Historic final brings hope of return to normality

It's feels like it's been a long time coming, amidst all the pain, suffering, fear and uncertainty for over a year now, but the Super Finals of the CEV Champions League Volley are back - surely a sign of hope that the end is now in sight.

And what a better end to a weird but wonderous season than one that brings together for the men's event two of the teams that have provided gripping thrills to fans across Europe and the world: Italy's multi-champions Trentino Itas and Poland's breathtaking Grupa Azoty Kedzierzyn-Kozle, Saturday evening in Verona.

In fact, with the 2020 Italian championship disrupted by the pandemic and never completed, Trentino were not even qualified to take part in the 2021 Champions League - until they were granted a wild card slot. Having to start from Round 2 which served as a qualifier for the main phase of pool play where all the main powerhouses of European volleyball were guaranteed a direct spot, hardly deterred Trentino.

And the three-time European (and record five-time world) champions now amazingly through to their fifth Champions League final and eying their fourth title.

In the other corner, Kedzierzyn-Kozle cand be considered the rookies of Saturday's final. It's just their first appearance in a Champions League gold medal match - though they do have a bronze medal dating back to 2003. And if this time they carry it through to the very end, they're looking at becoming the first ever Polish side to lift the ultimate continental trophy.

Kedzierzyn-Kozle have certainly not taken the easy way to the final. Twice they had to resort to 'golden sets' to keep going. But they persevered in amazing fashion and on both counts knocked out two of the most forbidable powerhouses of European volleyball: Defending champions Cucine Lube Civitanova (16-14, no less) and six-time European champions Zenit Kazan (15-13).

It was an incredible show of unwillingness to accept defeat. But can they demonstrate this determination again on Saturday?

This is the ninth time that the two sides clash in Champions League match, with Trentino leading the series 5-3 (though the last two encounters went Kedzierzyn-Kozle's way in pool play of the 2017-18 edition).

But could Kedzierzyn-Kozle coach Nikola Grbic come back to haunt Trentino? Last time Trentino played a final in Verona was for the Italian Cup in 2011 when they lost to Cuneo in straight sets - with Grbic distributing the play for the winning side.