Italy beats Denmark 3-0 and reaches the quarter-finals of the men’s volleyball European Championships. At the PalaVela in Turin, Fefé De Giorgi’s national team closed the match in an hour and a half, improving at a distance as evidenced by the partials: 25-22, 25-16, 25-11. The Azzurri will face Finland on Wednesday.
Before the match, the crowd in the arena united in the memory of Sandro Mazzola, who passed away at the age of 83 after writing pages of history with Inter.
First set fought, then the blue dominates
Italy starts strong and extends to 18-12, but at the end of the first set they allow space for the Danish comeback. Having reached 22, the Azzurri conceded four consecutive points and found themselves with a single point advantage at 23-22. Sanguinetti and Mati’s block close the score at 25-22.
In the second set Denmark wins the first two points, then Italy takes control. Michieletto, Giannelli and Romanò lead the Azzurri, while coach Knudsen’s team struggles to contain them. A serving error by Kjaer gives Italy a 25-16 lead and a two-set lead.
The third partial confirms the superiority of the national team, with a moment of apprehension for Alessandro Michieletto: in an attempt to recover a ball, the Trentino Volley player violently slams his right shoulder against an advertising billboard. He gets up immediately and, despite being sore, continues the race. It is Yuri Romanò who scores the final 25-11.
Finland on Wednesday, then Milan
In the quarter-finals, Italy will find a Finland team fresh from a much more expensive match: the Northern Europeans eliminated Greece in the tie-break, prevailing 3-2 with scores of 22-25, 25-16, 22-25, 25-23, 15-13.
The Azzurri will still start as favourites, but De Giorgi wants to avoid a drop in tension. At stake is the passage to Milan, site of the semi-finals on Friday and the final on Saturday 26 September.