Trento, 28 November 2022

On Tuesday CEV Champions League again on stage at BLM Group Arena

CEV Champions League on stage for the second time this season at the BLM Group Arena: Tuesday, November 29th the facility in via Fersina in Trento will host the third round of the Pool D of the group stage of the maximum continental tournament, This will see Trentino Itas host the two-time Grupa Azoty Kedzierzyn-Kozle Champions in the remake of the 2021 and 2022 SuperFinals. Kick-off scheduled for 8.30 p.m Italian time: live on Eurosport 2 HD, Radio Dolomiti and discovery+.
HERE TRENTINO ITAS  After the Saturday night home game with Milan, in the ninth round of the SuperLega, the yellow-blue team was given the opportunity to turn the page and give further meaning to their perfect European path thanks to the home match against the Poles.
”It’s the top game in Pool D, but it is also a challenge that for both clubs means a lot because it is impossible to forget where the two teams arrived in the last editions of the tournament - explained coach Angelo Lorenzetti presenting the appointment - .
We will face this match in front of our audience and will be even more motivated to look for a result that is important, especially to qualify for the Playoffs. We will do our best to win a meaningful victory; players who were in the squad last season also know what it means psychologically".
The coach from Marche must do without only Oreste Cavuto and will complete the preparation for the game with the sessions this afternoon and Tuesday morning. The appointment will correspond to the 200 international matches in the history of Trentino Volley; the figure takes into account 117 races in the Champions League, 3 in the Top Teams Cup, 37 in the CEV Cup and 42 in the Club World Cup. The record is 160 wins and just 39 losses. The result that has occurred several times is the success for 3-0 (93, 46.7%); two less frequent: the defeat for 0-3 and 1-3 (11 times each). The yellow-blue player who has played the most yellow-blue matches is Kaziyski (98).
OPPONENTS It is a Grupa Azoty Kedzierzyn-Kozle strongly renewed. The team that beat Trentino Itas 3-0 in Ljubljana on May 22 is in fact no longer coached by George Cretu and can not count on the MVP of that match, the defender Semeniuk is now in Perugia. The team has however quickly found substitutes; from Russia came the Finnish coach Tuomas Sammelvuo and in place 4 it was decided to focus on the Bulgarian Karyagin (last year in Monza), but lately has been used little: in the band are in fact more easily finding place Zalinski or Staszewski. The strengths remain therefore the opposite Kaczmarek, the hitter Sliwka, the libero Shoji and the middle-blocker Smith and Huber. The latter two are still in the box for physical problems; that’s why in summer the Company has also secured the Dutch Wiltenburg and the Russian Pashitskii (former Saint Petersburg). The twelfth participation in the CEV Champions League started with two victories, results that guaranteed the first place in the standings in the group; less linear the situation in the Polish PlusLiga, where the team is currently in fourth place, with nine wins in twelve games played. The last one arrived just Saturday night with the Belchatow of the former yellow-blue Lanza and Kooy, defeated at home at the tie break. Group Azoty Kedzierzyn-Kozle roster: 1. Denis Karyagin (hitter), 2. Lukasz Kaczmarek (opposite), 3. Kacper Kupczak (setter), 4. Przemysllaw Stepin (setter), 5. Marcin Janusz (setter), 6. Jakub Chwapin (opposite), 7. Twan Wilenburg (middle-blocker), 8. Adrian Staszewski (hitter), 9. Bartlomiej Kluth (opposite), 10. Krzysztof Zapacki (hitter), 11. Alexander Slik (hitter), 15. David Smith (middle-blocker), 16. Tomasz Kalembka (middle-blocker), 19. Dmitri Pashitskii (middle-blocker ), 21. Wojciech Zalinski (hitter) 22. Erik Thomas Shoji (libero), 71. Korneliusz Banach (libero), 99. Norbert Huber (middle-blocker).  Coach:Tuomas Sammelvuo.
THE SITUATION IN POOL D After that two of the six scheduled match days were played, the group rankings are led with full points by just Kedzierzyn-Kozle and Trento, thanks to an identical path, made up of a 3-0 win over Menen and a 3-1 win over Karlovarsko, which close the rankings at zero. The two matches scheduled in this round will serve to give a clear shape both at the top and at the bottom, as a confrontation between the hosts and the Belgians will be played in the Czech Republic on Wednesday, 30th. At the end of this phase (the last match is scheduled for January 25th, 2023) the first-place ranked from each group will advance directly to the quarterfinals, while the second-place finisher and the best third from the five groups will qualify for the round of sixteen, which will be distinguished by direct matches with two-legged tie.
BACKGROUND The two clubs boast a long series of direct confrontations in the European Cups, so much so that Zaksa represents the foreign team faced the most times by Trentino Volley with ten previous official matches. Beyond the two recent Finals of the competition (May 1st, 2021 in Verona, 3-1 for the Polish players; May 22nd, 2022 in Ljubljana, 3-0 for the Polish team), the duel was staged during the group stage of the 2012, 2013 and 2018 editions of the Champions League and in the 2015 CEV Cup semifinals. The tally is 5-5, however, Trento has lost the last four direct matches, taking into account also the matches played on December 20th, 2017 in Poland and then on February 14th, 2018 at the BLM Group Arena. Against the Polish lineup Matey Kaziyski set a Trentino Volley record related to European cups: namely, the number of aces made in a single match by a single yellow-blue player. On March 28th, 2015 just against Zaksa, the captain signed 8 personal aces, contributing decisively to the 3-2 home victory.
THE REFEREES The match will be managed by Fabrice Collados, first referee from Vienne (France), and by Igor Schimpl, second referee from Bratislava (Slovakia). Only the french referee Fabrice Collados boasts previous matches with Trentino Volley, he had also managed as first referee the 2022 Final in Ljubljana, in the May 22, 2022. In addition to that match, he had crossed the yellow-blue team on five other occasions, all referring to the Champions League: Trentino-Ceske Budejovice 3-0 on December 10th, 2009 (group stage), Maaseik-Trento 1-3 on January 14th, 2014 (first leg of the quarterfinals), Civitanova-Trento 0-3 on April 16th, 2016 in Krakow (semifinal), Izmir-Trento 1-3 on February 1st, 2018 (group stage), and the Kazan-Trento Final 3-2 on April 17th, 2016, also in Krakow.
RADIO, INTERNET AND TV. The match will be reported live by Eurosport 2 HD, TV channel available on the digital terrestrial platform of Sky and on OTT by DAZN. Live coverage is planned on Radio Dolomiti, media partner of Trentino Volley. Frequencies to listen to the regional network can be found at www.radiodolomiti.com, where it will also be possible to follow the radio report in live streaming. Even the live video streaming on “discovery +” platform is planned; buying the “Entertainment + Sport” pass (monthly subscription is available for 7.99 euro a month). For more in-depth information on the usage thereof consult the site https://auth.discoveryplus.com/it/product.
On the internet, point-to-point updates will be treated on CEV website (https://championsleague.cev.eu/en/match-centres/cev-champions-league-volley-2023/cev-champions-league-volley-2023-men/clvm-61-trentino-itas-v-grupa-azoty-kedzierzyn-kozle/), and by www.trentinovolley.it and will always be active on the yellow-blue team social networks (www.trentinovolley.it/facebook, www.trentinovolley.it/instagram and www.trentinovolley.it/twitter).
BOX OFFICE The match is included in both types of season tickets offered for this season by Trentino Volley (full and basic). It is still possible to purchase tickets for the single match at any time on the Internet by clicking https://trentinovolley.vivaticket.it/it/event/champions-league-2023-trentino-itas-vs-kedzierzyn/196953. The vouchers will be also available on Thursday at the BLM Group Arena ticket offices, which will be operative starting at 7:30 p.m., the same time when the arena entrances will also open. The use of the mask is not mandatory to enter the stadium.

Trentino Volley Srl
Press Office