TRENTINO Itas - BERLIN Recycling Volleys

TRENTINO Itas

• The last quarter-final of the 2024 CEV Champions League will be played at the ilT quotidiano Arena in Trento on Thursday, February 29. Trentino Itas plays a home match in this championship more than a month after the last one (home loss to Rzeszow on January 17), facing Berlin Recycling Volleys: Italian Champion versus German Champion. Whoever passes the round will face in the semifinals the winner of the Halkbank Ankara-Cucine Lube Civitanova quarter-final, scheduled for Wednesday evening in Italy.
• Trentino Itas comes to this match having already won the Italian SuperLega regular season with two rounds to spare, despite a loss to Perugia last Sunday evening.
• To enter the Champions League semifinals for the fourth time in the last five seasons (possibly the eighth ever) Trentino Itas will need to win at least two sets; thanks to the 3-0 win in the first match in Germany, the yellow-blue team can even afford to lose in the tie break to avoid the golden set, which would be played only in the event of a victory in at most four partials by the Germans.
• Considering all the European competitions played, Trentino Volley has so far taken part in 170 official matches: the tally is 135 victories (68 in Trento, 67 away) and 35 defeats (29 in the Champions League, 5 in CEV and 1 in the Top Teams Cup). The most frequently obtained result is the 3-0 victory, in 48% of cases (82 matches, 48 of them home); the one that has occurred the least number of times is the 0-3 defeat (eight times). Taking into account also the ten participations in the Club World Championship (between 2009 and 2014 and then in 2016, 2018 and 2021), there are 216 international matches played by the Club from via Trener: 136 away, 80 in Trento.
• Trentino Itas will take the court for the second home match of the 2024 CEV Champions calendar year with a full roster. Opposite player Kamil Rychlicki has recovered, after remaining on the bench during Sunday night's match in Perugia.
• Marko Podrascanin (Trentino Itas player): "In the Berlin match we gave a really great performance in front of a big crowd. We want to do it again on Thursday night to get to the semi-final and continue our run in the Champions League, but we know that we will have to play another great game."

BERLIN Recycling Volleys

• For the second time, the BR Volleys face the huge challenge of making up for a home defeat in the first leg against Itas Trentino on the road. They did not succeed in 2021. After losing 3-1 in the Max-Schmeling-Halle, the German champions also lost 3-0 in Italy.
• In last year's quarter-final, the Berlin team traveled to Perugia in a similar position (1-3 at home). The Germans came close to a sensation at the club world champions and led 2-1 in sets, only to lose 2:3 in the end and miss the Golden Set.
• The BR Volleys are still waiting for their first win on Italian soil. They have not yet succeeded in ten attempts.
• Head coach Joel Banks has his entire squad at his disposal. Australian middle blocker Nehemiah Mote is fully recovered again after coming off the bench in the first leg.
• Joel BANKS: "The defeat at home was undoubtedly disappointing. We played well in many elements, but our opponent's service pressure and block defense were simply better. We only have a chance if we improve in the service-and-reception duel. I also see potential for improvement in our defense compared to the first leg. We can keep more balls in play than we did last time in the Max-Schmeling-Halle. The starting position and the huge challenge are clear to us. We'll still go all-in and fight to get the 3:0 or 3:1 win we need to advance to the Golden Set. But we have to seize every little chance Trentino gives us."