Trento, 28 November 2023

CEV Champions League, on Wednesday in France the 2nd match in Pool B

The 2024 CEV Champions League returns to the court between today and Thursday to support the second round of the Main Phase. On Wednesday, November 29th, in France, Trentino Itas is going to play its first away continental engagement of the season, as guests of Tours Vb in the challenge between the Pool B leaders. Kick-off scheduled for 8 p.m. Italian time in the Salle Robert Grenon stadium: live on Radio Dolomiti and DAZN.
HERE TRENTINO Itas Still undefeated in the Italian SuperLega and scoring last Thursday in the first commitment of the highest international competition, the Yellow-blue team is looking for a further positive result to take another important step in the league standings, in what is a tough appointment both from a technical-tactical point of view and from a strictly logistical one. The Italian Champions took the whole day of Monday to arrive at their destination (eleven hours of travel between bus, plane and train).
"It's a match which is very important for our journey in the competition, because we are taking on an away team with a great international tradition such as Tours, who in the first round demonstrated all their value by winning in Poland," highlighted coach Fabio Soli on the eve of the match " . This opponent, like all the French teams that play the European Cups, has very precise and delineated characteristics: they have a very fast game, which knows how to put pressure on the opponent also thanks to their block-defence system. We will have to be good at remaining lucid, be patient in replaying the action several times, finding positive energy in an environment that will be warm and therefore stimulating at the same time. I believe that, as has already happened in the recent past in the Italian championship, this will be a great test to understand where we are in our path of growth and to measure our strength in the top international competition in a round that will be wide open, right to the last.”
The Trentino Itas technician will be able to count on the entire squad of fourteen players at his disposal and will use this evening's training and the morning of the match day to get his team up to speed with the tightly packed stadium.
SEVENTH TRANSFER TO FRANCE IN YELLOW-BLUE HISTORY The one that started on Monday morning and will end on Thursday afternoon with the return to Trento is the seventh ever trip to France for Trentino Volley, back in the transalpine country a year and a half after the last time. The most recent precedent in this country is in fact linked to a trip to Cannes on 16 February 2022, in that case to play the last match of the group stage of that edition of the Champions League (which then ended in second place). The first time ever (11 November 2008 in Beauvais - success in three sets), on the other hand, represents the historic external debut of the Club of via Trener in the highest continental competition. In its history Trento has played three matches in Tours: 1 November 2012 (3-0 victory), 16 December 2015 (defeat in a tie break) and 15 April 2017 (1-3 defeat in the CEV Cup final, then lost in the golden set played immediately afterwards). The challenge will represent the 211th international match in the history of Trentino Volleyball, the 125th ever in the Champions League in which it has won 96 previous matches.
THE OPPONENTS Well in Europe, more in difficulty in the national championship. The beginning of the season has so far reserved diametrically opposed results for Tours Vb; the reigning French champions have struggled to find their rhythm in Ligue A (Sunday's tie-break defeat in Nantes coincided with the sixth defeat in eight matches played, relegating the Loire formation to eleventh place in the standings), but on the occasion of the season debut in the Champions League they gave their best, defeating Rzeszow in four sets. The club's palmares shows how the international dimension is very distinct: besides nine league titles, eleven French Cups and four Super Cups, there are also the Champions League, won in 2005 in Athens by defeating the Greek Iraklis Thessaloniki in the final, and the CEV Cup, won in 2017 by defeating Trento in the final in the golden set. In the top European competition (in which it is taking part for the 18th time in its history) it also achieved a second place in 2007, and last season it reached the round of 16, finishing just behind Civitanova in Pool C, only to be eliminated from the final table by the Germans of Friedrichshafen. The team, once again headed by Brazilian Fronckowiack (on Vibo Valentia's bench in 2018), can count on staples such as Serbian setter Coric and Brazilian opposite spiker Aboubacar (also ex-Vibo) as well as the confirmed middle blockers Parkinson and Santos. New faces such as hitter spikers Pothron, Mendez, Tammearu and libero Ramon have already integrated perfectly. Tours Vb's roster: 1. Clement Aya Dioko (sp), 2. Kilian Poimmier (mb), 3. Julien Faganas (o), 4. Eliot De Narda (sp), 5. Leandro Nascimento Dos Santos (mb), 6. Antoine Pothron (sp), 7. Luca Ramon (l), 8. Nicolas Marcelo Mendez (sp), 10. Aboubacar Drame Neto (o), 11. Mart Tammearu (sp), 12. Alexis Moris (st), 13. Julien Nachbab (sp), 14. Gildas Prevert (mb), 15. Bastien Scherer (l), 16. Aymeric Pelvet (sp), 17. Zeljko Coric (st), 18. Thomas Furic (mb), 19. Alexandre Strehlau, 20. Jakub Klajmon (mb), 22. Michael Parkinson (mb). Coach Marcelo Fronckowiak.
THE SITUATION OF POOL B Two teams at the head of the group after the first day with one success and three points; together with Trentino Itas, in fact, in the lead there is Tours Vb thanks to the 3-1 success in the opening round played at home against Rzeszow. Two hours before the whistle blows for the match in France, the match between ACH Volleyball and Asseco Resovia will be played in Ljubljana (Slovenia); the third day that will close the first round is scheduled on 13th December (the Yellow-blue will be on the scene in Poland).
BACKGROUND There are already six previous matches between the two clubs, a number that places Tours in fifth place in the ranking of foreign teams played by Trentino Volley in its history, after Kedzierzyn-Kozle (14), Moscow (9), Maaseik (9), Kazan (7) and with the same number as Berlin and Fenerbahce. The balance is 4-2 for Trento, which has won 3-0 in all the meetings played at home ( December 5th 2012, December 2th 2015 and April 12th 2017) and the first one played in France ( November 1st). The only two successes of the transalpines are dated 16 December 2015 (3-2 in the Pool C match of the Champions League), and April 15th 2017 (3-1 in the return match of the CEV Cup Final).
THE REFEREES The match will be directed by Laszlo Adler, the first Hungarian referee from Budapest, and Ozan Cagi Sarikaya, the second Turkish referee from Istanbul. The latter has no previous experience with Trentino Volleyball, while the Hungarian is a regular with the Yellow-blue, who have already met six times, most recently on
December 2nd 2021 in the Italian derby in the Champions League Perugia-Trento 3-0 (group stage match).
RADIO AND INTERNET The match will be broadcast live on Radio Dolomiti, Trentino Volleyball's radio partner, starting at 8 p.m. The frequencies to tune in to 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 video streaming will also be available on DAZN, a platform available on a wide range of Internet-connected devices, including Smart TVs, PCs, smartphones, tablets and game consoles. The service is chargeable and requires registration; for more information www.dazn.com/it-IT/help.
On the Internet, point-to-point updates will also be provided by the CEV website (www.cev.eu/match-centres/2024-european-cups/cev-champions-league-volley-2024-men/clvm-45-tours-vb-v-trentino-itas/), by www.trentinovolley.it and will also be active on the Yellow-blue social networks (www.trentinovolley.it/facebook, www.trentinovolley.it/instagram and www.trentinovolley.it/twitter).

Trentino Volley Srl
Press Office