Trento, 20 December 2023

CEV Champions League, on Thursday at ilT quotidiano Arena the fourth round of Pool B

The 2024 CEV Champions League returns on the court for the fourth round of the Main Phase, the last of the 2023 calendar year. On Thursday, December 21, Trentino Itas will host France’s Tours Vb at the ilT quotidiano Arena in Trento for the match between the top two teams in Pool B. Kick-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. Italian time: live on Radio Dolomiti and DAZN.
TRENTINO ITAS After regaining the top spot of the standings in the Italian league with a home win against Perugia on Sunday night, the yellow-blue lineup tries to protect the lead in its European grouping that it has been holding firmly since late November.
"So far we have collected very positive results in this competition and we certainly want to continue to do so; - explained coach Fabio Soli while presenting the match – we have a good ranking at the moment, but we have to remember that it is the result of hard-fought competitions won thanks to the commitment and quality of our players. We want to continue to grow, to improve the quality of what we do on the court. So, on this occasion we are looking for a solid performance against a strong opponent, knowing full well that to translate into reality what we hope to achieve, we will have to play high level volleyball. Tours is a very "square" and consistent team, which will take advantage of every opportunity, as its history tells us. It is a very intense and exciting period because every match offers a great challenge."
The yellow-blue team will show up to the match without opposite player Nelli (who continues his own training for recovery, but will still probably sit on the bench); the preparation for the challenge will be completed with this afternoon's and Thursday morning's training sessions at the ilT quotidiano Arena. For Trentino Volley this will be the 166th official match in European cups: the record is 132 wins (67 in Trento, 65 away) and 34 losses (28 in Champions League, 5 in CEV and 1 in Top Teams Cup). The most frequently obtained result is 3-0, in 47% of cases (79 matches, 48 of them home); the one that occurred the least is the defeat in three sets (eight times). Considering also the ten participations in the Club World Championship (between 2009 and 2014 and then in 2016, 2018, 2021 and 2022), the number of international matches played by the Club form via Trener is 212: 134 away, 78 in Trento.
THE OPPONENTS Tours VB returns to Trento after six and a half years (April 12, 2017, CEV Cup first leg final), to try to end the hosts' unbeaten streak in Pool B. After a rough start of season, the French champions have recently found more consistency in their results, so much so that they have won all five matches played since the loss they suffered last Nov. 29 against Trentino Itas. The most recent victory, a 3-2 in Nice on Dec. 16, has propelled Brazilian Fronckowiack's team to the seventh place in the Ligue A standings. The club has often dominated at home, as shown by the nine “scudetti”, the eleven French Cups and four Super Cups it has won; at the international level, the most important results were in the 2005 Champions League and the 2017 CEV Cup, the latter won by overcoming Trento itself in the final in the golden set. In Europe's top competition (in which it is participating for the 18th time in its history) Tours also took second place in 2007 and last season it made it all the way to 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 staples of Serbian setter Coric's game are Brazilian opposite Aboubacar (former Vibo), middle blockers Parkinson and Santos, and Estonian spiker Tammearu. Tours Vb roster: 1. Clement Aya Dioko (s), 2. Kilian Poimmier (c), 3. Julien Faganas (o), 4. Eliot De Narda (s), 5. Leandro Nascimento Dos Santos (c), 6. Antoine Pothron (s), 7. Luca Ramon (l), 8. Alexandre Gabin (p), 9. Nicolas Marcelo Mendez (s), 10. Aboubacar Drame Neto (o), 11. Mart Tammearu (s), 12. Alexis Moris (p), 13. Julien Nachbab (s), 14. Gildas Prevert (c), 15. Bastien Scherer (l), 16. Aymeric Pelvet (s), 17. Zeljko Coric (p), 18. Thomas Furic (c), 19. Alexandre Strehlau, 20. Jakub Klajmon (c), 22. Michael Parkinson (c). Coach: Marcelo Fronckowiak.
THE SITUATION OF POOL B Trentino Itas the only team still unbeaten and with full points in Group B of the Main Phase of the Champions League, with three wins in as many matches played (9 points). On the same night as the match against Tours, but with two hours to spare, the match between Asseco Resovia (1 win and 3 points) and ACH Volleyball (zero wins) will be played in Rzeszow. The next round (fifth overall) is scheduled between January 9 and 10, 2024, with the Tours-Rzeszow and Ljubljana-Trento matches.
THE PREVIOUS MATCHES Seven matches have been played between the two clubs, a number that makes Tours Vb the fourth most frequently faced foreign team by Trentino Volley in its history, after Kedzierzyn-Kozle (14), Moscow (9), Maaseik (9) and on par with Kazan (7). The record is 5-2 for Trento, which has won 3-0 in all matches played at home (Dec. 5, 2012, Dec. 2, 2015 and April 12, 2017) and the first one played in France (Nov. 1, 2012). The only two successes for the French are dated December 16, 2015 (3-2 in the Pool C match of the Champions League), and April 15, 2017 (3-1 in the return match of the CEV Cup Final). The first leg match, played in Tours on Nov. 29, was a 1-3 win for Trentino Itas (17-25, 22-25 25-23, 19-25), with Michieletto best scorer and MVP (20 points).
THE REFEREES The match will be directed by Ivaylo Ivanov, first Bulgarian referee from Sofia, and Koen Luts, second referee from Brussels, Belgium. Both have already refereed Trentino Volley’s matches; Ivanov on four previous occasions: on Jan. 13, 2022 in the 3-0 home win against Cannes, on Dec. 10, 2021 in the tie break loss to Lube in Betim, on Dec. 9, 2021 in the three-set win against Foolad, and on Dec. 12, 2012 in the 3-1 win in Belgrade against the Red Star. Luts, on the other hand, was first whistle in Trento-Karlovarsko 3-1 on Dec. 2, 2020.
RADIO AND INTERNET The match will be broadcast live on Radio Dolomiti, Trentino Volley's partner radio station, starting at 8 p.m. Frequencies to tune in to the regional network can be found at www.radiodolomiti.com, where it will also be possible to listen to the live radio commentary in streaming.
Also planned is live streaming video on DAZN, a platform available on a wide range of Internet-connected devices, including Smart TVs, PCs, smartphones, tablets and game consoles. Paid service, which requires registration; for more information www.dazn.com/it-IT/help.
On the Internet, point-to-point updates will also be taken care of by the CEV website (https://www.cev.eu/match-centres/2024-european-cups/cev-champions-league-volley-2024-men/clvm-49-trentino-itas-v-tours-vb/), by 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 The match is included in both types of season tickets offered for this season by Trentino Volley (full and basic). Single match tickets can be purchased anytime on the Internet at https://trentinovolley.vivaticket.it/it/event/champions-league-2024-trentino-itas-vs-tours/225590. The coupons will also be available on Thursday at the cashiers of the arena, active starting at 7 p.m. (the same time at which the arena will also open).

Trentino Volley Srl
Press Office