The Imoco wants to overcome the 73 victories in a row of the Vakifbank: the next in the sights is the Megabox
For a team that has already won everything, the new goal can only be to win everything back, perhaps taking away the satisfaction of beating some records. First of all, to overcome the 73 consecutive games without defeat of Giovanni Guidetti’s Vakifbank between 2012 and 2014. Imoco is well underway, having reached 65 with the victory of the Italian Super Cup against Novara on 2 October. The last time the Panthers saw the opposing team win three sets, the pandemic was a term for apocalyptic TV series, and with the word “mask” only the Venice carnival came to mind. It was December 12, 2019, and the Imoco had just won the club world championship four days earlier in China. Opposite was Perugia, but coach Santarelli had to field mostly youth players. It ended 3-2. If the calendar had not been so compressed, Conegliano’s unbeaten cycle would have already reached 84, with the last defeat at the Superfinals of the Champions League in Berlin against Novara. Reaching the record will certainly not be a walk in the park, in the first nine days of the championship Conegliano will meet Novara on 21 October, Monza on 30 and Busto on 6 November; and, waiting for the calendar to be published, there could also be a couple of Champions League rounds in between. Europe remains the main goal of the season; after having tasted the victory in the final with Vakifbank in May, the yellow-blues want to try again. For once, they have had a very affordable group, which will allow Santarelli to rest some big players at least in a couple of matches to manage their energies. The Imoco will find itself defending the Club World Cup after two years. From 15 to 19 in Ankara, Turkey, he will face Vakifbank, Fenerbahce, the top two teams of the South American continental championship, and the winner of the Asian cup. In the Italian field the main contenders have not changed, and indeed Novara and Monza in particular have reduced the gap compared to last season. –