October 2022

The favourite teams delivered, Brescia (ITA), OSC (HUN) and Jadran (CRO) all claimed decisive wins in the first leg, just like last season, while in the clash of the newcomers Vouliagmeni (GRE) smashed Noisy (FRA) in France, so the victors are 32 minutes away from making the main round. Champions League, playoffs, 1st leg Game A: Genesys-OSC Budapest (HUN) v Panionios GSS (GRE) 17-7 Game B: CN Noisy le Sec (FRA) v NC Vouliagmeni (GRE) 11-17 Game C: A HID Vasas-Plaket (HUN) v AN Brescia (ITA) 10-12 Game D: Jadran Split (CRO) v CSM Oradea (ROU) 9-3 Return leg: 5 November As expected, the battle of Vasas and Brescia produced the most thrilling clash and for quite a while the Hungarians were able to be on level with last season’s semi-finalist. In the second period Vasas took the lead twice before the Italians hit back with three goals to go 5-7 up. Here the hosts could come back to even, what’s more, early in the third leftie Ivan Nagaev scored two in 88 seconds for 9-8. Here came another big run from Brescia, this time they netted four in a row and that proved to be decisive. Indeed, the Italian defence did an outstanding job, kept the Magyar offence at bay for 13:48 minutes in the second half – Nagaev pulled one back with 14 seconds to go to give some hope for his side, but the two-goal away win puts Brescia on track for another adventure in the main round. The other three encounters ended in routs. OSC blew Panionos away – they built a five-goal lead by halftime and doubled that till the end. Krisztian Manhercz, third on the top scorers’ list at the Europeans in Split, hit 7 goals, as many as the Greeks could make altogether.  Just like OSC, Jadran Split are also set to return to the big stage after downing surprise qualifier Oradea. After a balanced first period, which ended in 2-2, the Croats let only a single goal for the Romanians in the remaining time while netting seven. Indeed, they shut them out for 24 minutes between the middle of the first half till the middle of the fourth. In the contest of the newcomers, Vouliagmeni claimed a stunning win in France. The Greeks were superior in the entire game, expanded the gap period by period while the upcoming French club’s players were unable to grow to the occasion. Their defence crashed, conceding 17 at home practically killed their chances for a historical first Champions League appearance.

OSC, Brescia and Jadran Split are all set to repeat last year’s feat when they had qualified for the main round in the Champions League, while Noisy le Sec and Vouliagmeni are going for a historic first appearance on the big stage. A year ago. the No. 2 teams of Hungary, Italy and Croatia all cleared the last hurdle with ease: OSC, Brescia and Jadran didn’t have any problem to claim convincing wins in the first leg which already secured them a spot in the main round. This time their tasks may not seem similarly easy, though these three sides are the favourites again to advance. OSC already passed a ‘Greek test’ in the second round with a fine 13-9 win over Vouliagmeni – now the Hungarians face Panionios which earned a hard-fought 7-6 victory over Mladost (CRO) in the previous round to book their place in the play-offs. Brescia is considered the best side in the qualifications – both their line-up and their results in the past two years (reached the semi-finals in 2021 and 2022) make them favourites in any match-ups. Still, their current rival Vasas might pose some threat in a home-and-away battle as the Hungarians – once a major force at the European stage – have been gradually strengthened in recent years and now they are ready to eye some bigger things. Perhaps Jadran Split’s task looks the easiest: the Croats, led by the hero of the European Championship final Jerko Marinic-Kragic, face the surprise qualifier CSM Oradea. The Romanians earned a stunning 12-6 win over CN Barcelona which sent them through (the Spanish had reached the play-offs last year) – that can be an alerting sign for the Jadran players not to underestimate their rivals. The fourth duel is the exception, featuring two teams which have never made the big stage since the newly shaped Champions League had started in 2013/14. France’s emerging side Noisy le Sec would be an ‘absolute’ rookie in the group stage, while its opponent Vouliagmeni has some historical experience, though their quarter-final appearance dates back to 2013. (A year ago Serbia’s Crvena Zvezda was the fourth qualifier, this season they play in the Euro Cup.) Champions League, Qualification Play-offs, Leg 1 19.00 Genesys-OSC Budapest (HUN) v Panionios GSS (GRE) – Game A 18.00 CN Noisy le Sec (FRA) v NC Vouliagmeni (GRE) – Game B 19.00 A HID Vasas-Plaket (HUN) v AN Brescia (ITA) – Game C 19.00 Jadran Split (CRO) v CSM Oradea (ROU) – Game D Leg 2: 5 November

Game 1, 29 October 2022 Game A OSC Budapest (HUN) – Panionios GSS (GRE) Game B CN Noisy le Sec (FRA) – NC Vouliagmeni (GRE) Game C A HID Vasas Plaket (HUN) – AN Brescia (ITA) Game D Jadran Split (CRO) – CSM Oradea (ROU) Game 2, 5 November 2022 Game A Panionios GSS (GRE) – OSC Budapest (HUN) Game B NC Vouliagmeni (GRE) – CN Noisy le Sec (FRA) Game C AN Brescia (ITA) – A HID Vasas Plaket (HUN) Game D CSM Oradea (ROU) – Jadran Split (CRO) According to the Regulations Club 2.5.5, the four (4) winning teams shall qualify to the LEN Champions League Preliminary Round. The four (4) loosing teams shall qualify to the Eight Finals of the LEN Euro Cup.

Teams having qualified last season to the main round, Jadran Split (CRO), OSC (HUN) and Brescia (ITA) made the play-offs once more, and they all finished atop in their respective groups. A bit surprisingly France’s Noisy-Le Sec also topped its group – here Oradea (ROU) caused the biggest upset by grabbing the second spot ahead of Jadran Herceg Novi (MNE) and CN Barcelona (ESP). The group of ‘Death’ in Split produced a series of thrilling contests as expected. Host Jadran finally won all their four matches, however, the favourite Croats had to push hard to beat Sabac (SRB) 14-13, where the winning goal came 23 seconds from time and needed a 4-1 blast in the last period to turn their match against Vasas (HUN). The Hungarians clinched the second qualifying spot by beating Savona (ITA) 9-8 – they led 7-1 deep into the third before the Italians staged a late surge but their last goal came only in the dying seconds. A big drama unfolded in Barcelona where France’s Noisy-Le Sec posted a perfect record thanks to a couple of fine wins, while the fight for the second place ended in a three-way tie and Romania’s Oradea went through. On the closing day, the Romanians stunned host CN Barcelona (ESP) with a brilliant 12-6 victory with a 5-1 rush in the second half. Group C didn’t offer any less excitements. After Tourcoing (FRA) had caused one of the big upsets of the weekend by scoring the last five goals and beating OSC (HUN) 10-7, the French were 9 seconds away from making the cut in the encounter against Vouliagmeni (GRE). However, the Greeks netted the game winner in the two sides’ epic match on Sunday in the dying second to catch the second place with a 14-13 win. OSC then thrashed host Primorac (MNE) to finish atop in the group. The other Greek side Panionios also qualified thanks to a late winner – it was netted 1:47min from time against Mladost (CRO) for a decisive 7-6 victory; here last season’s semi-finalist Brescia (ITA) bagged four wins with ease. The draw will take place on Monday – the four group winners are to be paired against the second ranked sides (teams now in the same group cannot face each other). The four play-off victors will make the main round, while the losers will play in the Euro Cup eight-finals. Clubs ranked third or below in this round enter the draw for the Euro Cup second qualifying round. Champions League, Qualification Round II Group A (Split) 1. Jadran Split (CRO) 12, 2. A Hid Vasas-Plaket (HUN) 9, 2. RN Savona (ITA) 6, 4. VK Sabac (SRB) 3, 5. Steaua Bucharest (ROU) 0 Group B (Barcelona) 1. CN Noisy-Le Sec (FRA) 12, 2. CSM Oradea (ROU) 6, 3. Jadran Herceg Novi (MNE) 6, 4. CN Barcelona (ESP) 6, 5. Vitoria Guimaraes (POR) 0 Three-way tie, goal differences: Oradea +5, Jadran 0, Barcelona –5 Group C (Kotor) 1. Genesys-OSC Budapest (HUN) 6, 2. NC Vouliagmeni (GRE) 6, 3. EN Tourcoing (FRA) 4, 4. Primorac Kotor (MNE) 1 Tie for the first place: OSC v Vouliagmeni 13-9 Group D (Athens)1. AN Brescia (ITA) 12, 2. Panionios GSS (GRE) 9, 3. HAVK Mladost Zagreb (CRO) 6, 4. EVK Zaibas (LTU) 3, 5. ASC Duisburg (GER) 0

While the opening weekend could be considered as a warm-up, the upcoming second qualification round in the Champions League will see huge fights at all four venues. Only the top two in each group shall keep their hopes to make the main round alive – so eight sides can move one, eleven are to be dropped to the Euro Cup. This is the ‘melting pot’ where teams having made the cut last season, clubs with Champions League experience from previous years and upcoming new challengers face off to grab the eight play-off spots – two in each group. (According to the new regulations, the third, fourth and fifth placed teams can continue their European campaigns in the second qualification round in the Euro Cup.) Italy’s Brescia, semi-finalist in the last two editions, Croatia’s Jadran Split and Hungary’s OSC were among those four teams which went all the way in the qualifications a year ago and joined the wild card holders in the main round. There are other sides which had some ‘big time’ experience from the recent past like Montenegro’s Jadran Herceg Novi and Romania’s Steaua Bucharest. And we have those greats where trophies from the past are reminiscent of a magnificent history and now these are hoping for something big in the reshaping process, like Croatia’s Mladost, Hungary’s Vasas and Montenegro’s Primorac, all appearing on the all-time champions’ list, plus Italy’s Savona, ruler of the second-tier cups some years ago. Add the second and third best teams from Greece and France, the third ranked Spanish and Serbian sides and the stage is set for four days of thrilling matches – free live-stream will be available from each and every game, according to the plans.  For more, visit www.championsleague.europeanaquatics.org Champions League, Qualification Round II (13-16 October) Group A (Split, CRO) VK Sabac (SRB), Jadran Split (CRO), Vasas Budapest (HUN), RN Savona (ITA), Steaua Bucharest (ROU) Group B (Barcelona, ESP) CN Barcelona (ESP), CN Noisy Le Sec (FRA), CSM Oradea (ROU), Jadran Herceg Novi (MNE), Vitoria Guimaraes (POR) Group C (Kotor, MNE), 14-16 October OSC Budapest (HUN), Vouliagmeni NC (GRE), EN Tourcoing (FRA), Primorac Kotor (MNE) Group D (Athens, GRE) AN Brescia (ITA), Duisburg (GER), HAVK Mladost Zagreb (CRO), Panionios GSS Athens (GRE), EVK Zaibas (LTU)