Gas Sales Daiko PIACENZA - BERLIN Recycling Volleys

• The BERLIN Recycling Volleys have never won an away Champions League match against an Italian SuperLega team. In the last three years, they have been beaten on the road in the quarter-finals by Italian teams.

Gas Sales Daiko PIACENZA

• The match against Berlin will be the absolute debut in the CEV Champions League for Yuri Romanò who returned to the team in the last round of the championship after the muscle injury suffered at the end of October.
• Gas Sales Daiko Piacenza is looking for their first victory in the CEV Champions League in front of their fans given that they lost against Ankara on their debut.
• Gas Sales Daiko Piacenza will not be able to count on the contribution of Yoandy Hidalgo Leal, the spiker is injured and has a muscle problem in the calf of his right leg.
• Andrea Anastasi (coach): “For us it will be an inside or outside game, we cannot afford any more missteps at home if we want to move forward in this event. Berlin is a very balanced team, they know how to play good volleyball and they have changed very little compared to last year."
• Yuri Romanò (opposite): “It's an important match, we want to do well and it will be my debut. I can't wait. After losing the first at home, we must bring points home, it won't be easy because Berlin is a tough team. We need to be focused right away; this is the aspect we need to improve because otherwise when we are present there isn't a fundamental where we struggle so much. What do I think of my debut? It's strange, it's another dream come true. Luckily in these two years I got used to seeing them transformed into reality. (...)"

BERLIN Recycling Volleys

• Compared to the last Bundesliga match at FT 1844 FREIBURG (3-1), the Berlin team has three returning players in the squad. The experienced Estonian middle blocker Timo Tammemaa, the French outside spiker Timothée Carle and opposite Daniel Malescha are fresh options for head coach Joel Banks.
• Last season, the BR Volleys pulled off a big surprise in a similar situation. Back then, the German Champions also lost in a bitter way at Halkbank ANKARA (1:3) on the second leg of the group stage, only to land a real big point with a 3:1 win at Polish top team Aluron CMC Warta ZAWIERCIE in the next match.
• Hannes TILLE (#6 setter): "We did a lot of things right in Turkey and still had a reason to be a bit annoyed in the end. Why shouldn't we manage another good game in Italy at Piacenza? We showed with this team last season and again this season already that we can be a threat to any club in Europe."
• Kaweh NIROOMAND (General manager): "The starting position hasn't changed much so far. Ankara and Piacenza are two clubs that I consider to be the favourites in the group and candidates for the semi-finals or even the final of the CEV Champions League. The Turkish team put in an outstanding performance in their opener in Italy, giving them an advantage. Piacenza is our next opponent, with a squad of world-class players. Basically, our slogan should be: To stay in touch as long as possible in each set and then capitalise on the small opportunities that hopefully present themselves. In this group, every point and every set we take away from home can still help us in the final standings. If we can reach such a high level as we did in Ankara and our opponents give us some breathing space, something is possible. But everyone is aware that it will be extremely difficult."