Itas Diatec TRENTINO
TRENTINO, who won the regular season, will take part in its sixth consecutive final (all with coach Stoytchev). They have not played since April 14 when they disposed of CUNEO 3-0. PIACENZA surrendered twice in the regular season against TRENTINO, but was capable of putting three consecutive wins on a MACERATA team that was defending its title. This will be the first ever league final for coach Luca Monti.
Matey Kaziyski (Itas Diatec TRENTINO): “PIACENZA is the true surprise of these playoffs but they totally deserve to be there in the final and I am sure they will make it very hard for us. Just like they’ve done in 2008 and 2009, it will be a very tough series but a top level and spectacular match-up. PIACENZA has stepped up a gear at the halfway point of the season, they started to be more efficient. We have a little advantage: the home court in three of the five games. Hopefully our fans will help us to regain the league title”.
Luca Monti (coach Copra Elior PIACENZA): “TRENTINO has very few weaknesses. We’ll have to do a good job of putting them under pressure with the serve and try to get the ball away from the net, even if they are capable of playing fast even in that circumstance. They have excellent servers too, I even think they’re the strongest team in that department. The players will have to put the setter in the best possible conditions, and he will then himself have to take the best decisions. The key of this series will be the level of play. Compared to MACERATA, TRENTINO is more consistent and their game is sharper. PIACENZA will have to play at its best and find continuity, which is a goal that is totally possible even if we should not expect miracles. In the series against Macerata we did not play well all together at the same time: some players had ups and downs: Fei, Papi and Zlatanov found it harder than others. We need the team to play at a higher level. If we want this dream to continue, we have to play well all together”.
A1 playoffs – FINAL Game 1
Thursday April 25 at 5.30pm
Itas Diatec TRENTINO – Copra Elior PIACENZA
Play Off A1 – FINAL Game 2
Sunday April 28 at 5.30pm
Copra Elior PIACENZA – Itas Diatec TRENTINO
A1 playoffs – FINAL Game 3
Wednesday May 1 at 5.30pm
Itas Diatec TRENTINO – Copra Elior PIACENZA
Game 4 (if needed)
Sunday May 5 at 5.30pm
Copra Elior PIACENZA – Itas Diatec TRENTINO
Game 5 (if needed)
Sunday May 12 at 5pm
Itas Diatec TRENTINO – Copra Elior PIACENZA
To read more news from this competition click on Italy.
Look at the statistics from the Italian league, click on statistics
