The very last act of a season lived in one breath: the Panthers are preparing to play the Final Four of the CEV Zeren Group Champions League for the second year in a row after hitting the third semifinal in a row, the eighth in their history. At the Ülker Sports Arena in Istanbul, the reigning champion A. Carraro Prosecco DOC Conegliano will face Vakifbank Istanbul on Saturday, in the other semifinal Savino del Bene Scandicci and Eczacibasi Dynavit Istanbul.
WHERE AND WHEN: As in last season, the Final Four of the CEV Champions League will be played at the Ülker Sports Arena. 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 semifinals will be played on Saturday 2 May: at 4 pm Italian time (5 pm local), A. Carraro Prosecco DOC Conegliano will challenge Vakifbank Istanbul, while at 7 pm Italian time (8 pm local time), Savino del Bene Scandicci will meet Eczacibasi Dynavit Istanbul. On Sunday 3 May, however, the finals will be played: the race for the bronze will start at 16 Italian time (17 local), while the final for the title between the winners of the semifinals will be played at 19 Italian (20 local). Tomorrow morning early the departure from Venice Marco Polo airport, in the afternoon the first training session in Turkey at the Burhan Felek Sport Hall. On Friday at 10 am (Italian time, 11 local time) there will be a press conference in the Room Citrus of the Marriott Asia Istanbul Hotel in which coach Santarelli and captain Wolosz will speak together with the counterparts of the other three contenders. In the afternoon, first training session in the Ülker Sports Arena which will host the F4 races, Saturday morning finishing of the Panthers in the building where the matches will be played.
MEDIA: All the matches of the CEV Champions League Final Four will be broadcast live streaming on DAZN and Sky Sport. Live updates, photos and interviews will be published on the Whatsapp channel, on the Facebook, Instagram and YouTube profiles of Imoco Volley.
PREVIOUS MATCHES A. CARRARO PROSECCO DOC IN THE FINAL: It will be the 8th final phase of the Champions League for A. Carraro Prosecco DOC Imoco from 2017 to date, third consecutive. The Panthers come from two Champions League wins in a row, for a total of three European titles in the yellow-blue trophy cabinet in six finals played.
In 2017 the first final at the Palaverde with Vakifbank, won by the Turks; in 2018 the path in Bucharest stopped in the semifinals against Vakif; temporarily left the Final Four format, in 2019 in Berlin in the first Superfinal it was Novara who prevailed over the Panthers, who after the Covid-break redeemed themselves in a big way with the victory in 2021 in Verona, again against Vakif; revenge of the Turks in the 2022 Superfinal in Ljubljana; after a year of absence, in 2024 Prosecco DOC A.Carraro returned to win in Antalya in the final with Milan, before the encore in 2025 with the reintroduction of the Final Four and the successes with Milan in the semifinals and Scandicci in the final to put the third CEV Champions League in the bag.
PREVIOUS AND FORMER AGAINST VAKIFBANK ISTANBUL: It will be the tenth meeting between the two clubs that have shared the most trophies internationally in recent years. In the previous 9 on 5 occasions, the confrontation went to the Panthers, 4 victories for coach Guidetti’s team: epic challenges against Vakif are remembered: from the Champions League finals of 2017, 2021 and 2022 to the quarterfinals two years ago, to the final of the 2022 Club World Cup in Antalya and the historic world semifinal with a comeback in 2019 in China. Vakif has welcomed into its ranks over the years Zhu Ting, Isabelle Haak, Gabi (who for the first time will play as an opponent against her former team) and Nika Daalderop, heroines of the Turkish club in their personal history and now a strong point of the Panthers. Former for the Turks the US center Chiaka Ogbogu, Panther in the 2019-20 season.
PREVIOUS AND FORMER AGAINST SAVINO DEL BENE SCANDICCI: There are 44 previous matches, 5 of which in Europe, on 38 occasions the yellow-blue team has prevailed: the Panthers faced Savino del Bene in the last final of the Club World Cup and in the final of the CEV Champions League last year. Coach Marco Gaspari leads Savino del Bene, he was the first coach in the history of Conegliano from 2012 to 2014, the setter Marta Bechis played at Palaverde for 4 seasons. Isabelle Haak, Marina Lubian and Zhu Ting, on the other hand, are ex-Scandicci.
PREVIOUS AND FORMER AGAINST ECZACIBASI DYNAVIT ISTANBUL: The comparisons from A. Carraro Prosecco DOC and Eczacibasi Istanbul bring to mind successes that have remained in the history of the yellow-blues, including the 2019 Shaoxing World Cup final. In the 7 previous meetings between the two teams, there are 6 successes for Conegliano, the last in the 2024 CEV Champions League semi-final with a double yellow-blue victory between the first and second legs.
PANTHERS TITLED IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: There are 24 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 3 of which 2 with Vakif (MVP in 2022), Zhu 3 of which 2 always with the Turks in 2017 and 2018 (MVP 2017), Haak one with Vakif in 2022 and two with double MVP with Conegliano; De Gennaro, Wolosz and Fahr 3 with the yellow-blue club, Chirichella with Igor Novara in 2019 and one with the Panthers, Lubian two from Pantera, Adigwe one. Nika Daalderop boasts success with Vakif in 2023.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PANTHERS SEASON STATS: With 144 points in 8 matches and 28 sets played, Isabelle Haak is the best yellow-blue scorer, the tenth in the competition, with 5.14 points scored per partial; behind her is Zhu Ting, with 100 points in 7 games, 4.55 in the 22 sets on the court. The Chinese superstar is the best Panther on the block, with 15 blocks, almost 1 per set played. An attack that revolves around the direction of captain Wolosz, who has brought the best offensive performance throughout the tournament with 55.56% efficiency.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ROLL OF HONOUR: Italy is in second place in the ranking of the most titled nations in the competition (19 successes): it leads Russia 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 3, Ravenna, Perugia and Matera with 2, finally Modena, Novara (the last Italian not of the yellow-blue brand, in 2019) and Casalmaggiore with a triumph.
TEAM IN PIAZZA CIMA ON MONDAY TO CELEBRATE THE SEASON WITH THE FANS, THEN DINNER WITH THE SPONSORS AT CA’ DEL POGGIO: On Monday 4 May, after the Turkish trip, as per tradition on the return from every European final, players, staff and management, who will land at Marco Polo airport in Venice early in the morning, then head to Piazza Cima in Conegliano to receive the embrace and warmth of all the fans from 6.30 pm to celebrate a season extraordinary. Before the “break the lines” that will definitively close the season, the team, staff, sponsors and authorities will be present on Monday at the traditional final closing evening of 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.
STATEMENTS BY COACH DANIELE SANTARELLI- “We are preparing to experience a fascinating Final Four: 4 of the best teams in the world will show volleyball of the highest level, the challenge between Italy and Turkey will still be proposed. For our part, the focus is exclusively on the semi-final with Vakif who, in my opinion, is the strongest team at the starting line of the finals: if I really have to choose a formation that appears to be the most advantaged, I choose them. For history in the competition, technical potential and drive from the home crowd, I see them slightly ahead of everyone. But it is really complicated to make predictions on what will happen, the Champions League will be decided in two days where anything can happen. We know, therefore, that the semi-final will be difficult, also because our way of playing is different from that of our opponents; we have prepared at the Palaverde to counter their attackers by proposing a very solid structure for the wall and defense, but it will be our job to sting on their weak points. Scandicci-Eczacibasi will also be a balanced match, full of well-trained champions: I expect wonderful semifinals in which the details will make the difference. But the desire to win, the attitude and the psychological aspect will be factors that can determine one result or another. As far as we are concerned, only the present counts: the past in the Champions League is stuff for the annals, we will face a very strong team and to beat them we will have to express our maximum potential, against Vakif we will be called upon to play even above our standards. We want to extend our winning European streak, but without exaggerating with thoughts: every season is different and hides pitfalls of its own, I always say that. Pressure is part of our job, but we live it with serenity: we as A. Carraro Prosecco DOC know our goals and we approach the Final Four with the joy of still being there, with the ambition of living other exciting and intense days. Turkey is a territory that breathes sport and knows volleyball at the highest levels, we will play in a splendid arena that will make all the teams feel its warmth. It will be a wonderful show for all the fans: I already thank those who follow us from home and those who support us in every way, we can’t wait to hug our supporters on Monday in Conegliano to celebrate another fantastic season” .
ISABELLE HAAK STATEMENTS- “We have prepared properly for these Final Four and we have time to make the final adjustments. It’s the highlight of the season, but I’m sure we’ll get there well after the joy of the Scudetto Finals. We can’t wait to go to Istanbul to start, in fact, a whole new tournament. There are 4 squads in the Final Four, the details will make the difference: we have studied our opponents meticulously. We haven’t faced Vakif this season, so the staff has given us as many indications as possible on the Turks to be ready, but then we players will have to take measures on the pitch. I and many others have played for them, I am pleased to face my former team, but the teams change all the time and now I am focused only on Conegliano: we expect a match at the highest level, there are international champions in both teams, it is not for nothing that the champion teams of Italy and Turkey are competing, the two most important leagues. Saturday will be a beautiful challenge, after the Italian victory we celebrated little and we returned to the gym charged up for this fantastic semifinal, we have been waiting for it for a long time. We will play in a very hot arena, it will be nice and the group has the right motivation to give their best and end the season on a high note. My focus? it is to lead the Panthers to victory, not to receive individual awards: it is nice to take home many MVPs, but only if Asia raises the cup to the sky do they have value. The real MVP is the team, my teammates teach me a lot and help me improve as a player”.
MONDAY IN PIAZZA CIMA
On Monday evening 4 May at about 18.30 the team and staff returning from Istanbul will be in Piazza Cima in Conegliano to celebrate the end of the season with the fans.