Surprise Piacenza hits the perfect two days and raises the trophy in Rome in front of President Mattarella.
– And in the end Piacenza raises it. Receiving the Italian Cup from President Mattarella, in the marvelous setting of a packed PalaEur, is Blue Gas Energy, which wins a literally one-way final against the favorite Trento. Massimo Botti’s boys are the real surprise of the Final Fourand fielded the perfect two days, first beating the super favorite Sir Safety Perugia in the semifinal, and then the multi-decorated Itas in the final: the 3-0 with clear partials highlights the unquestionable superiority of Emilia, and certifies the fact that often, in events like this, what matters is the conditions in which you arrive at those two days, much more than before and after. Piacenza, even sixth in the championship standings and grappling with a decidedly turbulent season, has polished itself up and shown the best version of itself in these 48 hours: exactly what was needed to lift the trophy;
– Everyone expected Perugia, which instead was the first victim of the Piacentino furor on Saturday. Sir Safety came to this round with 33 consecutive victories and 152 days of unbeaten run: the one of Nano Anastasi It seemed like the perfect, unbeatable, super favorite car. And instead, Leon and team mates succumbed in a semifinal which, like the final, proved to be one-sided: a 0-3 that makes noise, considering the pedigree of the Perugians, trophy holders and recent World Champion graduates just a few months ago, as well as the undisputed leader in the championship with 20 (yes, twenty) points ahead of the second. In the single game, all this counts for zero: sadly, for the club and the Umbrian public, it was quite evident in this Roman weekend;
– The victim of the final was instead Trento: it must be said, in partial defense of president Mosna’s team, that in these events the club has always finished at the bottom for years, and this time too it was no exception. Angelo Lorenzetti continued to experiment with the formula of three hitters, without pure opposites, which allowed an astonishing comeback in the semifinals (from 0-2 to 3-2 against Allianz Milano) in the semifinals but stalled in the final, when the national heroes Lavia and Michieletto they seemed decidedly underwhelming and not even the experience of Matej Kazinsky managed to emerge in the general offensive sterility. Probably, the 5 sets on Saturday made themselves felt in the legs and minds of the Trentino players in the final: the certainty is that when it counts, Trento is always there, and losing, no matter how bad it may hurt, is absolutely part of the game;
– If Trento and Perugia were favourites, Piacenza and Milan were the ugly ducklings of the Final Four for various reasons: both, however, stood up for themselves, because Allianz also put Trento in very serious difficulty before giving in to the tie break in the semifinal. Gas Sales instead came from a decidedly intricate moment, culminating with the sacking of Mister Secolo Lorenzo Bernardi: his deputy Botti inherited the heavy benchwho even before this race seemed to have managed to partially recompact the environment, but in these two days he has definitely made a masterpiece. In these two races, Leal showed himself in a guise never seen before in Italy, winning the MVP by acclaim: but it was also the sempiternal that shone Simonthe other hammer Lucarelliwonderfully coordinated by the amazing direction of Brizard. If we had been told two months ago that Piacenza would lift a trophy, we would never have believed it: but the devil invented volleyball, especially in the Final Four. For info, ask Perugia and Trento: congratulations to Botti and his boys;
– The Pala Eur in Rome is worth a consideration. Sold out for two days, an enchanting, fabulous setting, full of pathos, which has once again certified, if ever there was a need, why volleyball, by numbers, is the second sport practiced and followed in our country, probably also on the long wave of national successes. In this enchanting setting the diamond was the appearance of President Mattarella, honored by thunderous applause and acclaimed as rarely seen. The show on the pitch was of the highest level, but the real added value was given by the 11,000 people who filled the stands in Rome, including organized fans, families, many local and non-local sports clubs, showing that this model of sport in Italy is not only enjoyable, but also sensationally sustainable.