Homecourt advantage played a big factor in the first round of the 2024-2025 Italian men’s SuperLega Credem Banca semifinals, and Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza and Cucine Lube Civitanova, who will get to count on the support of their fans this weekend in second round, will rely on that to try to even their best of five series.

Lube will play first, hosting Sir Susa Vim Perugia on Saturday, at 18:00 local time (17:00 GMT), while Piacenza meet Itas Trentino in a sold-out PalabancaSport 24 hours later, on Sunday.

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Despite playing on the road last week, Piacenza got to challenge regular season winners Trentino, pushing the reigning European champions to five sets in Trento. The strong performance gave the players the confidence that they can cause an upset in the series, and they want to take the first step in that direction on Saturday.

“The first match was very even, and it’s a shame that we didn’t get the win, but it’s already in the past,” opposite Yuri Romanò said. “We were confident before the start of that match and are even more now. We know this series will be decided in the details, and we’re preparing for it.”

The hard-fought victory at home also had a positive effect for Trentino, who, despite the difficult moments, managed to start the series ahead. They are ready for an even more challenging match on Sunday but are also aware that a road win would put them in a comfortable position to win the series and advance to the Finals.

“We know the second match will be even more difficult,” star outside hitter Alessandro Michieletto reflected. “It obviously feels great to win a match in the way we did last week, but I think a lot of our confidence also comes from what we do every day in training and from how efficient we have been in continually improving as a team.”

Trentino have been very successful in the matches against Piacenza over the years, triumphing 18 times in 24 encounters. They also won the six most recent encounters.

SuperLega Credem Banca 2024-2025 schedule and results

Lube determined to even the series

Lube’s start in the series against Perugia wasn’t as promising, as the team fell in straight sets. Back at home, they know they need to take a win on Saturday or it’s going to be very difficult to beat their opponents twice on the road.

“Perugia obviously played well, but I don’t think the 3-0 score made justice to what the match was,” libero Francesco Bisotto remarked. “The three sets were close and we even had the lead in the third set, but couldn’t capitalize on it. Winning this weekend and securing another home match in the series will be huge because if we go down 0-2 against them, it will be very difficult to come back. In their stadium, playing well is not enough, you need to be perfect to have a chance of beating them.”

Despite the early advantage in the series, Perugia don’t plan on slowing down. They know Lube had some understandable difficulties after losing team captain and star libero Fabio Balaso due to an injury, and expect them to be even more competitive this weekend.

“We know they will push, they won’t give up, and that’s what they showed last week,” outside hitter Oleh Plotnytskyi stated. “I expect them to be even stronger in the second match as, besides playing at home, they will have more confidence and chemistry in their new formation. But we also prepared very well during the week and will try to bring our best level.”

Historically, the duels involving the teams have been very even, with Perugia having 35 victories to Lube’s 33. The last five matches reflect that, with Perugia taking three wins and Lube claiming two.

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