Trento, 05 January 2024

Coppa Italia, notes, and statistical curiosities after the definition of the semifinal

Some notes and statistical curiosities in yellow-blue perspective after the definition of the semifinal matchups of Del Monte® Coppa Italia 2024, scheduled for January 27, 2024, at the Unipol Arena in Bologna.

UNPRECEDENTED SEMIFINALS. Despite three out of four teams qualifying for the Final Four having participated in the previous edition (played in Rome between February 24 and 25, 2023), the two semifinals on Saturday, January 27, in Bologna will be completely unprecedented. It has never happened in the previous 45 editions of Coppa Italia for Trento to face Monza (in its first appearance among the top four) and for Perugia to confront Milan.

UNIPOL ARENA FOR THE SIXTH TIME. The final act of Coppa Italia will return to the Unipol Arena in Bologna at the end of January, which has frequently hosted this event in the recent past. The matchups on January 27 and 28 will be the sixth Final Four held at the Casalecchio di Reno venue, previously the stage for the 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 editions. Trentino Volley is the only club always present at the previous six events, having played in the Final twice: in 2017 against Civitanova and in 2022 against Perugia, losing both times 1-3. In the functional sports palace in Bologna, the Club from Via Trener has played a total of eight matches, including the V-Day 2010 (always lost in four sets against Cuneo), winning only on two occasions. Bologna also hosted the Final Four in 2014 and 2015, but in that case, it was played at the PalaDozza, with the yellow-blue team reaching the Final on the second occasion (losing to Modena again in four sets).

DOUBLE MATCH VS MONZA WITHIN EIGHT DAYS. Due to a peculiar and curious intersection of the Coppa Italia and SuperLega regular-season schedules, Itas Trentino and Mint Vero Volley Monza will face each other twice within eight days, corresponding to the transition between the first and second month of 2024. On Saturday, January 27, the clash between the two teams is scheduled at the Unipol Arena in Bologna for the semifinal of the national championship, preceding by just over a week the league match scheduled in Brianza on Sunday, February 4 at 6:00 PM. This might not be the only close encounter with a Lombard team during that period; if Trento and Milan were to qualify for the Coppa Italia Final on January 28, they would face each other just four days after the regular-season match played on Wednesday, January 24, at the ilT quotidiano Arena in Trento.

FOURTH CLASH WITH MONZA IN COPPA ITALIA. On Saturday, January 27, Trentino Volley and Vero Volley Monza will face each other for the fourth time in the Coppa Italia. The three previous encounters are all quite recent and always ended in favour of the Club from Via Trener with a 3-0 score in the quarter-finals, all played in Trento: January 11, 2017, October 18, 2017, and January 16, 2022.

ONLY POTKE AND KAMIL. In the roster of Itas Trentino 2023/24, there are only two players who have won the Coppa Italia: Captain Marko Podrascanin and opposite Kamil Rychlicki, who have lifted the trophy three times already. Potke will play his fourteenth Final Four of the competition in Bologna, seeking his fourth personal victory; the previous ones were: the 2009 edition with Lube, the 2018 edition (at the Unipol Arena in Bologna), and the 2019 one with Perugia. Kamil, on the other hand, will play his fifth Final Four in Emilia; in the Bologna facility, he boasts a personal and encouraging record: he won the last three editions played in Casalecchio di Reno; in 2020 and 2021 with Civitanova, and in 2022 with Perugia.

Trentino Volley Srl
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