Volleyball, Champions League, Final Four in Istanbul: on the bench it’s an all-Italian story

An Italy-Türkiye challenge, a sort of remake of the World Cup final. On the bench, however, the derby is total. The Women’s Champions League Final Four in Istanbul at the weekend will see two “twin” semi-finals: two Italian teams against two Turkish teams. And if Vakifbank-Conegliano tells a long history of challenges for important trophies in recent years, Scandicci-Eczacibasi has the freshness of a completely new rivalry. And the benches? Well those are all Italian and they tell more about the expertise of our local technicians who have been distributed throughout a large part of Europe and beyond for years. Giovanni Guidetti and Daniele Santarelli on the one hand and Marco Gaspari and Giulio Cesare Bregoli on the other. From 4pm (Italian) on Saturday 2 May, their shouts and their schemes will give life to the challenge that will decide the queen of Europe ’25-26.

the infinite challenge

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Giovanni Guidetti and Daniele Santarelli have known and studied each other for almost a decade now with mixed success. Vakifbank and Conegliano have dominated the European scene: of the last ten editions of the Champions League, one was won by Casalmaggiore, with Vakif in second place and one was won by Novara with Conegliano a finalist. The others went to Vakif and Conegliano with three direct clashes in the final, others in the semi-final like this time. The two technicians faced each other and chased each other in a waltz of exchanges on the notable Italy-Türkiye axis.

John the Turk

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Fifty-four years old in September, he has spent the last eighteen at the helm of Vakifbank and beyond. A gamer wife, Bahar Toksoy, and a daughter, Alison. With Vakif he won 9 Turkish titles (including the last one, seven Turkish Cups, 5 Super Cups, 6 Champions Leagues and 4 Club World Cups. The best players on the planet have paraded in his gym, not least the Italian Paola Egonu and the Brazilian Gabi, the latter’s opponent on Saturday in Istanbul. The Emilian coach also coached Turkey from 2017 to 2022 when he gave up his job guess who? Obviously Daniele Santarelli, 45 years old on 8 June, the magician made in Imoco who added a gold and a silver World Cup won with Serbia and Turkey respectively to the eight Italian Cups, 7 Super Cups, 3 Club World Cups and three Champions Leagues won with the Venetian club. Bella Haak also moved to Imoco after dedicating herself to the court of Vakif. while Egonu did the opposite route, among others, there were US Olympic champions Kelsey Robinson and Kimberly Hill while the current panther Zhu Ting arrived in Conegliano after Vakif via Tianjin and then Scandicci

world Tuscany

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He brought a Club World Cup to Scandicci by beating Conegliano in the final and this alone gave the season a whole new light. Obviously it’s not enough but Marco Gaspari gave a winning turn to Savino del Bene Scandicci who for years has stood at the top of Italian volleyball between Scudetto finals and Champions League finals. Marco Gaspari, 44 years old in September, former Milan and son of the international referee Luciano (who passed away last January after a long illness) crowned with the victory of the World Cup an already very long career in which he directed Conegliano itself at the beginning of its history, Piacenza, Casalmaggiore and Vero Volley for four years. Opposite him, on the Eczacibasi bench, is Giulio Bregoli, a 51-year-old with an international curriculum (he won a French championship, a French cup with attached Super Cup at the helm of St. Raphael as well as taking part as assistant coach in Italy’s 2018 World Cup silver medal, as well as the 2021 European gold) and a long militancy with Chieri. Eczacibasi called him this year to manage an ambitious team that can count on players such as Magdalena Stysiak, Ebrar Karakurt, Sinead Jack-Sisal, Dana Rettke and Kathryn Plummer. In the championship, Eczacibasi stopped in the semi-final against Vakifbank while they reached the European semi-final by beating Paola Egonu’s Vero Volley. With the public in favor, he will aim to return to the Champions League final after the one lost in 2023 again to Vakif.