Superlega 2023

Verona and Padova in race for last Coppa Italia vacancy

Watch the 11th leg of Italian SuperLega matches live on VBTV

Published 06:01, 24 Dec 2023

Rok Mozic Rana Verona (source: legavolley.it)

Rok Mozic and his Rana Verona teammates celebrate last week’s win over Cisterna Volley

The last leg of the first half of the 2023-2024 SuperLega Credem Banca regular season will take place on Tuesday, December 26. At the end of it, the quarterfinal match-ups for the men’s Coppa Italia tournament will be set, as the first, the second, the third and the fourth in the standings will host the eighth, the seventh, the sixth and the fifth, respectively, in one-game duels for the semifinal spots in Italy’s national cup to be played on January 3.

  • Watch Italy’s SuperLega Credem Banca live and on demand on VBTV.

With seven of the eight quarterfinalists already known, the focus in the 11th leg of SuperLega matches will fall on the last available vacancy and the two candidates to grab it, who have the challenging task of facing last season’s SuperLega champions and runners-up.

Currently above the cut-off line, in eighth place on 12 points and a 4-6 win-loss record, Rana Verona are in the best position of reaching the Coppa Italia quarterfinals. They will open the 11th leg with a visit to 2023 silver medallists Cucine Lube Civitanova (currently fifth on 18 points and 7-3) at 15:30 local time (14:30 UTC) on Tuesday. A win over Lube would consolidate Verona in the eighth place and secure their spot in the Coppa Italia competition.

Otherwise, they would have to wait for the outcome of the evening match between Pallavolo Padova Padua and defending champions Itas Trentino Trento. Padova, the other candidate for the eighth place, are on the same win-loss record as Verona, but two points below them, in ninth place. As they welcome table leaders Trentino (25 points, 9-1) on Tuesday at 18:00 local time (17:00 UTC), they will need to make up that two-point lag, if Verona have lost their game in Civitanova, to overtake them in the standings, and that means a mandatory victory.

“The one against Civitanova is a special match for us, because last season they managed to overturn the playoff series and win against us. This left us with bad memories, and knowing that Civitanova is a team built with great players, I would like to see our team very determined, ambitious and eager to win a high-level away game. We must work well and put in a lot of positive energy. Civitanova aims high, so I have no doubts about their approach to the match. They need the points, as do we." Radostin Stoytchev, head coach of Rana Verona
“Trento is proving to be one of the strongest teams in the championship. They are the reigning Italian champions and are in great form at the moment, as clearly seen in the last clash they had with Perugia, where they demonstrated a very high-level game. We come from a defeat against Monza, which we certainly didn't like. In the last few days we have been preparing in the best possible way for the match against Trento. The boys never showed signs of giving up." Jacopo Cuttini, head coach of Pallavolo Padova Padua

The remaining four games of the 11th leg will also start at 18:00 (17:00) on Tuesday and three of them will also have their impact on the positioning of the teams in the Coppa Italia bracket. There will be two clashes between teams that have already qualified for the national cup and there is a good chance that these same match-ups repeat in the quarterfinals, judging by the teams’ current positions in the table.

Second-placed Sir Susa Vim Perugia (24, 8-2) will host seventh-placed Allianz Milan (16, 5-5). Should the national champions fail to take the three points in Padua, the reigning club world champions will have a shot at returning to the top of the standings at the midpoint of the regular season. Allianz, on the other hand, have a shot at climbing a couple of spots up the table to approach the cup competition from a better starting position.

Third-placed Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza (21, 6-4) will visit sixth-placed Valsa Group Modena (17, 7-3). Last season’s Coppa Italia winners do not have a shot at climbing up the standings after that trip, but are running the risk of going down by as many as two positions. Modena might move up by a couple of spots, but also move down by one position.

Mint Vero Volley Monza are also amidst that potential reshuffle of the Coppa Italia quarterfinal spots. Currently in fourth place on 20 points and 7-3, they will visit 10th-placed Cisterna Volley (7, 2-8).

It will be also interesting to see if there are any movements at the very bottom of the table after 11th-placed Gioiella Prisma Taranto (6, 0-10) entertain 12th-placed Farmitalia Catania (4, 1-9). The home team, who have so far lost six of their 10 matches after five-set battles, have an excellent opportunity to score their first victory of the season as they host the SuperLega rookies from Catania.

SuperLega Credem Banca 2023-2024 11th leg:
Dec 26, 15:30 local (14:30 UTC): Cucine Lube Civitanova v Rana Verona
Dec 26, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Sir Susa Vim Perugia v Allianz Milan
Dec 26, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Gioiella Prisma Taranto v Farmitalia Catania
Dec 26, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Pallavolo Padova Padua v Itas Trentino Trento
Dec 26, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Cisterna Volley v Mint Vero Volley Monza
Dec 26, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Valsa Group Modena v Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza

SuperLega Credem Banca 2023-2024: full schedule and results

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