Italvolley makes it 5 out of 5: now the round of 16

European Men’s Volleyball Championships, Germany-Italy 2-3

Italy wins its fifth victory out of as many matches at the European Men’s Volleyball Championships and closes the group stage played in Ancona with another smile: it beat Germany 3 sets to 2, in a match that was drawn from the point of view of scoring but not particularly tense given that the Italian national team was already sure of first place in Group A and the German team was already third.

25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 14-25, 15-12 were the partials of the match that lasted more than two hours, played practically all on the edge of equilibrium except for the hollow passage d in the fourth set of the Azzurri, therefore forced to the tie-break to get the better of the evening rivals.

This concludes the group stage of the men’s continental event: in Group A, Italy (5 won, 0 lost), Serbia (4-1), Germany (3-2), and Belgium (2-3) advance to the round: Estonia (1-4) and Switzerland (0-5) are eliminated. In the round of 16 the Azzurri will face North Macedonia, fourth in Group C, on Saturday, Sept. 9, at PalaFlorio in Bari. In the quarters, a possible new crossroads with Germany, also engaged in Bari against the Netherlands.

In the other round of 16 on Apulian soil Poland-Belgium and Serbia-Czechia will be played. The other four matches of the next round will be played in Varna, Bulgaria: the hosts will face France, Croatia will face Romania, Slovenia will play against Turkey and Portugal will contend for a place among the top 8 in Europe against Ukraine.