All Eyes On Italy For Two Huge Battles, Ziraat Seek Another Comfortable Win

Since the first quarterfinal matches were completed, we became closer to learning which top-notch squads will secure their spots in the #CLVolleyM semifinals. Now, all eight teams will focus on their following domestic clashes, but the biggest actions will take place especially in Italy, where the top two clashes await us.

All Italian CEV Champions League Volley Men quarterfinalists took advantage of their rivals with strong victories in the first round. Now, they will have to pass another substantial test, this time in their national league. In one of them, Itas Trentino will face Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia in the 21st week of the Italian SuperLega.

Trentino made an excellent start to the #CLVolleyM quarterfinals by taking a straight-set victory against Berlin Recycling Volleys. They are also on top of the standings in Italy with almost a perfect record, 19 victories in 20 matches. This weekend, they will visit their closest follower, Perugia. Even though Perugia is currently in the vice-leader position, the gap is four victories and eight points in total. Therefore, the result of the match will not change the top two places in Italy, but it still has a lot of importance in the sense of mental advantage.

Similarly, the third and fourth teams will face off in Italy this weekend: Two CEV Champions League Volley quarterfinal victors, Cucine Lube Civitanova and Gas Sales Daiko Piacenza, will take the court against each other this weekend. While Lube side overpowered Halkbank Ankara by 3-1, Piacenza managed to beat Jastrzebski Wegiel with an immense five-setter. Even though these two teams have collected 37 points so far in the regular season, the Lube side has three more victories, which made them stand in third position. On the other hand, both teams will try to give their best court in order to receive psychological superiority before the rematches of the #CLVolleyM quarterfinals.

Besides the powerful Italian squads, Ziraat Bank Ankara also started the quarterfinal stage quite well by defeating Guaguas Las Palmas in four sets, and they now want to continue showing their good performance in their country: They will meet Spor Toto in the 21st week of the Turkish Efeler League.

Behind another #CLVolleyM quarterfinalist, Halkbank and CEV Cup semifinalist, Fenerbahce PRL Istanbul, Ziraat is in third place in the charts prior to this week. Even though they are the clear pre-favorites of the clash, they will undoubtedly want to show how solid they can be, before seeking to advance to the semifinals in the most prestigious tournament in Europe.

We will see which four teams out of eight will book their spots in the #CLVolleyM semifinals next week, but if you can’t wait until the rematches, you should definitely keep an eye on huge two clashes in Italy and what Ziraat can bring to the court in Türkiye this weekend.