A new stage in the Milanese team’s European Challenge journey. Allianz Milano plays the first leg of the CEV Challenge Cup semifinal tomorrow (Wednesday, March 4, 2026) at 8:30 PM at the Allianz Cloud against Turkey’s Altekma SK Izmir. Coach Roberto Piazza’s team has had a strong run so far: 3-0 wins in the round of 32 against Macedonia’s Ugd Stip and in the round of 16 against Red Star Belgrade, plus a 3-0 and a meaningless 2-3 defeat in the quarterfinals against Poland’s Częstochowa. “It’s true that these opponents weren’t exactly top-tier, and the trip may have been more complicated for logistical reasons than anything else,” explains Allianz Milano’s spiker Francesco “Checco” Recine, “but we must also give credit to the fact that we never underestimated anyone.” Recine doesn’t hide the team’s ambitions: “Winning the Challenge Cup this season is clearly a corporate goal. Allianz won this cup in March 2021, but due to the Covid period, that achievement wasn’t properly celebrated.”

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