Czestochowa, Poland, November 11, 2018 - Fakel Novy Urengoy of Russia and Trentino Volley of Italy will meet in the second semifinal of the FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship on Saturday.
Head-to-Head · Fakel Novy Urengoy and Trentino Volley will meet for the first time at the Club World Championship.
· Trentino Volley's last four encounters with Russian sides at the Club World Championship all came in the semifinals. Trentino won in 2011 and 2012 (both against Zenit-Kazan), but were eliminated in 2013 (by Lokomotiv Novosibirsk) and 2016 (by Zenit-Kazan).
· Fakel Novey Urengoy lost their only previous CWC encounter with an Italian side, 3-0 against Cucine Lube Civitanova in their previous match.
Fakel Novy Urengoy · Fakel Novy Urengoy have reached the semifinals of the Club World Championship on their debut in the competition. They won their first two matches, both in five sets, before losing to Lube in their final group phase fixture.
· Three of the previous five Russian teams to participate in the competition reached the final on their debut: CSKA Moscow in 1989 (runners-up), Lokomotiv Novosibirsk in 2013 (runners-up) and Belogorie Belgorod in 2014 (winners). Lokomotiv Novosibirsk defeated Trentino in the semifinals in 2013.
· The two leading points scorers at the 2018 Club World Championship play at Fakel: Egor Kliuka (52) and Artur Udrys (49). Dmitry Volkov (47) shares third place with Evandro M. Guerra from Sada Cruzeiro, who have already been eliminated from the competition.
· In the 3-0 defeat against Cucine Lube Civitanova, no player of Fakel scored more than eight points.
Trentino Volley · Trentino Volley have reached the semifinals of the Club World Championship for the seventh time, a record in the tournament.
· Trentino reached the final on four of those previous six occasions, four seasons in a row between 2009 and 2012. In both 2013 and 2016, they were eliminated in the semifinals, both times by Russian sides.
· Trentino also won the trophy on each of the four occasions they reached the final. Those four titles are a record in the competition.
· Trentino have won nine of their last 10 matches at the Club World Championship, with the only exception a 3-0 defeat against Zenit-Kazan in the 2016 semifinals.
· In total, Trentino have a winning percentage of 89% in their 36 CWC matches (32 victories, 4 defeats).
· Uros Kovacevic is Trentino's top scorer this tournament on 38 points, including a match-high 16 points in the 3-0 win over Asseco Resovia in their most recent match.
· Trentino have the best setter (Simone Giannelli), best digger (Jenia Grebennikov) and best receiver (again Grebennikov) at the 2018 Club World Championship.