Italy set to host France in the fourth leg of preliminaries
Italian City Cuneo is set to host the volleyball action in the fourth leg of the 2012 CEV Champions League prelims on Wednesday, December 21.
Italy’s Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo will come into stride with the French opponent at the Pellazzetto sports arena in Cuneo. French Stade Poitevin Poitiers is scheduled to take on the host Italy. The match will officially start at 08:30 pm. (local time).
Both teams will enter the fourth leg of preliminaries with an overall record of 2-1. Cuneo posted a straight set victory over Poitiers last week. The visiting Italian side performed exquisitely well in front of the French audience and ousted home team in
straight sets of 3-0. Success enabled the Italians to claim the provisional leadership in Pool D of the 2011 CEV Men’s Champions League. The winning plan of Head Coach Flavio Gulinelli perfectly worked out and his team clinched success.
Speaking of the previous win against France, he said, “That was a good match and it was important to take home three points, thereby taking also the leadership in our group. I have taken advantage of our roster that includes many excellent players and at
the same time I have tested some Stade Poitevin Poitiers different line-ups, hence confusing our opponents.”
Now as per the set formula of the competition, the Italians are supposed to host the second match in the competition, which is due on Wednesday. This time, the French team will have to travel to Italy and try to settle the tussle.
Stade Poitevin Poitiers
French team is behind Cuneo with a slight margin of points. In the previous three segments of the round, they captured two wins and suffered the loss of one match. They earned victories with identical score of 3-1, while dropped the third match in straight
sets. The next match is going to be very crucial for French team. They need to overcome the opponent, in order to get back on track. Nonetheless, it wouldn’t be an easy task for them. They have already lost one match to Cuneo at home soil, which is likely
to put certain degree of psychological pressure on the team.
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo
Cuneo, on the other hand, is having a top form after beating their French counterparts in the previous match. They have played enough volleyball this week as the thrilling action of Italian national league is also running parallel with the prelims of European
Champions League. Cuneo had some extensive training in the last few days and seems pretty much confident to score another victory against French Poitiers.
“We have to score another victory as the Champions League remains one of our most important goals for this season,” concluded Gulinelli.
Italian side has more chances to win the match as they will be equipped with support of local fans. Moreover, they will use the winning edge of previous victory against Poitiers.
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