Super Lega 2021 - News

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The SuperLega Credem Banca weekend is set to start early this week as two of the 10th-leg games were brought forward to this Thursday because of the participation of Cucine Lube Civitanova and Itas Trentino Trento in December’s FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship in Brazil. Together with all the seventh-leg fixtures on Saturday and Sunday, Italian men’s league fans will get to enjoy as many as eight matches within the span of four days, all available live and on demand on VolleyballWorld.tv.

A super clash between Trentino and Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza will get the action going on Thursday at 20:30 local time. Each of the teams enter the match with five wins on their record. Trentino have also registered two defeats and have a total of 16 points, standing second in the table, while the squad from Piacenza have lost only once so far and arrive in Trento with 13 points on their tally. The visiting side will have to do without their outside Francesco Recine, who is out for about three weeks because of an injury.

"It will be a difficult match, because Piacenza do not hide their desire to climb the volleyball hierarchy. They have been reaffirming their ambitions on the court - until now Gas Sales Bluenergy have lost one game fewer than us,” Trentino’s coach Angelo Lorenzetti commented. “Having said that, on Thursday evening we will certainly not be just watching. We will try to collect points to move up the ranking. It will be very important for the growth process that we started at the beginning of the season.”

“I believe that Trento is one of the top four teams of the season, a team that has a lot of quality with players who can decide matches and make a difference at any time. We have prepared ourselves in the right way. We will not be fully staffed, but we are aware of our strength and our potential,” said Piacenza’s coach Lorenzo Bernardi.

Both teams will be in action again on Sunday. At 18:00, Trentino visit the star-studded team of Leo Shoes PerkinElmer Modena, who have surprisingly collected more defeats than wins so far this season (2-3) and are placed eighth in the standings. Piacenza will play at sixth-placed Kioene Padua (3-2) at 20:30, the last fixture of the week.

Also on Thursday evening, table leaders Lube will welcome Gioiella Prisma Taranto to the Eurosuole Forum in Civitanova Marche. Last week, their Cuban star Robertlandy Simon fired six aces towards a four-set home win over Leo Shoes, despite a 25-point tally by Dutch opposite Nimir Abdel-Aziz on the other side of the net. Now on a four-game winning streak, Lube top the current standings on 5-2 and 16 points, edging above Trentino on set ratio. After a straight-set home victory over Kioene Padua on a 13-point high from former Lube player Giulio Sabbi last week, Gioiella Prisma are seventh on 2-4.

“The invitation to the Club World Championship has made our calendar even tighter. We just grit our teeth and continue,” said Lube’s middle Enrico Diamantini. “It will be a challenging match. The opponents have their own game identity and come from a clear home win, so they will be confident. We will have to keep our concentration high. We come from a four-win series, but every match must be prepared and played with the utmost care.”

Lube will also open Sunday’s SuperLega match programme with a 15:30 away game at 11th-placed Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia (2-4), while Gioiella Prisma will get the weekend off.

In Saturday’s only match (at 18:00), fifth-placed Vero Volley Monza will try to recover from losing their last two games (to Lube and Trentino) and improve their 4-3 win-loss record as they visit ninth-placed Top Volley Cisterna (2-3).

Two more matches will be played on Sunday at 18:00. The only unbeaten team in the league, Sir Safety Conad Perugia, currently third in the standings, look set to extend their perfect five-game winning streak as they visit bottom-of-the-table Consar RCM Ravenna, who are winless in seven matches. At the same time, Allianz Milan (10th on 2-3 and 6 points) will entertain Verona Volley (12th on 1-4 and 2 points).

  • Watch all the matches of the Italian men's and women's top-division leagues live or on demand on VolleyballWorld.tv.