#CLVolleyM Pool Previews – TRENTINO, Ziraat, TOURS and ACH Volley compose star-studded Group A

Two former winners of the competition – TRENTINO Itas of Italy and France’s TOURS VB – plus last year’s CEV Cup gold medallists – Ziraat Bankkart ANKARA – and a team contesting the group stage for the seventeenth season – ACH Volley LJUBLJANA – compose a highly competitive Pool A in the #CLVolleyM, with action due to begin next week in Trento and Ankara. With such a star-studded line-up, fans can expect a series of spine-tingling matches and an incredibly close fight for a spot in the knockout phase! 

TRENTINO Itas (ITA)  

The reigning Italian national champions have as many as four #CLVolleyM titles to their name – the second-highest tally in the competition history, with Russia’s Zenit KAZAN leading the way on six. TRENTINO secured three triumphs in a row between 2009 and 2011 – and returned to the top in 2024. They also reached the gold medal match another three times and have established themselves as a major force to reckon with for some two decades now. Their resume also includes as many as five titles from the FIVB Men’s Club World Championship and a CEV Cup gold medal in 2019. 

Such a powerhouse will be making their 14th appearance in the #CLVolleyM. Back in 2024, they won their first title since 2011 – the Super Final with JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel played in Antalya in May of that year is their last #CLVolleyM match to date. Their consistency at the highest level is truly impressive: TRENTINO reached the Super Final in 2021, 2022 and 2024 – and in 2023 they lost in the quarterfinals to eventual winners Grupa Azoty KEDZIERZYN-KOZLE. 

Their roster includes reigning world champions Alessandro Michieletto and Riccardo Sbertoli. Michieletto received the prize for the Most Valuable Player of the competition held in the Philippines earlier this year where he scored 93 times for Team Italy. Back in 2022, when TRENTINO claimed the #CLVolleyM silver medal, he was the top scorer in the competition on a personal tally of 181 points. 

Interestingly, TRENTINO are now coached by Argentine Marcelo Méndez, who stood on the other side of the net in the 2024 Super Final. Méndez was still at the helm of JSW JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel in last season’s Final Four, where his team secured the bronze medal. TRENTINO currently sit in third place in the highly competitive Italian national league on a record of seven wins and five losses. They return to the #CLVolleyM after a year break – last season they played in the CEV Cup where they lost to eventual winners Ziraat Bankasi ANKARA – one of their rivals in Pool A. 

TOURS VB (FRA) 

The French national champions return to play in the #CLVolleyM after a hiatus of one year – just like TRENTINO. They first contested this elite competition in the inaugural 2000/2001 season and claimed their only title in 2005, before losing the gold medal match two years later to Germany’s VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN. Their #CLVolleyM triumph from 2005 is not their only European title – back in 2017, they sensationally edged TRENTINO in the CEV Cup Finals, emerging victorious at the Golden Set (15-13). Back in 2022, they reached the CEV Cup Final once more – yet this time they lost to another Italian side, Vero Volley MONZA. 

Back in 2023/2024, TOURS VB progressed to the Playoff round where they lost to Germany’s BERLIN Recycling Volleys. They had finished their group stage campaign on a record of four wins and two losses – both to this year’s opponent TRENTINO Itas.  

TOURS VB already claimed a domestic trophy earlier this season when they beat TOURCOING Lille Métropole in the French Super Cup (19-17 at the tiebreak). However, their coach Mladen Kasic announced that he would leave the team right after this success. Igor Juricic has stepped in to replace Kasic. Curiously, Juricic was involved – as a player – in the very first #CLVolleyM match in history while representing Austria’s e.on hotVolleys VIENNA in early December 2000. 

As they make their 19th appearance in the pool stage of the competition, TOURS VB have a very young roster – with as many as six players younger than 20 years old! 

Ziraat Bankkart ANKARA (TUR) 

The reigning Turkish national champions and winners of last year’s CEV Cup, Ziraat contest the #CLVolleyM for the fifth time in their history. Most recently, they won all of their group matches in 2023/2024 when they reached the semis losing to eventual silver medal winners JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel of Poland. Even though Matthew Anderson has left the team to move to Japan, they did welcome back Dutch opposite Nimir Abdel-Aziz – who played for Ziraat in 2013/2014 and was the #CLVolleyM overall top scorer (209 points) in 2020/2021 for TRENTINO Itas. The Dutchman is still chasing his first Champions League triumph – he has two Asian Volleyball Champions League gold medals to his name with clubs from Iran and Qatar. 

The Turks have further strengthened their roster with the arrival of Polish outside hitter Tomasz Fornal – a top-10 scorer and semi-finalist in each of the last four #CLVolleyM editions. Another strong asset is middle man Bedirhan Bülbül, the best blocker of last year’s CEV Cup on 41 kills. 

Ziraat – just like TOURS VB – have already claimed their first trophy of the season after edging Fenerbahçe Medicana ISTANBUL 3-1 in the Super Cup. 

The draw has placed Ziraat in the same group as two teams they played and beaten in last year’s CEV Cup quarterfinals and semis – ACH Volley and TRENTINO. 

ACH Volley LJUBLJANA (SLO) 

The Slovenians progressed through the early rounds – one of two teams to achieve this feat together with Guaguas LAS PALMAS of Spain. This way, they have secured their 17th appearance in the group stage. They beat opponents from the Netherlands, Romania, and Serbia – with Tonček Stern scoring as many as 112 points in the process. Last year, Stern played for Ziraat and helped the Turkish team claim the CEV Cup title. 

Their best result in the #CLVolleyM came in 2010, when they reached the Final Four and claimed fourth place. They have not progressed to the knockout phase since 2012/2013 when they lost in the Playoffs 12 to eventual silver medal winners Bre Banca Lannutti CUNEO of Italy. 

ACH Volley is the sole team in this year’s #CLVolleyM entering the competition with a roster of only domestic players. 

The winners of the Slovenian national league for the past four years in a row, ACH Volley were originally based in Bled. As Autocommerce BLED, the club won the Top Teams Cup in 2006/2007 after a 3-2 win against Cimone MODENA in the Final. Tine Urnaut was part of the team that season.

Urnaut and many other members of the Slovenian national team have come together to play for ACH Volley after spending many years abroad. In Pool A, Urnaut will take on TRENTINO Itas, with whom he reached the gold medal match of the #CLVolleyM in 2016. 

At the start of the 2025/2026 season, ACH Volley LJUBLJANA had played 96 group phase matches in the Champions League (winning 29 and losing 67, including two awarded wins). Last season, they won their last group phase match against Greenyard MAASEIK, thereby ending a negative run of 13 group phase defeats in a row. 

After completion of the early rounds, ACH Volley have scored 9,818 points in the Champions League. Therefore, they need another 182 points to reach the 10,000 mark.

Their current coach Igor Kolakovic returned to the club after he was at their helm from 2010 to 2012. Kolakovic was dismissed as coach of Halkbank ANKARA last season, between the quarterfinals and the Final Four (April 2025) following a very disappointing campaign in the Turkish national league, resulting in an eighth place at the end of the regular season.