Friends and rivals: Brazilians Guimaraes and da Silva to face off in #CLVolleyW final

They were born in the same city, Belo Horizonte. One is four years older, but they both were part of the Brazil teams which secured the silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the bronze medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, as well as the silver at the 2022 World Championship and the bronze at the 2014 World Championship.

They have known each other almost for a lifetime. But now, Gabi Guimaraes and Ana Carolina da Silva will be rivals for a few hours, with the biggest European club trophy on the line, as A.Carraro Imoco Conegliano and Savino Del Bene Scandicci will face off in the final of this season’s CEV Champions League Women.

34-year-old middle blocker da Silva and 30-year-old opposite hitter Guimaraes were both born in Belo Horizonte and started at the same club, Mackenzie Esporte Clube, crossing paths in the 2009/10 season, before da Silva moved to another club, followed by Guimaraes two seasons later.

While da Silva had only one season in Europe, at Nilüfer Belediyespor in 2017/18, Guimaraes moved to Europe in 2019, spending five years at VakifBank, before moving to Conegliano.

But with da Silva now for her second stint in Europe, having signed for Scandicci last summer, it was inevitable that the two would meet again, at least in the Italian domestic league.

Few would have thought that Guimaraes and da Silva, who are good friends, would be rivals in the final of this season’s CEV Champions League Women. But with Savino Del Bene Scandicci and A.Carraro Imoco Conegliano delivering flawless seasons, with nine wins in nine matches, here they are, facing off on opposite parts of the net, in the big final, scheduled in Istanbul, on Sunday, 4 May, at 18:00 CEST.

The two Brazilians were also part of the roundtable discussion hosted during the media day, on Friday, in Istanbul, sharing some insights about their friendship.

“Cara's trying to teach me to dance for the last 15 years, but still, there is a lot to improve. It's not that I'm a great dancer, like she is. She is great, I only seem to improve,” laughed Guimaraes.

But when the four players present at this informal talk were asked who were the best teammates they played with, Guimaraes and da Silva both replied in an instant. Gabi said that da Silva was the answer to that question, while the Scandicci middle blocker told that Guimaraes was the best teammate she ever played with.

They both laughed, rose from their seats, and exchanged a high-five, much to the laugh of the whole audience.

But that friendship will be forgotten for a few hours, during the amazing final between Conegliano and Scandicci, where two of the top players in the world on their position will face off, as da Silva will try to stop Guimaraes from scoring and bringing Conegliano the win.

While Guimaraes won the CEV Champions League Women trophy two times, in 2021 and 2022 with VakifBank, da Silva would win her maiden title in the competition. An incentive big enough for her to deliver the best performance of her career in a winner-takes-all scenario.