The first two semifinalists in the Italian men’s SuperLega Credem Banca emerged over the weekend as Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza and defending champions Sir Susa Vim Perugia closed their quarterfinal playoffs in three straight wins each. Another two may potentially emerge on Wednesday, when the other two best-of-five series hold their fourth-leg matches with Itas Trentino Trento and Cucine Lube Civitanova each a win away from advancing, but playing on the road, visiting their opponents – Cisterna Volley and Allianz Milan, respectively – who are hoping to level up and push these playoffs to a deciding fifth leg. Both games on March 26 are set to get underway at 20:30 local time (19:30 UTC).
Superlega 2024/25
Trentino and Lube aim at closing quarterfinal playoffs on Wednesday
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Published 03:53, 25 Mar 2025
Trentino in attack at Cisterna
“Civitanova is showing all its value. It is a great team, used to playing fundamental matches. We saw it in the Italy Cup matches. I believe, however, that we can still have our say in this series and, encouraged by our fans, we can win and get to game five. Last Sunday we were just missing a few things, especially in the first two sets. With one more ball we could have turned the game around." Paolo Porro, setter of Allianz Milan
“We expect a tough match, like the previous ones, with the exception of game two, when we were in a state of grace and Milan had a bad day. When these two teams play at their level, it turns out to be a hard-fought match. The opponents are against the wall and will give it their all. We will not hold back, because we want to close the series without the risk of a do-or-die game five. Every match is different and we must not give anyone a chance, especially since with finishing early we could refill our energy. Our team has the advantage of having many players capable of emerging in difficult situations. In the most complicated moments, we have resources and solutions to react with the unfailing support from the bench.” Mattia Boninfante, setter of Cucine Lube Civitanova
“In game three we could have done more in defense. Itas Trentino found a good serving rhythm, putting us in difficulty and this inevitably affected other aspects of the game and finding our continuity. We will try to give our best in game four. To extend the series we will need to push hard in serving and try to be attentive and incisive in blocking.” Yuga Tarumi, outside hitter of Cisterna Volley
“We face an undoubtedly tricky trip, because it is known that Cisterna is a team with excellent qualities and that at its own hall it always plays its best volleyball, often finding excellent rotations in serving and even more competitive spirit. We will need a careful approach to the match, but above all it will be necessary to know how to systematically accept the point-to-point fight, as it happened in the previous match.” Fabio Soli, head coach of Itas Trentino Trento
