trentino Itas), in this case together with the Frenchman Olivier Guillet. All have at least one precedent with Trentino Volley.
TV, RADIO AND INTERNET The two matches involving Trentino Itas will be broadcast live and exclusively on Sky Sport channels, present on the Sky satellite platform and on any device through the "SkyGo" application (paid service); the match with Novosibirsk will be broadcast on Sky Sport Uno, while the following one on Sky Sport Arena.
As usual, also the live and complete report of Radio Dolomiti, radio partner of Trentino Volley, will be provided. The frequencies to listen to the regional network are available on the website www.radiodolomiti.com, where it will also be possible to listen to the live commentary in streaming.
Live video streaming will also be active on the "EuroVolleyTv" web space, at the internet address www.eurovolley.tv; (paid service). For info on the offered packages www.eurovolley.tv/en-int/page/pricing-and-faq.
In order to follow the evolution of the matches point by point, it will be possible to consult the official website of the CEV at www.cev.eu/Competition-Area/CompetitionView.aspx?ID=1259, which will provide the live score of all three matches , or that of Trentino Volley www.trentinovolley.it which will also offer the report set by set a few minutes after the conclusion of each individual set. Updates will always be active also on the giallo-blù Social Networks (www.trentinovolley.it/facebook, www.trentinovolley.it/instagram and www.trentinovolley.it/twitter).

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