CEV Champions League, we have arrived at the final act that will also decree the end of the Panthers’ 2024/25 season. For the first time in the history of the competition, three Italians participate in the Final Four, another medal on the chest of a movement at the top of international volleyball that continues its golden period with clubs after the Olympic victory in Paris. A. Carraro Prosecco DOC Conegliano, Numia Vero Volley Milano, Savino del Bene Scandicci will fly to Istanbul where they will also find Vakifbank Istanbul.
WHERE AND WHEN: The CEV Champions League Final Four will be played on the weekend of May 3 and 4 at the Ülker Sports Arena in Istanbul. The futuristic facility owned by Fenerbahce can hold 13,800 spectators and hosts men’s and women’s basketball competitions, as well as sporting events of international importance, concerts and congresses. The arena covers an area of 55 thousand m2, is 28 meters high, houses 44 internal rooms, a restaurant with a view of the court and an LED that surrounds the scoreboard weighing 28 tons.
FORMAT, PARTICIPANTS AND TIMES: The Final Four format is back for the first time since 2018, from 2019 onwards the Superfinals formula had been adopted. On Saturday 3 May, at 3 pm Italy (16 local time), A. Carraro Prosecco DOC Conegliano will face Numia Vero Volley Milano. Subsequently, at 18 Italian time (19 local), Savino del Bene Scandicci will compete against Vakifbank Istanbul, the Turkish champion team. The final will be played on Sunday 4 May at 6 pm Italian time, while the final for third place will start at 3 pm.
Tomorrow morning the departure from Marco Polo in Venice, in the afternoon the first training session in Turkey at the Burhan Felek Sport Hall, while on Friday at 10 until 11 a.m. there will be a press conference for Santarelli-Wolosz and in the afternoon the first training session at 2.30 p.m. in the Ulker Arena which will host the F4 races. Saturday training at 9.00 for the finishing touches before the semi-final at 15.00 (Italian time).
Tomorrow morning the departure from Marco Polo in Venice, in the afternoon the first training session in Turkey at the Burhan Felek Sport Hall, while on Friday at 10 until 11 a.m. there will be a press conference for Santarelli-Wolosz and in the afternoon the first training session at 2.30 p.m. in the Ulker Arena which will host the F4 races. Saturday training at 9.00 for the finishing touches before the semi-final at 15.00 (Italian time).
MEDIA: All the matches of the CEV Champions League Final Four will be broadcast live streaming on DAZN, Sky Sport and Eurovolley.tv. Live updates, photos and interviews will be published on the Whatsapp channel, on the Facebook, Instagram and YouTube profiles of Imoco Volley.
YELLOW-BLUE PRECEDENTS IN THE FINAL: The last time the Final Four was played, in Bucharest in 2018, Antonio Carraro Imoco Conegliano participated and finished in third place, winning the final against Galatasaray after falling to Zhu Ting’s Vakifbank Istanbul in the semifinals. The Panthers have played 3 of the last 4 Superfinals, winning the final in Verona against Vakifbank Istanbul in 2021 and in Antalya last year against Numia Vero Volley Milano, opponent of Saturday’s semifinal. The yellow-blue club boasts two CEV Champions Leagues in four finals: the first dates back to 2019 in Berlin against Igor Novara, won by the Piedmontese, while in 2022 Haak and Gabi’s Vakifbank triumphed in Ljubljana.
PREVIOUS AND FORMER AGAINST NUMIA VERO VOLLEY MILANO: The obstacle in the semifinals for the Panthers will be Numia Vero Volley Milano, the two teams have faced each other 45 times, on 40 occasions the A. Carraro Prosecco DOC won, including the last three matches of the Scudetto Finals, which awarded the eighth tricolor in the history of the club. The last previous meeting in the CEV Champions League evokes sweet memories for the Panthers: it is the Superfinal of the last edition, in Antalya coach Santarelli’s team won 3-2; in 2022, moreover, the two teams faced each other in the quarterfinals, Wolosz and her teammates passed (0-3 in the first leg, 3-1 at Palaverde). The last 15 appointments have all gone to the yellow-blue team, including the 8 this season. And it will be the fifth different competition in which the Panthers will find Numia Vero Volley after the Super Cup, the Italian Cup, the Club World Cup, and the A1 championship. Former players of the challenge on the Milan side are the spiker Myriam Sylla, the middle blocker Anna Danesi and the opposite Paola Egonu.
PREVIOUS FORMER AGAINST SAVINO DEL BENE SCANDICCI: There are 40 previous matches against Savino del Bene Scandicci, 33 times the victory went to the Panthers. The teams have also faced each other 4 times in the CEV Champions League, including the 2021 quarter-finals in which the yellow-blues won both times. In Pool D of the 2018/19 season, the Tuscans got the better of the home match. Former players of the challenge for A. Carraro Prosecco DOC are the spiker Zhu Ting, the opposite Isabelle Haak and the middle blocker Marina Lubian, while the former Panther Giulia Gennari (setter from 2019 to 2022) plays with Savino del Bene. Marco Gaspari, yellow-blue coach from 2012 to 2014, leads Scandicci as head coach.
PREVIOUS AND FORMER VAKIFBANK ISTANBUL: For 9 times A. Carraro Prosecco DOC has found the Turkish battleship, the “hostess” of the Final Four. The confrontation has gone to the Panthers 5 times, epic challenges against Vakif are remembered: from the 2021 and 2022 finals to last year’s quarterfinals, as well as the final of the 2022 Club World Cup in Antalya. Over the years, Vakif has welcomed Zhu Ting, Isabelle Haak and Gabi, heroines of the Turkish club in their personal history, into its ranks.
PANTHERS TITLED IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: There are 16 titles in the top European competition added up among the players of the A. Carraro Prosecco DOC, as well as 3 mvp. Gabi has won 2 with Vakif (MVP in 2022), Zhu 2 always with the Turks in 2017 and 2018 (MVP 2017), Haak one with Vakif in 2022 and one last year as MVP with Conegliano; De Gennaro, Wolosz and Fahr 2 with the yellow-blue club, Chirichella with Igor Novara in 2019 (beating the Panthers in the Berlin Superfinal), Lubian, Lanier and Bardaro one in 2024 in Antalya.
APPEARANCES & STATISTICS: Asia Wolosz is the player with the most appearances in CEV competitions among those present in Istanbul with 218 tokens collected in total. In the A. Carraro Prosecco DOC after her there is Monica De Gennaro with 169 games played, then Isabelle Haak at 144. With 108 points scored, the Swedish opposite is the Panthers’ top scorer this season in the competition, Marina Lubian is the best bricklayer (16 in total, average of 1 per set), Gabi is number 1 in the competition in terms of perfect reception (47%), while Haak and Lubian share the most yellow and blue aces (8).
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ROLL OF HONOUR: Italy is in second place in the ranking of the most titled nations in the competition (18 wins): Russia leads with 23, in third place is Turkey with 8 (of which 6 won by Vakifbank, from 2011 to today). There are 7 Italian clubs to have won the trophy: Bergamo leads with 7 successes, then A. Carraro Prosecco DOC with, Ravenna, Perugia and Matera with 2, finally Novara, Modena (the last Italian non-yellow-blue brand, in 2019) and Casalmaggiore with a triumph.
WOLOSZ & SANTARELLI IN THE PRESS CONFERENCE FRIDAY (H11/12): the captain and coach of A. Carraro Prosecco DOC will be involved in a press conference on the eve of the start of the Final Four. On Friday, May 2, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., at the Marriott Hotel Sisli in Istanbul, they will answer questions from journalists.
FOR FANS BIG SCREEN AT IMOCO BISTROT: All the matches of the Final Four in Istanbul of the CEV Champions League of the A. Carraro Prosecco DOC Conegliano will be broadcast LIVE at the Imoco Bistrot, starting from the semifinal against Numia Vero Volley Milano, appointment for Saturday 3 from 14:50. Info and reservations at +39 3930804118. The Municipality of Conegliano has instead set up a large screen in Piazza Cima in Conegliano for the semifinals and possible finals.
TEAM IN PIAZZA CIMA MONDAY TO CELEBRATE THE SEASON WITH THE GIALLOBLU FANS’: After the Turkish trip, as per tradition on the return from every European final, players, staff and management who have just landed from Istanbul (arrival of the team expected at 18.55 at Marco Polo airport in Venice) will head to Piazza Cima in Conegliano to receive the embrace and warmth of all the fans at 20.30 to celebrate an extraordinary season. Appointment for Monday 5 May from 20:30 in Piazza Cima in Conegliano.
FINAL DINNER AT CA’ DEL POGGIO: Before the “break the lines” that will definitively close the season, the team, staff, sponsors and authorities will be present on Tuesday at the traditional final closing evening and “break the lines” in the evocative location of the Ca’ del Poggio Restaurant in San Pietro di Feletto which traditionally hosts the last act of the season before the well-deserved holidays.