Trento, 06 April 2022

Champions League, Thursday at BLM Group Arena (8.30 pm) the return semifinal

The returning match of the 2022 CEV Champions League semifinal will be played on Thursday, April 7th at the BLM Group Arena - the last round before the Final in Ljubljana (Slovenia) on May 22nd. Trentino Itas will host Sir Sicoma Monini, already beaten 3-2 in the first leg in Perugia, to try to conquer the qualification. The starting bell is scheduled for 8:30 p.m.; live coverage by RAI Sport +, Radio Dolomiti, discovery+ and Eurosport 2.
HERE TRENTINO ITAS After the promising result obtained seven days ago in Umbria, the Gialloblù returns to the court to try to get a pass for the Final of the maximum continental competition, already played last year. In order to do so, it will be necessary to win three sets, bearing in mind that in order to pass the turn it is necessary to win with any score or lose the official match at the tie break and secure the subsequent golden set.
"The result of the first round match was beautiful and prestigious but, in fact, it is only useful to keep our chances of qualification intact, something not taken for granted considering that the opponent is called Perugia - explained coach Angelo Lorenzetti - . To try and repeat, we'll have to show the same attitude we showed at PalaBarton, recognizing the important moments of the match and acting accordingly, without ever pulling the plug. It's a beautiful appointment to experience, that we deserved to play until the end, with the possibility to do it in front of our public".
Trentino Itas arrives at the appointment with all thirteen players of the roster available, having completed the recovery of Daniele Lavia (on the field for all five sets in Piacenza), and will finish its preparation with the training sessions of this afternoon and Thursday morning at the BLM Group Arena. During the current season, the Gialloblù have already played eighteen official matches in their own facility, winning fifteen of them.
TRENTINO VOLLEY'S NUMBERS IN EUROPE The one that started on Wednesday, March 30, is the seventh semi-final in eleven overall appearances in the Champions League for Trentino Volley: the previous appearances in the penultimate act of the tournament are related to the 2009 edition (then won in Prague), 2010 (then won in Lodz), 2011 (then won in Bolzano), 2012 (third place in Lodz), 2016 (second place in Krakow) and, of course, 2021 (second place in Verona). More in general, for Trentino Volley is going on the presence number ten in a European semifinal, since it took part also in the 2015 (then lost in the Final with Moscow), 2017 (then lost in the Final with Tours) and 2019 (then won with Galatasaray) editions of CEV Cup. Taking into account all the European competitions played, Trentino Volley has so far played in 154 official matches: the balance is 122 victories (62 in Trento, 60 away) and 32 defeats (26 in Champions League, 5 in CEV and 1 in Top Teams Cup). The most frequent result obtained is the 3-0, resorted to in 48% of the cases (75 matches, 45 of these home matches); the one that occurred the least number of times is the 0-3 defeat (seven times).
THE OPPONENTS The success in game 2 of the quarterfinals of the Play Off Scudetto, obtained on Sunday evening in Cisterna, has allowed Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia to dedicate all its thoughts exclusively to the match at the BLM Group Arena in Trento on Thursday. An appointment either way, which can open or close the doors to the second Champions League Final in the history of the Umbrian Club, which, since it began to play the highest continental competition (2017 edition), has always centered at least the qualification to the semifinals. The Block Devils will therefore try to overturn the result of the first round, strong of the great external productivity so far shown. In the current season they have lost just two games out of the total eighteen played away, none of these in the European field. The only two losses away from Perugia, however, bear the signature of Trentino Volley: October 23 in Civitanova Marche 0-3 (Supercoppa semifinal) and January 2 in Trento (SuperLega regular season return match).
TRENTINO ITAS QUALIFIES FOR THE FINAL IF... In order to gain access, for the second consecutive year, to the Champions League Final, Trentino Itas must win Thursday's match with any score; this is the only advantage guaranteed by the tie break success of last March 30 at PalaBarton. The golden set hypothesis (the play-off set at the end of the official match), will occur only in case of affirmation of Perugia in the fifth round, while Sir Sicoma Monini will pass the round if it will obtain the success in four parts at the most. Those who pass the round will face the winner of Jastrzebski-Kedzierzyn-Kozle in the Ljubljana Final on May 22 (0-3 in the first match, the return on Thursday evening at the home of this ones).
THE BACKGROUND There have already been 46 official matches between Trentino Volley and Sir Safety Perugia, with an almost perfect balance: 23-23. In the current season, the situation is in favour of Sir 4-2, with the Gialloblù team winning the Supercup semifinal in Civitanova 3-0 on October 23 and the regular season match on January 2 played at home (the only external defeat of the Umbrian team in the entire season) in addition to the first match of the semifinal of this competition (3-2, partials of 25-23, 19-25, 25-23, 28-30, 15-12). The other three Perugian successes are dated November 7, December 2 (at PalaBarton) and February 10 (at BLM Group Arena), all 3-0. The pairing in a semifinal of a competition right against Perugia has now become a pleasant habit; in total Trentino Volley and Sir Safety Volley have already eleven semifinal challenges behind them, distributed in this way: once in the Champions League (2021), three times in the Play Off Scudetto (2015, 2017 and 2018), three times in the Coppa Italia (2015, 2018 and 2021) and four times in the Italian Super Cup (2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021). The Gialloblù's record is five round passes and six eliminations. Overall, Perugia has won five of the twenty previous matches played at the BLM Group Arena; one of these, however, is the last one played, last February 10 (3-0) in the match valid for the fifth day of Pool E of the Champions League.
THE REFEREES The match will be directed by Belgian Wim Cambré, first referee from Meerhout, and by Stefano Cesare, second whistle from Rome. Cambré refereed Trentino Volley on the occasion of its first, historic match in the Champions League (November 4, 2008, 3-0 home win against Bled) and in the match of March 4, 2021 against Berlin (return round of the quarterfinals), always closed in three sets. Cesare has a very long history with the Gialloblù; the last meeting took place in a match against Perugia: March 6, 2021, in the final of the Coppa Italia in Bologna.
TV, RADIO AND INTERNET The match will be a global media event, enjoying simultaneous live coverage on TV, radio and internet. On the small screen it will be broadcast by RAI Sport +, a channel on the digital terrestrial platform (number 58), with commentary by Maurizio Colantoni and Fabio Vullo.
Radio Dolomiti, partner radio of Trentino Volley, will also broadcast live. The frequencies to listen to the regional network can be consulted on the website www.radiodolomiti.com, where it will also be possible to follow the live radio commentary in streaming.
The live streaming video is programmed 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 visible on Eurosport 2, present on the bouquet offered by the DAZN streaming platform.
On the internet, point-to-point updates will also be provided by the CEV website (https://cevlive.cev.eu/DV_LiveScore.aspx?ID=46086), 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).
OUT OF SUBSCRIPTION MATCH For this event, the BLM Group Arena will be able to return to have 100% capacity; however, all spectators must have a SUPER GREEN PASS (Covid-19 green certification obtained through vaccination or healing) and a ffp2 mask, to be worn at all times while inside the structure. The race is not included in the season ticket of the return round. Ticket presale is active at any time on the internet by clicking www.vivaticket.com/it/biglietto/semifinale-champions-league-trentino-itas-vs-perugia/178370. The BLM Group Arena boxes will be active from 7.15 pm, the same time in which the entrances to the arena will be opened.

Trentino Volley Srl
Press Office