Milan-Conegliano, Champions at stake: the two coaches don’t hide

Italian Euroderby in women’s Champions League final

It's now all set for the Euroderby between Allianz Vero Volley Milano and Imoco Conegliano that will decide, on Sunday evening in Antalya, Turkey, the winning team of the 2023/24 Champione League. Conegliano, fresh from its Scudetto reconfirmation, aims to replicate its 2020/21 success while Milan seeks its first success in Europe’s top competition.

Marco Gaspari, coach of Vero Volleyball (which has three important former Conegliano players on the roster, namely Raphaela Folie, Myriam Sylla and Paola Egonu), presented the challenge to his club’s official channels as follows: "Both we and Conegliano have put important teams like Fenerbahce and Eczacibasi, among others, behind us to be here. A very important goal, but we cannot be satisfied with having reached the Final".

" We are here to play for the title of Champion of Europe, so I think the change of mentality has to go through these games, to start winning. On the other side of the net we have a team that, together with VakifBank, has won so much, with an important roster and a coach who has made the team play perfectly. We have to think about focusing well, knowing the strengths and knowing that we have to take advantage of the opportunities available to us. The last Scudetto Finals proved that, but we have to be very determined becauseé we are here to play the best game and bring home the Cup".

Daniele Santarelli, coach of Imoco Volleyball, on the other hand, said: "It has been a beautiful season so far, playoffs culminated with an intense and hard-fought final with Scandicci after overcoming another tough opponent like Novara. We have already won the scudetto, the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa, this è the last step, the one that could deliver to the annals a’truly exceptional year".

To charge Joanna Wolosz and her teammates, Santarelli added: "We play with Milan, which hasn’ t been on the court for a while. We, on the other hand, have always stayed in rhythm with the playoff battles, è hard to say if we or they are advantaged by this different situation, there are pros and cons in both situations. In the end, I am sure that advantages and disadvantages balance out and it will be the field that will decide the most deserving to win this important trophy".