Slovenia and Italy to fight for European title

We will have a new European Champion on Sunday evening, as either Italy or Slovenia will claim the gold medal. These are two teams onthe opposite ends of the spectrum; Slovenia is an experienced, vetran-filled team that has placed second in both 2015 and 2019 with almost the same group, while Italy has stunned the volleyball world by advancing to the finals with a crop of mostly fresh faced players in the early 20s. Young phenom Alessandro Michieletto has been the leading scorer for Italy with 4.23 points per set, while opposite Tonček Stern has scored 90 points over the course of the tournament for Slovenia.

• Italy beat Slovenia earlier this tournament 3-0 in the group stage, one of two losses for Slovenia this tournament. They also lost their opening match versus Czech Republic (3-1).
• Slovenia won the only other EuroVolley match versus Italy, 3-1 in the 2015 semi-finals. Slovenia lost the final 3-0 to France.
• Italy beat Slovenia 3-1 in the first round of the 2018 World Championship. Italy finished fifth in that tournament, while Slovenia came 12th.
• Earlier this year Slovenia beat Italy 3-0 in the round robin of the 2021 Volleyball Nations League. Slovenia went on to lose the bronze medal match versus France (3-0), while Italy finished 10th.

You can watch the match on eurovolley.tv. Follow CEV social for behind the scenes and highlight content around the match.