Trento, 09 February 2022

CEV Champions League, on Thursday at the BLM Group Arena the italian derby of the Pool E

CEV Champions League on stage for the third time this season at the BLM Group Arena in Trento: on Thursday, February 10th, the facility in “Via Fersina” will host the fifth round of Pool E of the group stage of the most important continental tournament, which will see Trentino Itas face Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia for the second Italian derby of the group. The starting bell is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Italian time: it will be live on Radio Dolomiti, discovery+ Eurosport and DAZN.
HERE, TRENTINO ITAS After Civitanova and Modena, the Gialloblù team prepares to face another top Italian team, but, in this case, on an international level, with the goal of trying to get as much as possible to continue to nurture hopes of qualifying for the quarterfinals, to which all of the top five teams in the groups and the three best second-place teams have access.
"Our stated goal is to passe the round and be in the top eight of the tournament; to do so, we need to win at least four games - explained the team-coach Angelo Lorenzetti - Between Thursday's match against Perugia and the following Wednesday's match in Cannes, we have two opportunities to do so, taking into account that we already have three wins; in facing this first commitment, we are well aware of the adversary's great competitiveness, a condition that pushes us to immediately give our best after a very intense period. The appointment will therefore be useful to keep the technical and agonistic level of the team high".
The coach has to deal with the troubling physical conditions of three players of the starting line-up; Kaziyski, Podrascanin and Lisinac in the last days have in fact carried out separate training, having inevitably felt the tiredness deriving from the last intense period. Only at the last moment will it be decided whether or not to use them for the appointment, which will correspond with the 71st European home match in the history of Trentino Volleyball, the 50th ever at the BLM Group Arena in the Champions League, where up until now victory has come in 43 occasions. The most recent continental appearance was on January 13 (3-0 over Cannes).
FIRST TIME AS A FORMER AT BLM GROUP ARENA FOR SIMONE GIANNELLI After wearing the Trentino Volley jersey in the previous twelve seasons, with a total of 315 appearances in first team (130 as captain) and contributing greatly to the victory of ten titles (six of which in the youth sector), the setter Simone Giannelli will appear for the first time as a former player at the BLM Group Arena to challenge the Club where he was born, volleyballingly speaking. Due to a positive Covid-19 test, the South Tyrolean player had missed the match last January 2, but this time he will be there and will be thanked by the gialloblù Club with a dedicated pre-match moment.
THE OPPONENTS Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia goes up to Trento for the second time in this 2022 with the objective of closing the qualification discussion, hunting for the points needed to mathematically conquer first place with one round in advance and therefore make next week's home match with Fenerbahce useful only for statistics. Grbic's team would reach this goal by winning the match at the BLM Group Arena with any kind of score, but it could be faced with some problems; in the last match (played Saturday night at home against Ravenna), the Serbian coach did not use Colaci (injured during the championship match in Milan), Ricci and Russo, in addition to concending Leon a rest. The Umbrian team arrives at this appointment after having played a clear path in the first four days of Pool E (four 3-0 victories in as many matches) and also strong in the SuperLega standings, where they have always scored points: the only two defeats in their regular season have in fact come only at the tie break: at home against Modena and in Trento on January 2nd.
THE SITUATION IN POOL E This is the penultimate round of the group phase that will be completed next week. Pool E is led with a full score by Perugia, which is now very close to winning the group mathematically; Trentino Volley is in second place with three victories, a rather safe position despite the fact that on Tuesday evening the Turks of Fenerbahce have moved up to two points thanks to the 3-2 win at home against Cannes. The first classified of the grouping will access the quarter finals of the tournament, the second to do so will have to be among the best three of all five groups.
EIGHTH ITALIAN DERBY IN THE EUROPEAN COMPETITIONS For Trentino Volleyball, the current one in Pool E with Perugia is the eighth Italian derby ever in the European cups. The previous one was played against the Umbrian team in the double semi-final match (March 18 and 24) of the 2021 edition of the Champions League and was succesful for the Gialloblù. In the archive there is also a tricolor challenge in the 2017 CEV Cup against Piacenza in the quarterfinals (double victory, 3-0 away and 3-1 at home) and five with Lube (all in the Champions League): 3-0 in the semifinals of the 2009 edition, 2-3 and 3-0 in Playoffs 6 of 2012, 3-0 in the semifinals of the 2016 edition, 1-3 and 2-3 in the quarterfinals of 2018, 0-3 and 1-3 in the 2020 group stage.
THE PRECEDENTS Forty-three official matches have already been played between Trentino Volley and Sir Safety Perugia, with a 22-21 win for the Gialloblù; in the current season the score is perfectly equal with two victories on each side. Trento won 3-0 on October 23, 2021 in Civitanova in the Supercoppa semifinal and 3-2 at the BLM Group Arena on January 2, 2022 in the SuperLega; Perugia won in three sets the first match of the regular season on November 3, 2021 at PalaBarton, repeating the same result on December 2, 2021 in the first of two European derbies of Pool E. At the via Fersina facility, Perugia has won only four of the nineteen previous matches played: the last one on October 18, 2020 for 3-1 in an Italian championship match.
THE REFEREES The match will be directed by Polish Wojciech Maroszek, first referee from Katowice, and Ricardo Ferreira, second Portuguese whistle from Porto. Both have previous matches with Trentino Volley: Maroszek even four, including the 2018 World Club Championship Final (won 3-1 over Civitanova on December 2 in Czestochowa) and, the most recent, on March 24, 2021 in Perugia for the Champions League semifinal return match lost in the tie break against the Umbrians; Ferreira's only match is very recent: a 3-0 home win against Cannes on January 13.
RADIO AND INTERNET The match will be broadcast live by Radio Dolomiti, partner radio of Trentino Volley. The frequencies to listen to the regional network are available on the website www.radiodolomiti.com, where it will also be possible to follow 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 at a price of €69.90). For further information www.discoveryplus.it/myaccount/products.
The match will also be broadcast live by Eurosport, a channel visible on the DAZN streaming platform (paid service).
On the internet, point-to-point updates will be provided by the CEV website (https://cevlive.cev.eu/DV_LiveScore.aspx?ID=46072), by the same www.trentinovolley.it and will also be active on the Gialloblù 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 spectators to enter the stands of the via Fersina facility; everyone must have a SUPER GREEN PASS (Covid-19 green certification obtained through vaccination or recovery) and a ffp2 mask, to be worn at all times while inside the facility. The race is the sixth included in the season ticket of the return season; on the card you will find indicated the entrance door to be used to access the stands. Ticket presale is active at any time on the internet by clicking https://trentinovolley.vivaticket.it/it/event/trentino-itas-perugia/175557. The BLM Group Arena cashiers will be available for the sale of tickets on Thursday evening starting at 6:15 pm, the same time that the entrances to the arena will be opened.

Trentino Volley Srl
Press Office