Rzeszow, Poland, November 23, 2018 - Trentino Volley of Italy take on Iranian club Khatam Ardakan in their first match in Pool B in Rzeszow on Monday.
Head-to-Head· Trentino Volley and Khatam Ardakan meet for the first time at the club world championship as the Iranians are making their debut in the competition.
· Trentino are unbeaten in their club world championship meetings with teams from Iran. They defeated Paykan Tehran in the 2009 and 2010 semifinals (both 3-0), and Kalleh Mazandaran in the 2013 group stage (3-1).
· Trentino have only played more club world championship matches against Brazilian teams (4) without ever losing.
Trentino Volley· Trentino Volley have won the club world championship a record four times, from 2009 to 2012.
· Trentino have also finished on the podium in the 2013 and 2016 editions, both third places. Their six podium places in total are also a record in the competition.
· Trentino appear at the club world championship for a record eighth time. Zenit Kazan and Sada Cruzeiro will both participate for the seventh time this year.
· An Italian team has not won the club world championship since Trentino's victory in 2012. Italy won the first eight editions of the competition (1989-1992, 2009-2012).
· Only in 2014 and 2015 there was no Italian team on the podium of the club world championship.
· Trentino have lost only four of their 33 club world championship matches: 3-2 v UPCN in 2013, 3-1 v Lokomotiv Novosibirsk in 2013, 3-0 v Al-Rayyan in 2014 and 3-0 v Zenit Kazan in 2016.
Khatam Ardakan· Khatam Ardakan are the fifth team from Iran to make an appearance at the club world championship, after Matin Varamin, Kalleh Mazandaran, Paykan Tehran and Sarmayeh Bank Tehran.
· The best result by an Iranian side is a third place by Paykan Tehran in 2010.
· Khatam Ardakan finished runners-up to Sarmayeh Bank Tehran in the 2017/18 Iranian Volleyball Super League, their best finish ever in the current format (since 1997).
· Khatam Ardakan won the Asian men's club championships in 2018 after defeating Kazakh team Atyrau in the final.