Lube-vs-Modena
Cucine Lube Civitanova will seek for the trophy defense in the national cup, and also their sixth gold medal in the tournament, in the semifinal match against 12-time winners Azimut Modena (January 27th at 15:30 CET).
„A year ago, we won Italian cup so, as being defending champions our goal is obviously to try to repeat it. And, as always, doing it again is more difficult than winning the first time, but surely we will go out on the court with determination and character to put our hands on the trophy. The first obstacle is Modena, an opponent we know very well because it beat us at home in the league match, last Sunday: a victory in the semifinal would be the best possible revenge. We come from an intense period and with some physical problems which we have to put behind, but on occasions like this, I am sure that everyone will give its maximum. We think about our play and putting volleyball, that everyone knows we can express, on the field. If we do so, I think we could get a good result in the Final Four in Bari, where four very strong sides will go out on the court and seek victory with no doubt,“ Lube captain Dragan Stanković said.
„How did we work this week? We are still facing physical problems and not all players managed to train well. Some had to do it at a lower pace. Together with my staff, I still have two days to evaluate the team. We had the same problems as last week and we will consider everything carefully. Civitanova? In the last game, they were ’disadvantaged’ because they had to play at home against a sextet they did not know. Ngapeth and Sabbi were absent and they felt the pressure of having to win. When we started playing well, it was difficult for them. It will be a very different thing on Saturday because, first, in a cup semifinals the concentration and the commitment are different. Moreover, we will not have the surprise effect on our side. I take all these elements into consideration and I’m calm. They are still the champions of Italy,“ Modena head coach Radostin Stoytchev stated.
Three-time winners Diatec Trentino and Sir Safety Conad Perugia, who are still chasing their first-ever trophy in the tournament, make the other semifinal pair (January 27th at 18:00 CET).
See all the results and statistics from the 16th finals by visiting our Italian men’s volleyball cup page.
SUBSCRIBE to have full access to WoV PROFILES, STATS, and WoVVIDEO.
Discover what’s new in the volleyball world.
