November 2021

Showtime in Budapest  2019 champion Ferencvaros faces off their grand rival Olympiacos Piraeus again, the clash of two  undefeated teams is definitely the highlighted encounter of Day 3 in the Champions League. In  Group A two other clashes also deserve attention as last year’s bronze medallist Brescia visits  Radnicki in Kragujevac and Split will host another edition of a Croatian–Serbian derby featuring  Jadran and Novi Beograd. In Group B the top four ranked sides meet the lower-seeded ones,  Satuday may start dividing the field.  The rematch of the 2019 final between Ferencvaros and Olympiacos is the top game on Friday, no  doubt. Ever since their brilliant game in Hannover, ending in a shootout, won by the Magyars, both line ups changed significantly – first of all Ioannis Fountoulis returned from Budapest to his Greek club and  Olympiacos has also added a handful of great signings this summer. Thanks to them, the Greeks are the  only team in Group A with two wins after two rounds – on Day 2 they showed some quality while  beating Novi Beograd in Belgrade with some fabulous spells. Ferencvaros is also unbeaten – but  winless at the same time as they had two ties from their first two away clashes. The second one in  Kragujevac should have been painful for the Hungarians as the blew a four-goal lead in the last period – in this group one point per game will definitely not be enough to make the cut. Still, gaining three  against Olympiacos is going to be a tough challenge for last season’s runners-up.  Brescia’s visit to Kragujevac also promises some excitements. The Italians, bronze medallists last May,  bagged four points in their first two home matches. Their victory against Barceloneta was a real feat so  Radnicki will have some tough moments even at home and might need a similar miracle they had  produced against Ferencvaros in the last minutes.  Jadran Split had some ups and downs so far, its next clash with Novi Beograd can be a crucial match.  First of all, any time a Croatian–Serbian derby is something everyone should tune in for, then two  newly shaped sides meet, with great stars in both, but in the team-building phase so it’s a hard call.  Barceloneta, after going down in Brescia, has a must-win match in Tbilisi. Though the Georgians  showed some guts while almost stunning Jadran in Split with their 6-goal surge in the final period – so  the Spaniards need to stay focused till the end.  In Group B the top four face the lower-ranked ones and this round may already divide the field – however, not each game may offer lopsided contests. The two German clubs can cause some headaches  for their respective rivals, Hannover to OSC and Spandau to Jug.   Marseille might expect a slightly easier task while visiting Bucharest and the French already  demonstrated in Dubrovnik that they are serious contenders in this season. Recco meets the No 3  Serbian side, Crvena Zvezda, a more difficult encounter than their last one versus Steaua but the title holder should still enjoy some gentle cruising instead of a Saturday night fever. Champions League, Day 3 – Fixtures (all starting times are local)  18.30 FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN) v Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE)  19.00 Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO) v Zodiac Atletic Barceloneta (ESP)  19.00 Jadran Split (CRO) v Novi Beograd (SRB)  20.30 Radnicki Kragujevac (SRB) v AN Brescia (ITA)  Standings: 1. Olympiacos 6, 2. Brescia 4, 3. Barceloneta 3, 4. Novi Beograd 3, 5. Jadran 3, 6.  Ferencvaros 2, 7. Radnicki 1, 8. Dinamo 0  Group B – Saturday  14.00 Waspo 98 Hannover (GER) v OSC Budapest (HUN)  19.00 Spandau 04 Berlin (GER) v Jug Adriatic Osiguranje Dubrovnik (CRO)  20.00 Steaua Bucharest (ROU) v CN Marseille (FRA)  21.00 Pro Recco (ITA) v Crvena Zvezda (SRB)  Standings: 1. Recco 6, 2. OSC 6, 3. Marseille 3, 4. Jug 3, 5. Zvezda 3, 6. Spandau 1, 7. Hannover 1, 8.  Steaua 0  For all information you should know visit our dedicated website:  www.championsleague.europeanaquatics.org  18 November 2021

Marseille stuns Jug, Recco, OSC keep perfect record  Marseille caused the upset of Day 2 by crashing Jug in Dubrovnik. Title-holder Recco didn’t have  any headaches while manhandling Steaua and in the battle of the qualifiers OSC came up with a  convincing performance in Belgrade to claim its second win. The German derby was the most  thrilling clash, Spandau, leading by three before the last period, needed a last-grasp goal to save  the match against Hannover to a draw.  Group B  Jug Adriatic Osiguranje Dubrovnik (CRO) v CN Marseille (FRA) 9-14, Crvena Zvezda (SRB) v OSC  Budapest (HUN) 8-11, Spandau 04 Berlin (GER) v Waspo 98 Hannover (GER) 11-11, Pro Recco (ITA)  v Steaua Bucharest (ROU) 23-5  Standings: 1. Recco 6, 2. OSC 6, 3. Marseille 3, 4. Jug 3, 5. Zvezda 3, 6. Spandau 1, 7. Hannover 1, 8.  Steaua 0  Marseille stunned Jug with a 0-4 rush at the beginning and even though the Croats managed to recover  from that and levelled the score at 6-6 early in the third, the next assault from the French was too much  to handle. The rebuilding process needs some cooler heads on the Croatians’ side as they let the ball fly  from all corners of the pool, took 35 shots but could score only 9 while Marseille netted 14, out of 25  attempts.  Title-holder Recco enjoyed an easy-cruise against Steaua at home, set a new scoring record for this  season by 23 hits (Olympiacos netted 20 against Dinamo on Day 1), Hungarian leftie Gergo Zalanki  contributed 7 goals from 7 shots. After two rounds, besides the Italians, only OSC could keep its perfect  record. The Magyars showed some quality at both ends of the pool in Belgrade while downing Crvena  Zvezda – a jump from 3-4 to 3-8 and an almost 12-minute shutout founded their valuable away victory.  The German derby produced the most balanced match – for three periods Spandau dominated and  gained an 8-5 lead. However, in the fourth, the home defence collapsed and at 9-10 Hannover sat in the  driving seat. At 10-11 the visitors missed a match-ball (a man-up), while Nikola Dedovic converted the  hosts’ last chance two seconds from time.  Recaps  Jug v Marseille 9-14  Jug arrived at the game a bit lately, at least mentally. They needed more than nine minutes to get on the  scoreboard, by then Marseille was already 0-4 up. The French scored from a man-up early, then killed  two man-downs and added back-to-back action goals in 47 seconds towards the end of the first quarter,   then their Croat Ante Vukicevic kicked off the second with another fine action goal. Though Loren  Fatovic opened Jug’s account but Vukicevic replied immediately from a 6 on 5 for 1-5 and it still stood  2-6 with 4:24 to go till the break. The hosts started to feel the rhythm, managed to hit two in a minute  but later they missed two man-ups so it was 4-6 at halftime. Jug came back strong for the third and Fatovic levelled the score in 41 seconds with a great  action goal and from a counter. But however hard they worked for this 6-6, soon the Croats lost their  momentum as leftie Ugo Crousillat put two man-ups away in succession while Jug fell back in offence  once more. Soon Romain Marion finished off a counter for 6-9 and Jug had to restart the chasing game.  They needed 35 seconds to jump back to 8-9 but then they missed crucial 6 on 5 while Marseille put  away another one and converted a penalty to regain its three-goal lead before the last break. It was decisive who hits the first in the fourth – and this time Fatovic couldn’t help. After his missed  shot Crousillat finished off the ensuing counter for 8-12 – and for Jug that proved to be the killed blow.  Another 6 on 5 gone without a shot and Thomas Vernoux’s nice centre-action put the game in bed even  though it was still 4:23 to go.  The Croats lacked precision in front, even though they outshot the French 35-25 but the shots on target  were 20-20 and the number of saves (6-11) is also telling, not to mention the man-ups: 2 for 12 versus 5  for 8, a real difference.  Zvezda v OSC 8-11  It was 3:32 to play in the fourth and OSC led 7-11 – a day ago Radnicki was in this same, seemingly  hopeless situation against Ferencvaros, then the Serbs made a miracle to come back to 11-11. The  second Serbian-Hungarian derby did not reproduce the same scenario, though.  Indeed, OSC was clearly the better side right from the beginning, they opened the encounter with a 0-2  period, showing some tremendous defending. The hosts needed 9:07 minutes to score their first, then  started to find the back of the net, converting extras, but the Magyars were up to the task too. They had some ups and downs, missed a 6 on 4 but after conceding three in the first four minutes of this quarter,  they tightened their defence again and shut out the Serbs for the following 11:27 minutes. And they  used this period to build a massive 3-8 lead from some finely tuned 6 on 5s and Balazs Harai also  delivered his trademark centre-goals. Veljko Tankosic netted an extra to halt the bad run of the home  side but they were still trailing by four before the last break.  Again, Zvezda managed to find the right finishes in the fourth – altogether, they scored four goals, as  many as in the first three periods but OSC also kept its composure and twice regained the five-goal lead,  only to let two go in the last three and a half minutes. Still, Zvezda didn’t have any realistic chance to  stage a Radnicki-like comeback. OSC’s goalie Marton Levai was the one of the keys in the Magyar’s  win as he posted 14 saves on 22 shots for a 63.5% percentage.  Spandau v Hannover 11-11  The German derby

Four epic matches produce 97 goals Olympiacos claimed a brilliant away win in Novi Belgrade and is already the only side in Group A with two wins after Day 2. Brescia managed to down Barceloneta in a brilliant battle while Ferencvaros blew away a four-goal lead in the final minutes against Radnicki in Kragujevac to settle for its second draw. Jadran also went through some nerve-wrecking moments lately at home, despite leading by 7 after three periods against Dinamo. All in all, the four brilliant matches produced 97 goals – it was water polo at its best, something the Champions League is famous for. Group A VK Novi Beograd (SRB) v Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE) 9-12, AN Brescia (ITA) v Zodiac Atletic Barceloneta (ESP) 14-12, VK Radnicki Kragujevac (SRB) v FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN) 11-11, Jadran Split (CRO) v Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO) 15-13 Standings: 1. Olympiacos 6, 2. Brescia 4, 3. Barceloneta 3, 4. Novi Beograd 3, 5. Jadran 3, 6. Ferencvaros 2, 7. Radnicki 1, 8. Dinamo 0 The encounters in this extremely tough group already offered the expected thrills, all four games had outstanding rallies and great comebacks – at the end, Olympiacos remained the only team with 2/2. The Greeks produced two outstanding spells in Belgrade, first they jumped to a 2-6 lead after being 2-1 down, then they overcame the Serbs late surge in the second period and after 5-6 they produced an even more devastating run in the third, won this quarter 0-4 and looked to be the winners. However, the host team climbed back, their lefties hit four goals in a row and at 9-10 it was an open game again, but two fine shots from the Olympiacos offence calmed down the crowd. Something similar happened in the other Serbian sides’ pool in Kragujevac. Here three periods brought a balanced match, then Ferencvaros’ could gain control step by step, took an 7-8 lead before the last break, then in the fourth they added three more to go 7-11 up with four minutes remaining. Still, it was not enough as they started to play with the clock, instead of the ball, and the Serbs smelled blood. In the last 1:46 minutes they netted three more action goals to save the match to a tie – it was the second away draw for the Magyars, which may be considered a fine achievement but in this extremely balanced group this blown four-goal lead might hit back on the long run. In Brescia, it was the visiting Barceloneta, which almost made a miracle. The Italians had a great surge late in the third period when they managed to take a 11-8 lead and they expanded it to four early in the fourth and still held on for 13-10 with 4:24 from time. However, the Spaniards pulled two back and had a man-up in the last minute to equalise but missed it and soon Brescia secured its first win from a counter. Jadran passed the compulsory home test against Dinamo – for three periods they seemed to do it with flying colours as they built a massive 14-7 lead. In the fourth they laid back too soon, lost this period 1-6 and at 15-13 they had to survive two Georgian possessions before they could cash the three points.

Group A – Tuesday 19.00 Jadran Split (CRO) v Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO) Mile Smodlaka, coach, Jadran “We play against Dinamo at home and it seems like a good chance to get our first win. Dinamo is a good team, but not as strong as some other teams in group. We are better, we have better roster and everything besides win would be failure for us. In the first game against Barceloneta our extra player realisation was poor. Everything else was in order, but with so poor performance in 6 on 5 we couldn’t do more.” Jerko Marinic-Kragic, player, Jadran “We hope that this is the time for our first victory. We respect Dinamo, but if we want to keep our chances for Final 8 open, we must win this game, especially since we are playing at home.” Dejan Stanojevic, coach, Dinamo “Every game in the Champion League against the best teams and with the best players is a chance and a new opportunity for us, for our team, our players. In this season we have 14 extremely hard games against the best sides, and we must use these to improve and build us to be better team and better player.Also, no matter which team we play with, we prepare, practice and think only to give our maximum and and aim to win. We know that all other teams are strong and powerful but we must think on ourselves and not about them. We respect everyone but we also believe in ourselves and we are ready to play. Jadran Split made this year a team with lot of excellent a d high level players. Jadran wants to win the Champions League next year and they started to build tram for that. We, like I already say, respect Jadran, all those players but we will put that aside when the game starts and we will fight and play for every ball, in every possession in defence and in attack. I ask my players to think and to act like that, to play and to try to take every chance which occurs during the game.” Giorgi Magrakvelidze, player, Dinamo “Our first game in the Champions League against Olympiacos showed us that we were physically in a very good condition. We have analysed our next opponent’s game style. The result of this match depends on who worked harder for it and I’m sure that we will be the ones.” 19.45 VK Novi Beograd (SRB) v Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE) Vlado Vujasinovic, coach, Novi Beograd “We are playing against a very strong team, who is among the candidates for the championship title. For sure, both teams will try to show the best possible performance in this game. Olympiacos has a new squad, with a lot of new players, they completely rebuilt the team, the same as we did. I think that we are very well prepared for this tough contest. This match, in this part of the season, isn’t crucial but should mean a lot for us if we win it in the end, especially for our self-confidence. So, we will try to do our best.” Strahinja Rasovic, player, Novi Beograd “We are expecting a great game, a real water polo spectacle. Olympiacos is among the best teams in Europe this season, and I am sure that a very interesting and quality match is in front of us. We are preparing to give our best, and I really hope that we will continue with our good performance. The game against Olympiacos will be the toughest match for us in this season so far.” Theodoros Vlachos, coach, Olympiacos “A series of very important games start on Tuesday in Belgrade against Novi Beograd as the first opponent. Each game of this series has particular importance because of the points each team could gain – and take away from its rival. We are travelling to Belgrade to play with confidence and claim a positive result against one of the best teams in the group. We do not characterise it as a game without tomorrow for us but as the first possible test for our team this year, and a possible positive result will stimulate us for the following matches.” Andro Buslje, player, Olympiacos “We expect a very difficult match as we play against Novi Belgrade. A great team that has great players and is well covered in all positions. We hope that we will offer very good resistance and that we will be satisfied after the game.” 20.30 VK Radnicki Kragujevac (SRB) v FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN) Uros Stevanovic, coach, Radnicki “Ferencvaros had the greatest success in the Champions League in the last two editions, by winning that competition and reaching the finals. It’s a big honour and a great pleasure for us to host such a great team, the representative of Hungary, in our first home game in Kragujevac after a six-year break. We have great respect for Ferencvaros, but as we said before every game this season, we are going for the win, especially in our pool, in front of our spectators.” Luka Pljevancic, player, Radnicki “We expect a victory, regardless of the fact that Ferencvaros is a team with a great tradition, a long-term participant in the Champions League, and one of the favourites to win the competition. They are filled with very good players in all positions and we must minimise the number of mistakes because such teams do not forgive mistakes. We will do our best because we play in our pool, where we will not allow anyone to beat us easily.” Zsolt Varga, coach, Ferencvaros “Kragujevac is the current Serbian champion which commands respect. We’ve seen their games against Novi Beograd and they obviously have a really good team. Having said that, we’re in good form and all the points on offer are important, so we’re going for the win.” Soma Vogel, goalie, Ferencvaros “Apart from the CL game in Brescia, we only had must-win matches so far this season, but from now