Firenze and Busto fight for the last playoff spot in Italian League Decision Day

After almost five months of action, the 2025-2026 Lega Femminile Serie A1 Tigotà regular season comes to an end on Saturday, and, even after 175 matches completed, valuable spots are still in play.

Having all seven matches starting at the same time at 20:30 local time (19:30 UTC), the Italian League Decision Day will determine the eighth and last team qualified for the playoffs and the second side to be relegated.

• Watch the Lega Femminile Serie A1 Tigotà live on VBTV

Separated by just one point, Il Bisonte Firenze (28) and Eurotek Laica UYBA Busto Arsizio (27) are the two contenders for the final playoff spot.

Because of their one-point advantage, Firenze depend only on their own efforts to qualify. They will do so regardless of other results if they beat Igor Gorgonzola Novara at home.

"We need to be very focused against Novara because there's a playoff spot on the line and that's something Firenze hadn't had in some years," assistant coach Carlo Maria Mitti said. "We lost some points that could have sealed it for us, but our fate is still in our hands. Novara will certainly be tough opponents, but we want to make it to the playoffs."

Busto will be on the road on Decision Day, but have, in theory, a more promising match against Omag-Mt San Giovanni In Marignano. Besides winning the match, they need Firenze to drop theirs to advance.

"There's a lot in play in this match, and I'm sure it's going to be very difficult," head coach Enrico Barbolini remarked. "We need to bring back the spirit that we had in some moments of the match against Milano."

Whoever qualifies between Firenze and Busto will be set to play league leaders Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano in the first round of the playoffs.

Besides the Panthers, who are guaranteed in first place with 69 points, four other teams already know their seeding for the postseason - Savino Del Bene Scandicci (62) are second, Numia Vero Volley Milano (59) are third, Megabox Ondulati Del Savio Vallefoglia (39) are sixth and Bergamo (33) are seventh. Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri '76 (54) and Novara (52) are set to play each other in the quarterfinals and now fight to finish fourth and have homecourt advantage in the best-of-three series.

Four teams fight against relegation

At the bottom of the standings, four teams fight to avoid relegation and not join Bartoccini-Mc Restauri Perugia in the Italian second division in 2026-2027.

Currently inside the relegation zone in 13th place with 21 points, CBF Balducci HR Macerata have the most difficult situation among them, as, besides beating Bergamo on the road, they need one of their competitors to lose points to have a chance of continuing in the Italian elite.

Wash4Green Monviso Volley have the same 21 points as Macerata, appearing in 12th place due to their better set ratio, and will secure their permanence if they take all three points on Saturday. The problem is that they should have a very tough match against league leaders Conegliano on the road.

One point ahead of them in 11th place with 22, Honda Cuneo Granda Volley will be free from the risk of relegation if they beat Vallefoglia by any score in front of their home fans.

The scenario is the same for San Giovanni, which have 23 points, and play Busto at home.

Lega Volley Femminile - Match Schedule & Results

The last leg of the Italian League regular season will also have the already-relegated Perugia facing Chieri at home and Milano hosting Scandicci in the Derby.

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