Champions League: Trentino to Superfinals! Perugia defeated 17-15 at Golden Set!

3 min read

7 April 2022 Danilo

Ladies and gentlemen, here we are the first replay of final in history of Champions League!
In second semifinal, Trentino eliminate Perugia after Golden Set, and the history of the CEV Men’s Volleyball Champions League has just been written in Trento as, for the first time ever in the history of competition (established in 2000) the same two clubs will meet in the finals of the competition in two years in a row!
Just like in Verona, Italy, last year, Poland’s Grupa Azoty Kędzierzyn-Koźle ZAKSA and Italy’s Trentino Itas will face each others in the Super Finals.
This time in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on May 22.

But, if ZAKSA needed two sets to take the ticket for the Grand Finale, and they did it without lot of difficult (despite the match against fellow countrymen Jastrzębski Węgiel eventually ended at tie break), Trentino did it in a much more dramatic manner, against compatriots from Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia in the semi-final, a rival with whom they might fight for the tile in SuperLega too.
Not even the fact they remained without their captain Matey Kaziyski in the tie-break (he remained on the bench after the 4th set with the ice on his knee) has stopped Trentino from taking the 6th Champions League final in their history.
Angelo Lorenzetti’s guys prevailed in the first match 3-2 and lost the rematch with the same result, which extended the encounter to the Golden Set.
There, Perugia came from the abyss, tying at 14-14 after trailing 8-2!
And probably a few fans remember the last time the superstar from Perugia Wilfredo León suffered 9 blocks!
Well, It happened tonight.
Alessandro Micheletto was decisive on the winning side today with 25 points, while Serbian Marko Podraščanin also contributed with 5 winning blocks.

Alessandro Michieletto, MVP and outside hitter of Trentino Itas: “It is incredible, we couldn’t really expect this result at the beginning of the season but we truly deserved it; I am proud of this team, of our audience and of the Society. We have always believed it.”

Nikola Grbić, head coach Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia: “It’s a great disappointment. The team never gave up, I am sorry for the start in the golden set where we weren’t able to be lucid and we didn’t have patience. Trento was good at serving, continuing to play and certainly congratulations to them. I’m sorry for Perugia, for the guys who gave everything.”