The Volleyball Champions League is approaching its climax, with the Final Four promising to be an epic battle for the European crown. On May 3rd and 4th in Istanbul, Turkey, four of the continent's strongest clubs will meet. Italian giants Imoco Conegliano and Savino Del Bene Scandicci, backed by their long-standing success on the club scene, face the experienced and ambitious Vero Volley Milano and VakıfBank Istanbul. The tension in these matches will be not only for the trophy but also for prestige and strategy in a tournament of such magnitude.

All four teams are led by Italian coaches!

🇮🇹Imoco Conegliano – a championship march without compromise
Having defeated all opponents in their group, including Maritsa, the Italians from Conegliano finished with 6 wins from 6 matches and only one lost set – in their away game against DevelopRes. In the quarterfinals, Imoco once again met the Poles and eliminated them with two undisputed 3:0 victories.

This season, Imoco left no doubt as to who dictates fashion in women's club volleyball – the team won the Italian Supercup, the FIVB Club World Championship, the Italian Cup, and the Serie A1 championship title. In all these finals or semifinals, the opponent was the other Italian giant – Allianz Vero Volley Milano, whom Imoco will also face in the Champions League semifinal.

Coach:Daniele Santarelli

🇮🇹 Vero Volley Milano – seeking revenge
Vero Volley started the tournament in a tough group with VakıfBank Istanbul, FC Porto, and Calcit Kamnik, finishing second with 5 wins and 1 loss. The only defeat came in Istanbul, but the Italians retaliated with a 3:1 victory in the last match – a result that, however, was not enough for them to finish first.

In the eliminations, Milan showed class, eliminating first Schwerin (Germany) and then Eczacıbaşı (Turkey) – one of the favorites for the title – both with 3:0 victories. Now, Vero Volley faces the final obstacle before the final – the well-known rival, Imoco.

Coach:Stefano Lavarini

🇮🇹Savino Del Bene Scandicci – the perfect record
The third Italian representative – Savino Del Bene Scandicci – is having a historic season. The team has 8 wins from 8 matches and 0 lost sets. In the group stage, Scandicci defeated Stuttgart (Germany), BKS Bielsko-Biała (Poland), and Voluntari (Romania) all with 3:0 scores, and in the quarterfinals, they routed another Polish team – Grot Budowlani Łódź.

Scandicci will face VakıfBank in the other semifinal, and their performance so far portends yet another Italian dominance in Europe.

Coach:Marco Gaspari

AVakifBank Istanbul - the last Turkish fortress
After taking the lead in Group C thanks to a key game won in Milan, VakifBank advanced directly to the quarterfinals, where they played an epic duel with city rival Fenerbahçe Medicana, where Elitsa Vasileva and Hristina Vuchkova play. After a 0:3 loss at home, the team showed character, won 3:1 away, and closed the series with a golden set victory (15:11).

In the domestic championship, VakifBank also triumphed - after three victories over Fenerbahçe in the playoffs, the team won the Turkish championship title. Now, however, the goal is even bigger - a seventh European title, and that too in front of their home crowd at the Ulker Sports Arena in Istanbul.

Coach:Giovanni Guidetti

🏐 Historic edition in Istanbul (May 3-4, Ulker Sports Arena)

📆Semifinal schedule (Bulgarian time):

• May 3, 4:00 PM: Conegliano 🐾 – Milano 🦁

• May 3, 7:00 PM: Scandicci 🌹 – VakifBank 🕌
  
  Broadcast:DAZN, Sky Sport,www.eurovolley.tvwith already won trophies fromand MAX Sport 2

🔥Conegliano vs. Milano - "Italian El Clasico" in Europe

"Panthers" from Conegliano, season dominants, will play theirseventh semifinal in the last nine years, and will seektheir third continental titleafter triumphs in 2021 and 2024. Interestingly, in the last final they defeated... Milano - after a five-set drama.

Paola Egonu,Isabelle Haak,Zhu Tingand Gabiwill be part of the show - all of them have been chosen as MVP of the tournament in the last seven years. And Milano, led by coach Lavarini, arrives with the ambition to finally defeat their eternal rival in a big European match.

💥Scandicci vs. VakifBank - first participation against six-time champion

Scandicci will playtheir first semifinalin the history of the tournament and will face the most decorated club - VakifBank (6 titles, 9 finals). Marco Gaspari's proteges, however, arethe only team without a lost setso far - eight wins from eight matches.

Interesting fact:there isn't a single former Scandicci player in Vakıf's ranks, but the hosts have players who have played for elite clubs in Italy -Bosetti,Frantti,Markova,Kipp,Van Ryk.

🇮🇹 Italy is chasing a historic treblewith already won trophies from

CEV Challenge Cup (Roma)CEV Challenge Cup (Рома)and CEV Cup (Novara), the country is about to form its eighth European treble, a second consecutive and fifth continental trophy within two years.
If any of the three teams reaches the title, Italy will win its 19th Champions League, approaching leader Soviet Union / Russia (23).

🏐 Titles of the Soviet Union / Russia by periods:

• USSR (1960–1991): 22 titles

  • Dynamo Moscow – 11 titles

  • Uralochka Sverdlovsk (today Ekaterinburg) – 8 titles

  • CSKA Moscow – 3 titles

• Russia (after 1991): 1 title

  • Dynamo Kazan – 1 title (2013–14)

🏆 Italian and Turkish clubs - champions CEV Women's Champions League (officially: CEV Women's Champions League) from its inception in 1960 to early May 2025: in

🇮🇹 Italy-18 titles

• Volley Bergamo- 7 titles

• Teodora Ravenna- 5 titles

• Pallavolo Sirio Perugia- 2 titles

• Imoco Volley Conegliano- 2 titles

• Igor Gorgonzola Novara- 1 title

• Pomì Casalmaggiore- 1 title

ATurkey - 8 titles

• VakifBank Istanbul- 6 titles

• Eczacıbaşı Istanbul- 1 title

• Fenerbahçe Istanbul- 1 title
  

🔥 We anticipate unforgettable battles, emotions, and a new page in the history of the Champions League. And we, from Bulgaria, are proud of Maritsa Plovdiv's presence among these volleyball giants - proof that Bulgarian club volleyball is not just participating, but learning and developing shoulder to shoulder with the best! 🇧🇬👏

photos: Nikolay Varadinov and Savino Del Bene Scandicci
collage: volleyweek