ŁKS Commercecon Łódź had to admit the superiority of the Italian Igor Gorgonzola Novara in the first match of the 1/8 finals of the CEV Cup. The Łódzkie Wiewióry lost 0-3 in their own arena, and their rivals took the first step to the quarterfinals. – While playing with them, we saw how physical they are – a strong middle blockers, an opposite who hits the ball with great force every time – emphasized Alessandro Chiappini, the coach of the Łódź team, after the match.
Coach Alessandro Chiappini expected a better result, but it was difficult for ŁKS Commercecon Łódź to build these emotions and concentration two days after such an important league match in Rzeszów. – Before the match, I asked the girls to use the flow that was created during the match in Rzeszów. I wanted us to play more relaxed than we did today. Emotions blocked us a bit. We knew we were playing against a very strong team. These emotions were a bit out of our control and that’s why we didn’t push them in the right way. While playing with them, we saw how physical they are – a strong middle blockers, an opposite who hits the ball with great force every time. Likewise, every serve was hard. It was definitely a difficult match. However, I want the team to approach such matches with a free mind and have more fun from this – says Italian coach.
ŁKS Commercecon had nothing to lose before a match in Łódź, and now they have nothing to lose even more. – I told the girls after the match that now we have to focus on two very important league matches, then we will have a little more time to think about the match in Novara. There we will have even less to lose, so we have to play with more aggression, accept the risk and we have to play at our highest level – adds Chiappini.
For Alessandro Chiappini, the match against the Italian team was a kind of sentimental journey. The coach worked for the club from Novara in 2005-2007 and won the Italian Super Cup, the Top Teams Cup and bronze in the CEV Cup with them.
Alessandro Chiappini has been living in Poland for many years. He has had the opportunity to live in several cities, including Sopot and Krakow, and now in Lodz. He always emphasizes that it is worth visiting Poland both for volleyball and as a tourist. – For sure suggest everybody to visit Poland and not only Krakow, Sopot/Gdansk, Warszawa, but many cities more, including Lodz which offer a lot of interesting architectural sites and more. In all of those cities you can find some amazing place connected with arts, architecture, lifestyle. Welcome – encourages.
Does he see any differences between Italians and Poles? – For sure in the big cities I can say many things in the lifestyle are similar, and the quality of life in Poland now it’s really good – he adds.
ŁKS Commercecon Łódź will play the return match of the 1/8 finals of the CEV Cup in Italy on December 11 at 8:00 p.m. However, before that, Łódzkie Wiewióry will play two important league matches. On November 30 at 12:30 p.m. they will face BKS Bostik ZGO Bielsko-Biała, and on December 6 at 5:30 p.m. they will play a derby match with Grot Budowlani Łódź.
