Lausanne, Switzerland, May 25, 2018 - Brazil and Italy clash on Saturday in Kraljevo on day 2 of the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Nations League. This 66th encounter between the two sides (with Brazil leading the series 39-26) is a rematch of both the Athens 2004 and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games final and both will be seeking to double their wins of the season after they opened their campaign with victories on Friday.
Head-to-Head
• In 65 major world level encounters, Brazil won 39 times, while Italy won 26 matches.
• World level major competitions are: the VNL, Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup, World League and Grand Champions Cup.
• Only Russia (33, including the Soviet Union) have won more major world level matches against Brazil than Italy (26). United States are also on 26 wins.
• Italy were the only country to beat Brazil at the 2017 Grand Champions Cup (3-2), but Brazil still finished first because a better sets ratio.
• Brazil and Italy met twice at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Italy won 3-1 in the preliminary round, but Brazil beat Italy in the final in straight sets.
• These countries also met in the 2004 Olympic Games final. Brazil won the final 3-1, after they had also beaten Italy in five sets in the group stage.
Italy
• Italy beat Germany 3-1 in their VNL opener, extending their winning streak at major world level to five.
• Italy could win six successive major world level matches for the first time since a winning run of nine at the 2015 World Cup.
• The last time Italy started a major world level tournament with two victories was at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. In Rio, they won their first four, including a 3-1 win against hosts Brazil.
• Ivan Zaytsev scored 20 points for Italy against Germany, at least eight more than any of his teammates.
• Simone Giannelli scored three of Italy's seven points from stuff blocks against Germany.
Brazil
• Brazil won their opening match at the VNL, 3-0 against Serbia.
• Brazil have won their last four major world level matches, including three in straight sets. The last time they recorded a five-match winning streak at world level was at the 2016 World League (8 in a row).
• Brazil can record a 3-0 win in three successive world level matches for the first time since the 2014 World Championships (against Bulgaria, China, Canada).
• Brazil have won the opening set in each of their last 13 fixtures at major world level (W10-L3).
• Brazil were outspiked (36 v 32) and outserved (8 v 6) by Serbia in their VNL opener. They did score more points from stuff blocks than their opponents (10 v 5), including five by Brazil's top scorer Wallace De Souza (17 points in total).