Work is in full swing at the Perugia facility: the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinal against Canarian side Guaguas Las Palmas is approaching, the second leg of a double-header that will determine the qualification for the Final Four on May 16th and 17th in Turin.
The reigning European champions will take to the field at home on Wednesday evening, April 1st, for the return match, after conquering the Gran Canaria Arena in a tiebreak last Tuesday, at the end of a veritable marathon against a team led by a great “old acquaintance” of the Italian league in Osmany Juantorena, who confirmed his great physical qualities and, above all, character.
The wait is almost over, and next week, at the end of the final quarterfinal match, the draw for the “fantastic four” who will compete for the most prestigious club trophy in Europe will be finalized.
Warsaw, Perugia, Zawiercie, and Ankara are the teams that won the first leg of the quarterfinals. Here are the results:
PGE Projekt Warszawa-Bogdanka Luk Lublin 3-1 (25-14, 23-25, 26-24, 25-20)
Guaguas Las Palmas-Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia 2-3 (23-25, 19-25, 25-21, 25-23, 13-15)
Cucine Lube Civitanova-Aluron CMC Zawiercie 0-3 (22-25, 16-25, 29-31)
Asseco Resovia Rzeszow-Ziraat Bankkart Ankara 0-3 (21-25, 23-25, 20-25)
The Sporting Director and CEV Manager of Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia reviews the four first-leg quarterfinal matches, including some strong performances and “surprise” results: “The Turkish team Ziraat confirmed the form they’ve been playing all season, finishing first in all their groups and winning 3-0 in Resovia, Poland. It’s a tough venue, so they’re a strong contender, as of now, as the favorite to qualify for the Final Four. Then there’s the somewhat surprising result in Warsaw, which advanced to Trento in the final, winning the second leg of the round of 16 in the golden set. Now they’ve won the first leg of the quarterfinals at home against Lublin, a three-point victory, so they’ll have every chance of pulling off a major upset in the return leg and eliminating Leon’s Lublin. Obviously, it’s a clash between two great Polish teams, and everything is still wide open.
