Trento, 15 February 2023

Champions League, quarterfinals will again challenge Kedzierzyn-Kozle

Trentino Itas race in the 2023 CEV Champions League will continue in the Playoffs exactly where it left off last January 25th in the group stage, namely a match at the home of Grupa Azoty Kędzierzyn-Koźle.
In fact, it will be the two-time reigning European champions that will be the yellow-blue’s opponents in the quarterfinal double round, having pulled away tonight from qualification from the round of 16 at the end of the Polish derby with Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie (3-0 win in the first leg, defeat at the tie break in the second round). For the third edition in a row the two teams will therefore face each other in the final round; the first match will be played away, at the Azoty Arena, likely on Wednesday, March 8th (date and time to be scheduled), while the second will be played at the BLM Group Arena on Thursday, March 16th at 8:30 p.m. (date and time already official). The two clubs boast a long series of direct confrontations in the European Cups, so much so that Zaksa is by far the foreign team faced the most times by Trentino Volley (as many as twelve official precedents); the duel has already been staged in the group stage of the 2012, 2013 and 2018 editions of the Champions League, in the 2015 CEV Cup semifinals and in the SuperFinals of the 2021 (in Verona) and 2022 (in Ljubljana) editions, as well as in the group stage of the current tournament. The balance sheet is positive 7-5 for Trento, which, before this season's two matches in Pool D (November 29th, 3-1 home and January 25th, 3-2 away), had lost the last four direct clashes: in addition to the previous one on Scaligera and Slovenian soil, there are in fact also the matches played on December 20th, 2017 in Poland (Zaksa's only home win) and then on February 14th, 2018 at the BLM Group Arena. At the Azoty Arena Trentino Volley also played on December 22nd, 2011 (tie break win), November 21st, 2012 (four-set win) and March 24th, 2015 (another five-set win).
The team that over the course of the doubleheader will advance to the tournament's semifinals with the highest number of points in the standings compiled from the two matches in which 3 points are awarded - as in the SuperLega championship - for a 3-0 and 3-1 win, 2 for a 3-2 win and 1 for a 2-3 loss. The golden set (partial tiebreaker to be played until the 15th at the end of the second match) will be played only in case of a tie. Whoever qualifies will face the winner of the quarterfinal between Perugia and Berlin in the semifinals (double round between March 28th and April 6th). At the bottom of the scoreboard, the two quarter-finals will be Halkbank Ankara-Cucine Lube Civitanova and Jastrzebski Wegiel-VfB Friedrichshafen.

Here are the full details of the Kedzierzyn-Kozle confrontation:
Official matches played: 12 (5 in Trento, 5 in Kedzierzyn-Kozle, 1 in Verona, 1 in Ljubljana)
Wins: 7 (3 in Trento, 4 in Kedzierzyn-Kozle); 2 by 3-0 (1 in Trento, 1 in Kedzierzyn-Kozle), 3 by 3-1 (2 in Trento, 1 in Kedzierzyn-Kozle), 2 by 3-2 (2 in Kedzierzyn-Kozle).
Losses: 5 (2 in Trento, 1 in Kedzierzyn-Kozle, 1 in Verona, 1 in Ljubljana); 1 by 0-3 (1 in Ljubljana), 3 by 2-3 (2 in Trento, 1 in Kedzierzyn-Kozle), 1 by 1-3 (1 in Verona).
Sets won: 28
Sets lost: 22
Most-attended player: Matey Kaziyski (9 appearances in 12 matches)
Shortest match: Zaksa Kedzierzyn-Kozle-Trentino Planetwin365 0-3 on December 22nd, 2011 (70' minutes)
Longest match: Trentino Diatec-Zaksa Kedzierzyn-Kozle 2-3 on February 14th, 2018 (139' minutes)

Trentino Volley Srl
Press Office