Yuki Ishikawa pushes Perugia to Champions League conquest

Perugia has officially begun its mission in the Champions League Final Four. This afternoon the team trained on the taraflex of Turin’s Palazzetto dello Sport Giovanni Asti, while tomorrow’s technical-tactical refinement will be staged directly on the court of the Inalpi Arena, the scene of the Final Four that will kick off on Saturday. The semifinals will kick off at 5 p.m., when Perugia will face the Warsaw Poles for a spot in the Final Four on Sunday 16. Then, at 8:30 p.m., space will be given to the other semifinal, which will pit Zawiercie Poles, fresh champions of Poland, against Ankara Turks, winners of the Turkish championship.

Three of the four leading teams thus arrive at the European appointment having won the national title in their respective countries, a detail that confirms the very high level of the competition. This was also emphasized by Yuki Ishikawa: “This Champions League is very important for us. On the field will be the champions of Poland, the champions of Turkey and us, who just won the Italian Championship. So it will be a Final Four of the highest level. A very tough match awaits us, but we have to be good because we want to win it all.”

The Bianconeri lineup comes to the appointment in the best physical condition. After the trip to Turin, the training session allowed the team to keep the intensity high: “We are very well. After winning the Scudetto we rested for a while, then we immediately started working again. We are training well and coming to this Final Four in the best condition,” explained the Japanese setter.

Great attention these days has been devoted to studying PGE Project Warszawa, an opponent already faced by Perugia in the 2019/2020 season. Ishikawa identifies the combination of technique and physicality as the main strength of the Polish lineup: “They are a very technical team, they make few mistakes and manage to maintain continuity throughout the match. It will be crucial for us to be patient, because they will certainly put us in trouble at some moments of the match. However, we will have to stay focused and play our volleyball.”