First, Italy sealed their round-of-16 match with a 3-0 win against Bulgaria, then Sweden did the same against hosts the Czech Republic.
On Wednesday evening, the teams will meet for the second time in the European Championship, when the quarterfinals take place in Brno.
Italy beat Sweden 3-0 in the group stage in Gothenburg, although Sweden challenged in the second set.
"We managed to win that set. We know it's never easy to play against 'Bella', but we also saw other fantastic performances from the team," says Italy star Ekaterina Antropova.
Must keep track of all players
Just like before all matches, the Swedes need to analyse Italy's game carefully. The difference is that they also need to get a good look at players who are not in the starting six.
"They have a lot of talent, even on the bench. If they are behind, they can only bring in some new players," says Isabelle Haak after Monday's win in the round of 16 against the Czech Republic.
Italy are the reigning world champions and Olympic gold medallists, as well as favourites for the championship.
Haak: Those who have all the pressure
Isabelle Haak, who regularly plays with Italian star players like Sarah Fahr on club team Imoco Volley Conegliano, expected to face the world champions in a possible quarter-final. She knows the match will be difficult, but believes that Italy has all the pressure on them.
We think highly of them and they deserve it, but it's clear we want to do our very best to disrupt their game, says Haak.
Sweden's women's volleyball team came third in the European Championship group stage in Gothenburg, which is the best group result that a Swedish women's national team has achieved in the championship.
On Monday, they won 3–0 in sets against the host country, the Czech Republic, and advanced to the quarterfinals for the second time in the women's national team's history.
The quarter-final will be played against reigning world champions Italy at 7:00 PM on Wednesday.
The match will be played in Brno and will be broadcast on SVT/SVT Play.
