With the first results from the three rounds of the SuperLega Credem Banca Playoff Quarterfinals, with Sir Susa Scai Perugia and Cucine Lube Civitanova advancing to the semifinals after three matches, the 5th Place Playoff bracket has been finalized, which will award a spot in the 2026/27 CEV Challenge Cup.
With Perugia’s advancement to the semifinals, the format has been finalized, which included a double chance based on the potential qualification of the Regular Season winner for the semifinals. Therefore, all four teams excluded from the Quarterfinals and the three teams ranked 9th through 11th in the Regular Season will participate. The four semifinalists, however, will automatically participate in a European competition (Champions League for the two finalists and the best of the excluded semifinalists, CEV Cup for the other semifinalist).
In addition to the three teams that did not participate in the Scudetto Playoffs—Sonepar Padova (9th in the Regular Season), Cisterna Volley (10th), and MA Acqua S.Bernardo Cuneo (11th)—Itas Trentino and Vero Volley Monza will also be competing in the race for the third European competition. They will also be joined by the other two teams that did not qualify for the Scudetto Semifinals (in Regular Season ranking order: Verona, Modena, Piacenza, Milan).
The seven teams will therefore form a bracket with Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Finals, all series consisting of best-of-three matches. The best-placed team that missed out on the Scudetto will advance directly to the Semifinals (from April 19th onward), while the other three Quarterfinal series will play in the slots on April 5th, 9th, and 12th.
The first pairing for the Quarterfinals has already been determined: Vero Volley Monza (formally the lowest-placed team eliminated from the Quarterfinals, having finished 8th in the Regular Season) will face Sonepar Padova, while the other matches will have to wait until the end of the Quarterfinals.
CREDEM BANCA 5TH PLACE PLAYOFFS – THE FORMULA
The 4 teams eliminated from the Quarterfinals of the Scudetto Playoffs and the teams that finished 9th, 10th, and 11th at the end of the Regular Season will participate in the 5th Place Playoffs. The best team eliminated from the Quarterfinals will advance directly to the 5th Place Playoff Semifinals, while the others will form a bracket starting from the Quarterfinals (consisting of 3 pairings). The matches are played in the best-of-two-wins-out-of-three format (Game 1 and Game 3 at the home of the highest-placed team at the end of the Regular Season).
Quarterfinals: April 5, 9, and 12, 2026
Semifinals: April 19, 26, and 29, 2026
Final: May 2, 5, and 10, 2026
