06/09/2024 09:45
Browsing through the 9 previous matches between Bitonto and TikiTaka, there is also one for the championship. But nothing compares to what will put the Italian flag back into play in a one-off match (9 June at 5pm, live on SkySport) and a neutral pitch (PalaFlorio in Bari, with free entry). One year after the “beauty” of PalaPansini there is still a fight between the captains Lucilèia and Brenda Bettioli, even if a lot has changed for the protagonists.
LUCILEIA – “Both the Italian final of 2023 and the same final of two months ago for the Italian Cup are now part of the past – says the captain of the Lionesses, winner of 4 championships -. We know each other by heart, this is true, but we arrive at the event with different motivations: we to reconfirm ourselves, they to win an unprecedented title. I’m just sorry that it’s a dry match: even a team that was first from start to finish could have a bad day. It happened to us in game 1 of the quarterfinals with the Kick Off, but I must say that it did us good: having won so much covered up some of the flaws that the San Donato match revealed and, in fact, we have matured a lot since then.” And then there will be the usual support from the black and green public. “There is no Bitonto without fans. In Montesilvano, Falconara or Genoa, it is difficult for us to feel far from home. Let alone in nearby Bari which will literally be filled by our people. It’s a final and we’ll give it our all: we want to cap off an extraordinary season and fly back to the Champions League.”
BETTIOLI – “Bitonto is the favourite, but I think we have never had so much motivation and desire for redemption – Bettioli shouts -. I feel a different energy than other times and I am sure that we will be able to compete at a high level. Winning or not always depends on many factors, including external ones. But on those we can control, we will give everything we have.” The captain has had a dream since the Italian final two years ago between Falconara and Pescara. “I was at the PalaBadiali and I thought about how nice it would be to be one of those players on the pitch singing the Mameli anthem, but today I think I want to be on the pitch to win. Something clicked and there’s nothing that holds: if they told me I had to run for 200 minutes, I would do it without problems. And so are my companions. From now on it’s all adrenaline. This year has been one of growth and change, as a player and as a person: the scudetto, for me, would be a huge gift for everything I have been able to face.”
@Division
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