December 2021

No stopping for Recco and Marseille, OSC stuns Jug  Little less than 48 hours after clinching the Super Cup, Recco was back in the pool and offered  another overwhelming performance as the title-holders netted 20 goals in Hannover. Marseille  downed the other German team Spandau while OSC found its way back onto the winning track in  Dubrovnik. Pointless Steaua also claimed a stunning first victory against Crvena Zvezda.  Group B: Jug Adriatic Osiguranje Dubrovnik (CRO) v OSC-Budapest (HUN) 11-12, CN Marseille  (FRA) v Spandau 04 Berlin (GER) 12-7, Waspo 98 Hannover (GER) v Pro Recco (ITA) 7-20, Steaua  Bucharest (ROU) v Crvena Zvezda (SRB) 11-8  Standings: 1. Recco 18, 2. Marseille 15, 3. Jug 12, 4. OSC 10, 5. Hannover 5, 6. Spandau 4, 8. Steaua  3, 7. Zvezda 3  Group A: Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO) v Novi Beograd (SRB) 8-17  Standings: 1. Brescia 14, 2. Olympiacos 13, 3. Barceloneta 10, 4. Novi Beograd 10, 5. Ferencvaros 106.  Jadran 6, 7. Radnicki 4, 8. Dinamo 0  Recco and Marseille didn’t slow down for the last playing day in 2021: especially Recco’s visit to  Hannover was more like a Christmas party than a thrilling water polo match. A 0-5 storm in the opening  period did the harm to Hannover and after crashing Szolnok on Monday in the Super Cup final, the  Italians came up with an even more commanding performance. Netting 20 in Hannover is a fine feat  even from Recco.  Marseille also passed the German test, they made it twice in a week – last Wednesday they downed  Hannover, now they needed two and a half periods to break Spandau but after 7-5 a 4-0 run put an end  to the contest. The French bagged their fifth win in a row.  After suffering back-to-back defeats at home – and both looked bad –, OSC faced a tough challenge in  Dubrovnik, but they managed to pull off a stunning victory in a thrilling game. After a series of twists  and turns, a 0-3 rush gave a 7-9 lead to the Magyars and even though Jug fought hard, came back to one  goal twice after being 7-10 down but the equaliser never came. Erik Csacsovszky was the Hungarians’ hero who hit 5 in the game.  Another stunner came in Bucharest where host Steaua could earn its first win after five straight losses.  A bit unexpectedly, it came at the expense of Crvena Zvezda – Serbian sides barely lose to Romanians  but it happened this time. It was a crazy match, the visitors came back from 4-1 to 5-5 but Steaua hit  three in the last two minutes of the third period and closed out the game two more action goals after 9-7.  One Group A game was played exceptionally on Wednesday, Novi Beograd claimed a K. O. win in  Tbilisi as expected so the ranks are as tight as always in this group as the Serbs also have 10 points, like  Barceloneta and Ferencvaros. Recaps  Group B  Jug v OSC 11-12  In the good old days Jug’s home was a cursed place for the visiting teams, the Croats barely lost once in  a year, if lost at all. But this Jug is no longer the same which always began the season as a top favourite  – and one cannot wonder that they went down in a second Champions League match at home in a  couple of weeks, first Marseille beat them soundly and now OSC managed to take all three points back  to Budapest.  It was a game of two tired teams, though it still offered great excitements and individual brilliance also  played some part to the joy of the water polo fans. The home players were visibly haunted by the  demons of their lost cup final to Jadran while the Hungarians played more than 30 matches since  September (they went through the whole qualification).  The lead was constantly changing for a while, it stood 3-3 after eight minutes then Jug went ahead after  two and a half minutes in the second. OSC needed 4:29min to score again, then they netted two in 61  seconds, only to see Filip Krzic tipping the ball in after a fine action for 5-5. Mate Dala scored from a  counter early in the third, but the hosts hit back with back-to-back extraman goals in 35 seconds. At 7-6  they looked to have gained some ground – instead the Magyars came up with a great surge, Krisztian  Manhercz’s blast hit the back of the net, then Erik Csacsovszky destroyed the net twice while the  visitors’ defence were clicking and this 0-3 surge gave them a 7-9 lead before the last break.  Csacsovszky was on fire, he sent the ball above Toni Popadic’s head right from the first possession, it  was his 5th goal in the game – with Manhercz, they sold this type of head-above shot at least five times  this evening – and Jug was in deep trouble at 7-10. But their Greeks stepped up, Konstantinos Kakaris   put away an extra, then Stylianos Argyropulos had a fine shot from the perimeter, in 50 seconds their  hopes were alive again. Both teams missed a man-up which seemed crucial at this stage, then  Manhercz’s rocket from action flew under the bar for 9-11 with 5:05 to go.   Jug tried but they lacked the necessary calmness and precision, blocks denied their next two man-ups,  then Kakaris finished off the third one from an unusual play, it stood 10-11 and there were still 1:43  minutes on the clock. However, 72 seconds from time Gergely Burian also buried an extra and that was  the killer blow. With some luck – this time the ball bounced in from the blocking hand – Jug got a  glimpse of hope with 44 seconds but once they regained the ball, they couldn’t set themselves up and a  steal sealed OSC’s fine and really important win.  Marseille v Spandau 12-7  It took a bit longer than one perhaps expected but Marseille bagged three more points by

Brescia beats Olympiacos, arrives to 2022 as top ranked  In the battle of the undefeated sides, Brescia claimed a hard-fought win against Olympiacos and  that sent the Italians to the top of this tough group. Barceloneta and Ferencvaros both closed the  gap on the ranks by recording massive victories at the expense of Radnicki and Jadran  respectively.  Group A: Brescia (ITA) v Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE) 8-7, FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN) v Jadran  Split (CRO) 14-8, Zodiac Atletic Barceloneta (ESP) v Radnicki Kragujevac (SRB) 13-7. Wednesday,  19.00: Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO) v Novi Beograd (SRB)  Standings: 1. Brescia 14, 2. Olympiacos 13, 3. Barceloneta 10, 4. Ferencvaros 10, 5. Novi Beograd 7, 6.  Jadran 6, 7. Radnicki 4, 8. Dinamo 0  The second period determined the outcome in the big match of Day 6 when Brescia managed to shut out  Olympiacos for the entire period while netting three goals. The Greeks fought back, though, but the  hosts’ heroic defending kept them at bay in a game which did not see any goal in the last five minutes.  This reversed the order on the top, Brescia, still undefeated, now took the leading position ahead of the  Greeks.  The pressure is mounting from behind as both Barceloneta and Ferencvaros won with ease. These  matches followed a bit similar pattern, the Spaniards downed Radnicki in the first half (rushed an 8-2  lead), just like the Hungarians blew away Jadran in two periods (9-3). The third quarters saw better  spells from both visiting teams but soon the hosts hit back, and both clinched six-goal victories. Novi  Beograd is to catch up with them at 10 points on Wednesday as the Serbs should enjoy an easy ride in  Tbilisi.  Recaps  Brescia v Olympiacos 8-7  In the battle of front-runners, the Italians had a better start, took a 2-0 lead and kept the Greeks scoreless  for almost six minutes. Then Filip Filipovic’s opened Olympiacos’ account and still in the first period  Konstantinos Gouvis put away another extra for 2-2.  The second half began the same way, Vincenzo Renzuto buried a penalty – called during a man-up – and after a long battle with denied 6 on 5s at both ends (Olympiacos missed four, Brescia two), the  hosts could find the back of the net from an extra. And this time the Greek response did not come,  instead Boris Vapenski made it 5-2 from action to end an almost perfect period for the hosts.  Olympiacos had to dig deep to have a chance for a comeback and they started that right away in the  third. Georgios Dervisis scored from a man-up but even though Nicolas Constantin-Bicari also put one  away, Konstantinos Mourikis hit one from action, then the Greeks defended well in a crucial man-down,  and Ioannis Fountoulis converted a 5 on 4 for 6-5. Constantin-Bicari showed again, why Brescia was on edge to see him playing for the first time but his extraman hit was followed by Konstantinos  Genidounias’ action goal, so Olympiacos got really close before the final period at 7-6.  Edoardo di Somma doubled the hosts’ lead, but Filip Filipovic’s blast halved the gap immediately – it  was 8-7 with exactly five minutes remaining. Few would have guessed that no more goal would come  but Brescia killed two man-downs and these heroical defensive efforts secured the Italians’ win, which  put them to the first place.  Ferencvaros v Jadran 14-8  Last season’s runners-up produced a great opening quarter, thanks to its newcomers: Nemanja Ubovic  scored from the centre, followed by a trademark perimeter shot by Daniil Merkulov for a 2-0 lead, who  later sent the ball home from a man-up. Denes Varga also added one, while Jadran needed 5:18 minutes  to open the scoring and in the last seconds Soma Vogel denied them in a 6 on 4. To make it worse, Zvonimir Butic missed a one-on-one counter (his ball bounced above the bar) and  Marton Vamos sent the ball under the cross bar right from the next possession for 5-1. And the trend  didn’t change, Jadran wasted its next man-up without a shot, the hosts made the most of theirs, Gabor   Lorinc put it away from close range. Mile Smodlaka called for an emergency time-out but it offered  only temporary help – after Jerko Marinic-Kragic’s fine and smart lob, Jadran’s miseries came back.  The hosts netted another man-up while the Croats lost the ball in their 6 on 5, soon hit the post from a  penalty, then Vendel Vigvari surprised the goalie from the wing while Mate Anic moved out to try his  luck for a steal – instead he found himself on the bench. Incoming goalie Luka Podrug could not offer  an immediate solution as Vigvari beat him right away, after a man-up, not long after Antonio Duzevic  halted Jadran’s disastrous run. Still, it was telling that the visiting side could direct only 5 shots on  Vogel’s goal in the entire first half while Ferencvaros had 11 (out of 13), it was no wonder that it stood  9-3 at halftime.  Things changed somewhat after the middle break as Jadran managed to score from its first two  possessions, but Nemanja Ubovic’s brilliant centre goal took away a bit from their momentum. Still, the  Croats kept going, Marinic-Kragic sold another fine lob and soon the Hungarians overplayed an easy 3  on 2. At 10-6, it was Zsolt Varga’s turn to call for a ‘calming’ time-out, and that worked well as his  player quickly scored three more for 13-6, Jansik’s centre shot was a class in its own. That erased  Jadran’s efforts entirely and turned the final period a mere formality. As a consequence, the level of  play dropped significantly – well, especially at Ferencvaros’ side since Jadran hit the rock-bottom much  earlier, so the gap remained six at the end.  Barceloneta v Radnicki 13-7  After an exchange of man-up goals – two apiece –, the hosts netted the first one from action and as it  turned out it was a starting signal. Another man-up in the dying seconds in

Last-grasp goals earn precious points for Ferencvaros and Brescia  Last season’s runner-up Ferencvaros played another thrilling draw, the fourth in five rounds, this  time in Barceloneta, and a bit later bronze medallist Brescia also shared the points with Novi  Beograd. Both sides were two goals down late in the game but managed to equalise in the dying  seconds so they are still unbeaten. Just like Olympiacos which was the real winner in this round as  now they broke two points clear after another convincing win, this time over Jadran.  Group A: Zodiac Atletic Barceloneta (ESP) v FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN) 12-12, Olympiacos  Piraeus (GRE) v Jadran Split (CRO) 12-10, Novi Beograd (SRB) v AN Brescia (ITA) 11-11, Radnicki  Kragujevac (SRB) v Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO) 14-7  Standings: 1. Olympiacos 13, 2. Brescia 11, 3. Ferencvaros 7, 4. Barceloneta 7, 5. Novi Beograd 7, 6.  Jadran 6, 7. Radnicki 4, 8. Dinamo 0  Ferencvaros already set a special record in the Champions League, no team ever began its quest with  three straight draws – and they added one more. This was different, though, they had had great chances  to win any of the first three matches while now in Barceloneta they were trailing for most of the game.  In fact, the Magyars were 11-9 down with 2:26 to go, then came back to 11-11 but the Spaniards netted  one with 23 seconds remaining. However, Daniil Merkulov scored from a 7 on 6 with 0:02 on the clock,  so Ferencvaros is still unbeaten this season.  Olympiacos is also running an unbeaten course, but they are amassing wins – this time the Greeks  downed Jadran with ease. With the inspirited play of Ioannis Fountoulis and Filip Filipovic, both scored  five goals in the game, they took a 12-6 lead deep into the third. Though their focus was lost for the last  10:03 minutes (no goals, netted four per period up until then), and Jadran started climbing back but the  Croats couldn’t come closer after 12-10.  The battle of Novi Beograd and Brescia was also full of twists and turns. Brescia had a great spell in the  second and third period, had a 0-4 surge while switching off the Serbian scoring machine for 11:47  minutes and taking a 3-6 lead. Then the hosts came back to life, netted three from as many possessions  in 94 seconds and the last period started from 7-7. Dusan Mandic’s brilliant double earned the Serbs a  two-goal lead for the first time and they maintained that gap till 11-9 when there were only 76 seconds  remaining. Still, it was enough for the Italians to equalise, the point-saver came 5.8 seconds from time,  courtesy of Montenegrin leftie Boris Vapenski. This left three teams with 7 points and Radnicki took  the chance to cut the gap in the ranks by claiming its first win by knocking out Dinamo.  Recaps  Olympiacos v Jadran 12-10  Though Jadran went ahead right from its first possession, Olympiacos responded with three straight  action goals in 2:30 minutes, two of them from counters and added one more from a penalty, shortly  before the first break to build a massive 4-1 lead. The Croats needed 7:15 minutes to score again, Marin Delic managed to put away an extra from the right wing and he repeated that later but on  both occasions the Greeks replied immediately with 6m shots, so the gap remained the same. The Croats – admittedly focusing on their upcoming cup F4 – weren’t as sharp as in the previous rounds  so it was no wonder that soon Olympiacos rushed to 8-3. That was too much for Jadran’s coach Mile  Smodlaka who called a timeout which served as temporary help only. Jadran pulled one back but in the  third the duo of Filip Filipovic and Ioannis Fountoulis kept on producing great goals to put Olympiacos  12-6 up – the two had 5 goals apiece, netting 10 of the 12 goals of their team.  After taking a six-goal lead, the Greeks’ concentration level started to sink, by the fourth that slowly  became embarrassing as Jadran netted its fourth goal in a row to climb back to 12-10 and there were  still 3:24 minutes to play. However, the Croats couldn’t come closer so at the end Olympiacos bagged  three more points comfortably, while Jadran avoided a bigger defeat which was very much in the cards  in the third period.  Barceloneta v Ferencvaros 12-12  The first period offered an open attacking game, leaving little chances for the two young goalies – while  in Barceloneta the ‘take-over’ phase in the red-cap position has already begun this season as Unai  Aguirre gets more and more matches, it was a bit surprising that the Hungarians opted to field reserve goalie Daniel Szakonyi.  The two net-minders had various fortunes – some big saves were followed by easy goals, though there  were a handful of shots which would have definitely beat veteran Dani Lopez or Soma Vogel. Anyway,  the match was quite entertaining, the first five goals came from action before Felipe Perrone put away a  6 on 4, then Daniil Merkulov sent the ball home from a 6 on 5 to give Ferencvaros a 3-4 lead in the first  period.  Marc Larumbe’s fine action shot kicked off the second, then Szakonyi caught a penalty but later he  couldn’t put a hand on two more balls coming from the distance. At the other end, Nemanja Ubovic  missed a huge one-on-one chance from the centre at 4-4 and that also marked a significant drop in the  visitors’ efficiency in attack. They could net one goal in this period, after a steal and the ensuing counter  but had two man-ups where they couldn’t even take a shot, so the home side was 6-5 up at halftime. Martin Famera blasted his second – that was a real rocket –, Denes Varga responded with his hard-to follow wrist shot then came another crucial possession: the Magyars killed a man-down, got the ball but  gave it away, the Spaniards recovered it

Marseille shines in Budapest, Jug struggles, Hannover claims first win  While Recco went 4/4 as expected, Marseille ended OSC’s unbeaten run with a brilliant win in  Budapest. Jug almost had a hiccup in Bucharest but could bag three points after some struggles  and Hannover claimed its first win in a hard-fought battle in Belgrade.  Group B  OSC Budapest (HUN) v CN Marseille (FRA) 9-14, Steaua Bucharest (ROU) v Jug Adriatic Osiguranje  Dubrovnik (CRO) 8-10, Crvena Zvezda (SRB) v Waspo 98 Hannover (GER) 12-15, Pro Recco (ITA) v  Spandau 04 Berlin (GER) 14-9  Standings: 1. Recco 12, 2. Marseille 9, 3. Jug 9, 4. OSC 7, 5. Hannover 5, 6. Zvezda 3, 7. Spandau 1, 8.  Steaua 0  As expected, Recco beat Spandau with ease despite the Italians being off their usual pace – still, they  were clearly the better side even in ‘slow-motion’. After two periods ending equally in a 5-3 partial  result, the third saw only a single goal – but what counted was the three points for the title-holders.  After losing at home to Recco in the opening round, Marseille stunned Jug in Dubrovnik, then won  convincingly in Bucharest and now the French made it three in a row on the road as they downed OSC  in a spectacular fashion in Budapest. Marseille kept the game under firm control, the Hungarians,  unbeaten in the previous three rounds, had a couple of better spells early on but faded after 6-8. The  French scored three more in the third to take a commanding 6-11 lead and they maintained that gap till  the end. It was telling that they had 31 shots and 26 were on target, OSC was 31/16 to demonstrate the  difference between the concentration levels and the defences’ efforts.  Unexpectedly, the game in Bucharest – played parallel with the OSC v Marseille contest – saw much  bigger tensions. Here favourite Jug fell back after building a solid 2-6 lead and the Romanians came  back to 6-6 in the third period while the Croats were unable to score for almost 13 minutes. At 7-8, the  hosts missed back-to-back man-ups and that proved to be decisive as their experienced rivals doubled  their lead and never looked back.  Due to the tightening restrictions in Germany, Hannover and Crvena Zvezda exchanged the hosting  rights but the Germans still felt at home in Belgrade – at least they jumped to a 0-3 lead in no time and  cruised comfortably for a while, enjoying a 3-4 goal lead. After they missed two man-ups in the third,  Zvezda smelled blood and shaved off its deficit to a single goal twice. It was 12-13 in the fourth, the  Serbs had a couple of possessions to go even but could not create more danger and two late goals  secured Hannover’s first win in this season.  Recaps  OSC v Marseille 9-14  Marseille came up with a brilliant team effort while outplaying OSC in every aspect of the game (that  was reinforced by Hungarian head coach Daniel Varga in the post-match interview). Stats don’t lie: all but one field player scored in this game for Marseille, a rare feat when two strong sides  collide – though this evening the game turned into a lop-sided contest late in the third period. OSC dug itself to a deep hole right at the beginning: a lost ball and a goal from the ensuing counter,  then three missed man-ups in a row, an action goal in between and soon the French made their first  extra to take a 0-3 lead in 3:18 minutes. The Magyars then found some rhythm, put away their fourth 6  on 5, killed a man-down and a pinpoint shot from Ferenc Salamon got them close by the end of the  opening period (2-3).  However, the chasing game restarted in the second, in a similar way, Uros Cuckovic could finish a one on-one counter, then Vladan Spaic added a fine one from action in 61 seconds. To follow the pattern of  the first quarter, the Hungarians came back with two goals in 37 seconds, a man-up and a counter  reduced the gap to one once more. They had a couple of possessions to equalise without luck, then  Romain Vernoux sent the ball home from an extra. OSC defended well in a long French possession at  the end, even killed a man-down in the dying seconds – only to see Salamon putting the ball behind his  back after collecting the rebound, while the goalie jumped out to do the same and the ball sailed to the  empty net. It was a classic own goal though water polo does not recognise that so it was given to the  rival’s player who last touched the ball.  The well-known No 1 rule in team sports is “do not beat yourself” – OSC could not really keep that in  this match. They had one more better spell, but only after Andrija Prlainovic converted a penalty for 4- 8. Again, a double in 53 seconds brought them back to 6-8 but Marseille kept on burying its extras, they  always found a way to finish them, even after minor passing errors. At the same time, OSC seemed to  run out of ideas, their composure in offence, which earned them seven points in the first three rounds,  was in ruins. When Vladan Spaic netted a marvellous shot from the centre with 10 seconds to go in the  third, everyone knew it was over at 6-11.  OSC tried everything in the last period but only few of their plans bore fruits – they even tried a 7 on 6,  conceded a goal to the empty net, but at the end they played an equal period.   Again, worth checking some numbers: while the total number of shots was almost equal (30-31), the  shots on target (16-25) clearly mirrored the difference in concentration level and the defensive efforts – the Hungarians had 15 shots off target, Marseille only 6.  Steaua v Jug 8-10  Jug took a flying start, after 1-1 they