The first game in the history of women’s volleyball, to be played on Saturday afternoon (7:00 p.m., LIVE by Sportish) at the Olympic Hall “Nikos Galis”, is the third game of the final series of the women’s volleyball league, in which Panathinaikos welcomes the Olympics.

The “Greens” made the break in the second final by winning sets 3-1 and with 2-0 in the final series they still need a win to celebrate the second consecutive and 25th overall championship title in their history. The “Red-Whites” were beaten in detail at home and with their backs against the wall they will be heading to OAKA for a double that will allow them to stay alive in the title fight.

“We have to pay special attention to Saturday’s game, which is a completely different game to what we’ve played so far. We have to see it as special from the start and show commitment to our goal. It’s easy to lose your mind and feel like the series is over, but we have a lot of experience in sports and volleyball and our eyes have seen a lot.

The team remains very grounded and our goal is to find the energy to do it again on Saturday and put in a good performance. From now on the game will also be special because of the stadium as we will be competing in OAKA and certainly an opportunity like this doesn’t come around very often. May we have the people massively by our side and give us energy and impetus to achieve our goal‘ argued Yiannis Kalmazidis who, if Panathinaikos achieves the title, will become the first coach to win the Volley League men’s and women’s championship.

For his part, Lorenzo Micelli knows the difficulty but has faith in his gymnasts. “In the first two finals, it was the details that made the difference. The teams are close together, we have our chances, we have to believe in our abilities and just be more determined on crucial points. We are ready for a big fight. We will press and the opponent will feel this pressure‘ said the Italian technician.

THE FINAL PLAN

First Final – Saturday 29 April 2023

Panathinaikos 3-1 Olympiacos (25:10, 10:25, 25:21, 29:27)

Second Final – Wednesday 3 May 2023

Olympiacos 1-3 Panathinaikos (25:27, 19:25, 29:27, 23:25)

Third Final – Saturday 6 May 2023

OAKA, 7:00 p.m.: Panathinaikos – Olympiacos

Fourth Final – Wednesday 10 May 2023 (if required)

“Melina Merkouri”, 18.00: Olympiakos – Panathinaikos

Fifth Final – Saturday 13 May 2023 (if required)

Agios Thomas, 9.30pm: Panathinaikos – Olympiacos