Trento, the hunt for the Champions League begins

The 2026 CEV Champions League kicks off: on Thursday, December 11 at the BTS Arena in Trento, the first round of the group stage of the most important continental review for clubs will be played, which Trentino Volleyball will play for the fourteenth time in its history. The Italian champions will make their debut in front of their home crowd, facing Slovenia’s ACH Volley Ljubljana in one of two matches scheduled for Pool A. Kickoff set for 8:30 p.m.: live on Radio Dolomiti, Sky Sport Arena and DAZN. The Gialloblù club returns to measure itself against Europe’s most prestigious tournament after missing the previous edition in the midst of a period that is offering an official match every three days. The Gialloblù will present themselves at the appointment without only Daniele Lavia, replaced in the roster by the young setter Andrea Giani; the match will mark the CEV Champions League debut for four players on the roster: in addition to Giani, also for the setters Bristot and Ramon and for the central player Bartha it will be a first.

Andrea Gussoni

“The CEV Champions League is always a beautiful and very difficult competition at the same time that both I and Trentino Volleyball know well – explained coach Marcelo Mendez at the presentation – ; the draw meant that our group was probably the mostchallenging ever in the first phase, so we will need a great performance right away to start off on the right foot. Getting the result we want will never be easy in this Pool A, which is composed only of teams with rostersimportant or with great traditions. ACH Volleyball Ljubljana from this point of view can boast both aspects, because in fact it is composed only of players from the Slovenian national team, who therefore have in their background a lot of international experience. We will, however, have the opportunity to support this debut match at home, an advantage that we will have to make the most of in order to be able to move up the standings immediately and look forward with greater confidence and certainty to a month of January that will be very challenging even if only in this tournament”.

Pfor Trentino Volleyball kicks off its fourteenth ever participation in the Champions League, its twenty-first in a European competition taking into account also the five in CEV Cup (with one win, 2019 edition) and one in Top Teams Cup. The album of memories related to the highest continental trophy is full of important pages: the first one is referred to the evening of April 5, 2009 in Prague, when opposed to Iraklis Thessalonikithe yellow and blue formation imposed itself 3-1, winning the title with a clear path (12 victories out of 12 matches played); the second one, on the other hand, refers to May 2, 2010 and the very clear success over Dinamo Moscow at the Atlas Arena in Lodz while the third one, absolutely unforgettable, is related to March 27, 2011 and the 3-1 imposed in the final against Kazan at the PalaOnda in Bolzano. After the one in South Tyrol, Trentino Volleyball had the opportunity to play four more Finals: in Krakow on April 17, 2016 (2-3 with Kazan), on May 1, 2021 in Verona (1-3 with Kedzierzyn-Kozle), on May 22, 2022 in Ljubljana (0-3 with Kedzierzyn-Kozle) and May 5, 2025 in Antalya, emerging victorious only in the last case (3-0 over Jastrzebski). A third-place finish, related to the 2012 edition, is also on file. In total, there are 184 matches played in European cups by Trentino Volleyball: the balance is 146 victories (74 in Trento, 72 away) and 38 defeats (30 in Champions League, 7 in CEV and 1 in Top Teams Cup). The debut in the event has almost always spoken well for the colors of Trentino: 12 wins in 13 debuts; only loss in the 2022 edition (defeat in three sets in Perugia on December 2, 2021).

This began more than a month ago in the qualifying stages and is the 17th participation in the Champions League in the last eighteen seasons for ACH Volley Ljubljana, a club originally from Bled. In the recent past only in the year 2021/22 it did not take part, playing in the Challenge Cup (ended in the semifinals by Narbonne, later winner of the trophy). In the last edition of the highest continental trophy it stopped at the group stage (third place in Pool A behind Warsaw and Berlin), then moving on to the CEV Cup where it was eliminated by Ziraat Bank Ankara (later winner of the trophy) in the quarterfinals. It has as many as twenty-one national titles (the last four won consecutively), fifteen Slovenian Cups, fourteen Mevza (Central European international tournament) and a Top Teams Cup, won in 2007 by beating Modena in the final at PalaPanini. The best result in the Champions League, however, remains that of the 2009/2010 season, when it was eliminated in the semifinals by Trentino Volleyball itself. The coach is the very experienced Igor Kolakovic (formerly Ct of Serbia and Iran), who is back on the orange-blue bench more than thirteen years after the previous occasion (2011/12 season); will be able to count on a native-only roster, with such big names in national volleyball as setter Ropret (former Perugia), opposite Stern (former Cisterna and Verona), and the setters Urnaut (formerly in Trent between 2015 and 2017, a period in which he totaled 94 appearances and 996 points) and Marovt, center Pajenk (former Verona and Lube) and libero Kovacic (former Ravenna). In the Slovenian league, after nine days, Ljubljana is currently in first place in the standings, still undefeated and with two points more than the second CalcitLubljana: 1. Toncek Stern (o), 2. Alen Pajenk (c), 3. Jost Krzic (c), 5. Alen Sket (s), 6 Nejc Najdic (p), 8. Luka Marovt (s), 9. Klemen Sen (s), 10. JanzJanez Krzic (c), 13. Jani Kovacic (l), 15. Jaka Prevorcnick (s), 16. Gregor Ropret (p), 17. Tine Urnaut (s), 18. Jozef Verdinek (l). Coach Igor Kolakovic.

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