Nations League, Italy at the Final Eight. Beaten Slovenia

Eighth victory for Italy and Final Eight objective achieved for De Giorgi’s Azzurri who get rid of the European vice-champions in three sets. Tomorrow last match against Japan at 13. The Final Eight will be played in Gdansk in Poland from 19 July

Italy-Slovenia 3-0 (25-13, 25-22, 25-17)

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De Giorgi always lines up the same sextet: Giannelli-Romanò, Michieletto-Lavia-Russo-Galassi with Piccinelli and Scanferla free. Cretu responds with Ropret-Cebulj, Urnaut-Z.Stern, Pajenk-Kozamernik, free Kovacic. First set without history with the Azzurri dominating in all fundamentals (Romanò and Michieletto best scorer) and the Slovenians in difficulty. Cretu tries the Mozic card (for Stern) but not even Verona’s talent manages to change the progress of the set. The spiker remains on the field in the second part much more balanced. Slovenia finds its game, makes fewer mistakes. Giannelli also warms up Lavia and distributes with balance also involving the central players. A few too many errors in serving but a lot of attention on the block allow Italy to detach the decisive advantage. The third set also begins in a balanced way but with the Azzurri always one step ahead with Lavia decisive even with a block. Then the Azzurri dig the decisive furrow. Closes a wall of Russian