MONZA, 24 DECEMBER 2024 – “Boxing Day” all’Opiquad Arena per la MINT Vero Volley Monza. Beretta and companions Thursday 26 December at 5pm (live on DAZN and VBTV) they will face the Lube kitchens Civitanova in a fundamental match for the season. The players from the Marche region arrive at the match in good shape, also thanks to their experience at the Club World Cup, but the support of the home crowd could prove decisive in pushing the team from Brianza towards an important result.
Coach Eccheli's boys are going through a delicate and atypical moment. If in the CEV Champions League they lead Pool B with authority, in the championship they struggle to find continuity and are focusing on the comparison with Lube to relaunch themselves. This will be the 32nd meeting between the two teams, with the Cucineri having a clear advantage in the previous ones (23 successes against 8). However, the Brianza team have shown that they know how to surprise: last season, in fact, they eliminated the red and whites both in the quarter-finals of the Italian Cup and in the race for the Scudetto.
For this Boxing Day match there are many exes on the field starting with Erik Loeppky, protagonist in Monza last season. Adis Lagumdzija also played on the Brianza roster at Monza in 2020/21 and Santiago Orduna from 2018 to 2022. Osmany Juantorena at Lube from the 2015/16 to 2021/22 season and Ivan Zaytsev, his teammate in the Marche, are familiar with the Civitanova camp. from 2021 to 2024.
THE OPPONENTS
After the victory in the Play Offs, 5th place in the Super League, Cucine Lube Civitanova faces its 30th year in the top flight with a revolutionized group. Return to the helm of Giampaolo Medei, fresh from the triumph in the CEV Cup with Resovia. The libero Fabio Balaso, promoted to captain, and his teammate Francesco Bisotto remained at the base, but also the Bulgarian spiker Alex Nikolov and the winger Mattia Bottolo. Confirmation for the Turkish international Adis Lagumdzija in place 2 and for the transalpine Olympic champion Barthelemy Chinenyeze in the center, a department in which the former Trento player Marko Podrascanin returns after 8 years. Unpublished direction with the emerging Mattia Boninfante from Modena and the Italian-Argentine veteran Santi Orduna from Catania. Great anticipation in the squad for the Canadian former Monza player Eric Loeppky and the Iranian Poriya Hossein Khanzadeh. Hot attack with Croatian Petar Dirlic, new entry from Milan. Two other 'giants' have been signed in the centre: Giovanni Gargiulo, ex Taranto, and the Brazilian baby Davi Tenorio, last year at Soria.
CLASSIFICATION
Sir Susa Vim Perugia 35, Itas Trentino 30, Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza 26, Cucine Lube Civitanova 26, Rana Verona 25, Allianz Milano 21, Cisterna Volley 15, Valsa Group Modena 15, Sonepar Padova 10, Gioiella Prisma Taranto 10, Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina 8, MINT Vero Volley Monza 7
FULL ROSTER | MINT REAL VOLLEY MONZA
Setters: Kreling, Mancini
Central: Beretta, Di Martino, Averill, Mosca
Spikers: Juantorena, Marttila, Rohrs, Szwarc, Lee, Zaytsev
Free: Gaggini, Picchio
Trainer: Eccheli
FULL ROSTER | LUBE KITCHENS CIVITANOVA
Setters: Orduna, Boninfante
Central: Chinenyeze, Gargiulo, Podrascanin, Tenorio
Spikers: Loeppky, Hossein Khanzadeh, Nikolov, Lagumdzija, Dirlic, Bottom
Free: Bisotto, Balasso
Trainer: Together
PRE-MATCH STATEMENTS
Massimo Eccheli, MINT Vero Volley Monza coach: “We find ourselves in a delicate moment and every match we face becomes more and more important. We must react and reverse course, without focusing on the ranking, but by working on ourselves. The match against Civitanova will be very demanding, but we must focus on our strengths.”
THE CALENDAR
3rd day of return Regular Season
Thursday 26 December 2024, 5.00 pm
Sonepar Padua – Gioiella Prisma Taranto
Direct VBTV
Thursday 26 December 2024, 6.00 pm
Rana Verona – Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina
Direct VBTV
Thursday 26 December 2024, 6.00 pm
Sir Susa Vim Perugia – Valsa Group Modena
Live DAZN and VBTV
Thursday 26 December 2024, 6.00 pm
Itas Trentino – Allianz Milan
Live Rai Sport and VBTV
Thursday 26 December 2024, 6.00 pm
Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza – Cisterna Volley
Direct VBTV
