Time for the first one, Sir?

They are two-time club world champions, two-time Italian champions, four-time Italian cup winners and six time Italian super cup winners, but, believe it or not, Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia have never won the CEV Champions League. As the 2025 Final Four event in Lodz, Poland takes place next week, from May 16 to 18, they have a new opportunity to change that.

Last season, Sir swept every single trophy they could put their hands on, but as they did not compete in the Champions League, Europe’s continental crown was not one of them. So far this season, the club from Perugia has managed to defend only one of the four trophies – the Supercoppa Italiana – but have been deprived of the other three. Maybe they can compensate that with a historic Champions League gold, as they are not only racing in Europe’s most prestigious club competition this time, but have already reached the semifinals and are probably the favorites to win the whole thing and triumph as continental champions for the first time.

With the exception of last season, when they did not participate, and the 2019-2020 season, when the competition was interrupted prematurely, Sir have reached the semifinals of every single edition since 2017, when they achieved their highest Champions League result, the silver medals. The following year they took the bronze. In 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023, when bronze medal matches were not organized, the club from Perugia took a joint third place.

So far this season, the Italian powerhouse has lost only one of the eight Champions League matches played and that was in the last leg of their Pool D campaign, when they had already secured the first place in the pool and it was a game they could afford losing. They were beaten at home in five sets by the team they are about to meet again next Friday, May 16, at 20:00 local time in one of semifinals – Turkiye’s Halkbank Ankara. With France’s Saint-Nazair Atlantique and Czechia’s Jihostroj Ceske Budejovice also in the group, Sir had swept all five of their previous matches in the pool in straight sets. They advanced straight to the quarterfinals, where they defeated compatriots Mint Vero Volley Monza twice – 3-1 on the road and 3-1 at home – to progress to the Final Four in Lodz.

The domestic season started well for Sir as they managed to defend the Supercoppa Italiana trophy back in September. They had to deal with some player injuries during the second half of the season and the results were not as they had hoped for. In both the Italy Cup and the Italian SuperLega, they were dethroned in the semifinals. They bounced back to earn bronze in the championship and secure their participation in next season’s Champions League.

Head coached by prominent expert Angelo Lorenzetti, the squad from Perugia is studded with international stars of the highest world-class caliber. Their captain Simone Giannelli is arguably the world’s best setter. The players taking the most advantage of his magical touch are opposites Wassim Ben Tara of Tunisia and Jesus Herrera of Cuba. Poland’s Kamil Semeniuk, Ukraine’s Oleh Plotnytskyi and Japan’s Yuki Ishikawa – it is stunning that at least one of these amazing players has to “sit” on Sir’s proverbial bench as there is space for only two outside hitters on the court. The same can be said about the middle blocker department, which features Argentinean standouts Agustin Loser and Sebastian Sole, as well as the likes of Roberto Russo, who has been out injured since February, unfortunately, and Davide Candellaro. Security in defense and stability in reception are guaranteed by well-seasoned 40-year-old libero Massimo Colaci.