Champions League Super Finals – A Volleyball revolution crowned with success!

Only a few weeks ago, the CEV Champions League Volley 2024 reached its climax in Antalya where the fifth edition of the Super Finals was held with much success in front of a passionate, almost sell-out predominantly Turkish crowd. The event introduced in 2019 when the Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin did witness the dawn of a truly new era for European Volleyball ended with a double Italian triumph for TRENTINO Itas and A. Carraro Imoco CONEGLIANO. 

The very concept of the Super Finals can be regarded as something unprecedented and still unequalled not only in Volleyball, but across all other team sports as well. The very best men’s and women’s teams in Europe have come together since 2019 under the same roof for two high-stake, winner-takes-all final matches crowning the champions of European club volleyball.

Apart from achieving full gender equality in terms of participation, prize money, and competition format, the Super Finals have also elevated the Volleyball game to unimaginable heights, combining Volleyball at its finest quality with a level of fan engagement and entertainment that was totally unknown before. 

What is even more remarkable: Volleyball fans from across Europe and even further afield have flocked to the venues of the Super Finals, thereby securing a ‘full house’ every single time even if no teams from the host country were involved. This applies to Berlin in 2019, Ljubljana in 2022, Turin in 2023, and Antalya earlier this month. The 2021 edition was contested in Verona behind closed doors in response to the coronavirus pandemic and resulting restrictions – and yet it coincided with major innovations such as the introduction of augmented reality graphics. 

Ever since the introduction of the Super Finals, tens of thousands of fans have been involved, and a way more have followed the competition on TV, via the live streaming and the CEV’s official social media channels. 

Teams from Italy, Türkiye and Poland have emerged victorious thereby accounting for real milestones in Volleyball history. Back in 2019, Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA ended the reign of Zenit KAZAN which had been lasting since 2015. Grupa Azoty KEDZIERZYN-KOZLE of Poland triumphed in 2021, 2022, and 2023, to match the achievements of TRENTINO Volley and Zenit KAZAN – the only other clubs to have won the coveted title three times in a row. VakifBank ISTANBUL have improved their tally to a record of six titles following their triumphs in 2022 and 2023. More recently, A. Carraro Imoco CONEGLIANO and TRENTINO Itas secured their second and fourth crown in the competition, respectively. 

The world’s top Volleyball players have contributed to the success of the Super Finals – Paola Egonu, Isabelle Haak, Gabriela Guimaraes, Alessandro Michieletto, Aleksander Sliwka, Osmany Juantorena to name only a few. 

Now fans can look forward to the next season – with the registration closing in late June and the highly anticipated Drawing of Lots then following on July 16. Stay tuned for more enticing news to come soon!