Trento, 15 December 2021

Cev Champions League again at the Blm Group Arena on Thursday

CEV Champions League plays at the BLM Group Arena for the first time this season. On Thursday, December 16th, the Trento arena will host the second round of Pool E of the group stage of the most important continental championship, which will see Trentino Itas host the Turkish Fenerbahce HDI Istanbul. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Italian time: live on Radio Dolomiti and discovery+.
HERE TRENTINO ITAS Having finisched the 2021 World Club Championship with the bronze medal, the team returns to its European journey, that had stopped in Perugia in order to make room for the commitments in Brazil.
"Only those who don't know the competitiveness and the game organization of Turkish teams can underestimate this appointment, which is really one of the most important of December - explains coach Angelo Lorenzetti - . Fenerbahce is, in fact, a very compact and talented team, and it's no coincidence that they're at the top of the national championship and Pool E. After losing the first round in Perugia, we absolutely need a full victory to get back on track and start aiming for qualification for the quarters, which will inevitably come through commitments like these. We arrive at this appointment after a week of play in Brazil: if on one hand it may have weighed down our legs, on the other hand it has certainly gave us more game rhythm and condition".
The coach from Marche will have all thirteen players available, who returned to training session at the BLM Group Arena on Tuesday afternoon and will complete their preparation this afternoon and on Thursday morning. The match with Fenerbahce will be the 146th European game in the history of Trentino Volley, the 106th ever in the Champions League, in which they won 82 times.
THE BLM GROUP ARENA CAN BREATHE EUROPEAN AIR AGAIN After a 271-day wait, the BLM Group Arena will once again host a CEV Champions League match. The most recent match was in fact on March 18th, first match of the semifinal won 3-0 against Perugia. The match will be the 69th European home game in the history of Trentino Volley, the 48th ever in the single competition, in which they won 41 times so far.
THE OPPONENTS Strong thanks to the first place in Pool E and second place in the Turkish championship, in which they have won ten of the twelve matches played so far (the last one last Sunday against Spor Toto Sk in three sets), Fenerbahce arrives in Trento with the goal of trying to gain the first victory in its history at the BLM Group Arena, where it has always lost so far (two matches, two defeats). The historic team of Istanbul's main sports club has been a regular player in volleyball only since 1976, after almost fifty years in which they were dressed in vertical yellow-black stripes (the club's typical jersey) only intermittently (1927-1935, 1941, 1946-1947, 1952-1971). The club has invested in the sport especially in the last twenty years, securing the presence in the roster of several foreign players who had previously been protagonists in the the Italian championship for many years. The experience of coach Daniel Castellani (former coach of Perugia) was chosen for this ninth participation in the highest continental trophy. The setter is the expert Yatgin, who acts diagonally to the opposite player Toy (one of the few confirmed together with Hidalgo Oliva and the libero Yesilbudak), while Louati (former player of Padova and Monza) attacks on the high ball. In the middle there's room for Iranian center Mousavi (former player of  Piacenza). Fenerbahce HDI Istanbul roster: 1. Kaan Gurbuz (o), 4. Yacine Louati (s), 5. Hasan Yesilbudak (l), 6. Seyed Mousavi Eraghi (c), 7. Izzet Unver (s), 9. Burak Mert (l), 10. Emre Batur (c), 11. Taha Erden (s), 13. Salvador Hidalgo Oliva (s), 14. Hasan Sikar (c), 15. Metin Toy (o), 16. Ogulcan Yatgin (p), 17. Muhammet Kaya (p), 19. Bora Jozef Stanicki (s), 20. Doruk Daioglu (l). Coach Daniel Castellani.
THE SITUATION OF POOL E Two teams in the lead with full points after the first day in Pool E: Perugia and Fenerbahce, that in the first round have overcome with 3-0 respectively Trento and Cannes. The second round will see the two leaders playing away, taking into account that this evening Cannes will host Perugia. The first classified of the round will access the quarter finals of the tournament, the second one will have to be among the best three of all five rounds in order to have access.
PREVIOUS EVENTS Trentino Volleyball and Fenerbahce Istanbul have already officially faced each other four times, in the 2017 CEV Cup semifinal (one win on each side between March 28th and April 1st) and in the 2020 Champions League group stage (two victories for Trentino , at home on December 12th, 2019 and in Istanbul on January 30th, 2020). At the BLM Group Arena, the Turks have won only two sets overall, those of the match of two years ago, which ended with partials of 21-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-17, 16-14. For the Club of via Trener, Thursday's match will be the 14th against a Turkish team, also taking into account the five matches played against Izmir (all won), the two against Halkbank Ankara (both lost) and the two against Galatasaray (both won): the overall balance is of eleven victories and two defeats.
THE REFEREES The match will be refereed by Maciej Twardowski, first referee coming from Radom (Poland), and Lucian-Vasile Nastase (from Galati - Romania). Both with at least one previous match with Trentino Volley, refereed by Twardowski on December 2ns, 2015 in the PalaTrento (3-0 over Tours) and more recently by Nastase, who among other things was also the referee in the last home match in the Champions League played before this one: March 18th, 2021, victory in three sets against Perugia.
RADIO AND INTERNET The match will be broadcast live on Radio Dolomiti, partner radio of Trentino Volley, starting at 8:30 pm. The frequencies to tune in the regional network can be found on the website www.radiodolomiti.com, where it will also be possible to listen to the live radio commentary in streaming.
Live streaming video will also be available on the "discovery+" platform, by purchasing the "Entertainment + Sport" package (annual subscription for €69.90). For further information www.discoveryplus.it/myaccount/products.
Point-to-point updates will also be provided by the CEV website (https://cevlive.cev.eu/DV_LiveScore.aspx?ID=46067), by www.trentinovolley.it and will also be active on the yellow-blue team social networks (www.trentinovolley.it/facebook, www.trentinovolley.it/instagram and www.trentinovolley.it/twitter).
TICKETS AND ENTRANCE METHODS For this event, Trentino Volley will allow a limited number of people to enter the stands of the via Fersina arena; everyone must have a valid green pass and wear a mask for the entire duration of their stay inside the arena. The match is included in the season ticket of the first round; the entrance door to be used to access the stands is indicated on the card. Ticket presale is active at any time on the internet by clicking https://trentinovolley.vivaticket.it/it/event/trentino-itas-fenerbahce/170731. The BLM Group Arena boxes will be available starting at 7.15 pm, the same time in which the entrances to the arena will be opened.
The access and exit procedures and the behavior to be kept inside the structure, at the bar and at the ticket offices of the arena can be consulted in the specific regulation.

Trentino Volley Srl
Press Office