Women's Volleyball European Championship, semifinals played in Istanbul: Italy against Poland
A new story compared to the morning, when the Sports section was following the resumption of Palestinian club football. After beating Sweden 3-1 in the quarterfinals in Brno, the team coached by Julio Velasco faces Poland; the finals are scheduled for September 6.
The women’s volleyball European Championship has reached the semifinal stage, and the venue has moved to Istanbul. The schedule for September 5 includes Turkey-Serbia at 15:00 and Italy-Poland at 18:00, according to the official bracket of the European confederation reported by Sky Sport. The finals are played on September 6, again in Istanbul.
At the time this edition was published, the material available to the editorial staff does not report the outcome of the first semifinal. This piece therefore stops at what is confirmed: the path taken by the four teams and the schedule.
How we got here
Italy, coached by Julio Velasco, defeated Sweden 3-1 in the quarterfinals held in Brno, Czechia: this is reported by Il Post based on official results. In the group stage the team had won all five matches of Pool D, losing only one set, against France.
The opponent arrives from a quarterfinal with a clear technical statistic. Poland beat the Netherlands 3-1, closing the match with 17 blocking points against the opponents’ 12, according to the official match statistics reported by OA Sport. The block is the phase in which a team gains ground without depending on its own attack: a five-point advantage in that fundamental is the kind of gap that, in a semifinal, changes the momentum of long sets.
The three available sources — the confederation’s schedule, official results, match statistics — agree on the data reported above.
The rest of the day
Around the semifinal lies a dense sporting weekend. In Serie A, Como coached by Cesc Fàbregas beat Genoa 4-1, taking the lead in the standings, a result that dominated the front pages of sports newspapers on September 5: Tuttosport headlines “Como comanda!” [“Como is in command!”]. The day’s schedule includes Inter-Napoli and Roma-Atalanta, while Juventus-Milan is announced as the next match. The reconstruction of the front pages is featured in the roundups by TorreSette and Pavia Uno TV.
On Sunday, September 6, the same day as the finals in Istanbul, the Italian Grand Prix of Formula 1 is held in Monza at the Autodromo Nazionale. The president of the Lombardy Region, Attilio Fontana, took part in the press conference presenting the event; the September 5 roundups note the anticipation for Ferrari’s performance over the weekend. As for the facts, the only confirmed element remains the date of the race.
The Mediterranean Games, meanwhile, concluded on September 4 in Taranto.
What we don’t know
Not known, from the material available, are the result of Turkey-Serbia, the lineups fielded in the semifinals, and the final pairing. There is no data on attendance at the venues in Istanbul.
The only appointment that the calendar fixes with certainty is tomorrow’s: the tournament’s two finals, scheduled for September 6 in the same city.
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