June 2023

Pro Recco became the second team in history to claim three Champions League titles in a row, 52 years after Mladost Zagreb had achieved that feat. The Italians downed host Novi Beograd with an overwhelming performance in the final, maintaining a three-four goals gap throughout almost the entire game. Barceloneta claimed the bronze, though they could only beat underdog Vouliagmeni in a penalty shootout. Final: VK Novi Beograd (SRB) v Pro Recco (ITA) 11-14. Bronze medal game: Zodiac CNA Barceloneta (ESP) v NC Vouliagmeni 9-9, pen: 5-4. Final rankings: 1. Pro Recco, 2. Novi Beograd, 3. Barceloneta, 4. Vouliagmeni, 5. Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE), 6. FTC-Telekom (HUN), 7. Jug Adriatic Osiguranje Dubrovnik (CRO), 8. AN Brescia (ITA) Unlike last year, when only the penalties decided the outcome, Vol. 2 of the Recco v Novi Beograd ‘final series’ produced less thrills. The Italians kept the game under firm control right from the beginning and their victory was never in danger. Recco jumped to a 1-4 lead in eight minutes while Novi Beograd missed three 6 on 5s in a row. The big twist could have happened in the second, when, for the first time in history, a VAR review was initiated by the LEN delegates because of an alleged brutality, and the referees identified the hit by Gonzalo Echenique on Alvaro Granados and called the four-minute ejection and the penalty. At this level, a four-minute man-up can be a game-decider or at least has a huge impact on the outcome – here it served as a confidence-booster for Recco, since the Italians scored two goals, one from a forced 5 on 4, one from man-down for 3-7 to stun their rivals. NBG missed three possessions before managed to score two goals, so the Serbs could come as close as 5-7 during this phase. And once being back on equal strength, Recco hit back two in 70 seconds to lead 5-9 at halftime. The hosts had a fine surge early in the third, halved the gap in 56 seconds, however, their momentum was gone soon as Francesco di Fulvio netted two action goals in 38 seconds to reset the four-goal gap. Indeed, NBG’s goalies weren’t on top of their game, they were going back and forth between the goal and the bench, an unmistakable sign that the defence didn’t work. At the other end, Marco del Lungo always came up with a couple of crucial saves and after 7-11, the home side could never get inside three goals any more. Though Alvaro Granados – who had joined NBG for this season – did his best, scored five goals, and received the MVP Award at the end, the team effort of the title-holders, plus di Fulvio’s and Gergo Zalanki’s four hits apiece, combined with veteran Aleksandar Ivovic’s triple gave the necessary edge to Recco. It was an overwhelming performance from the Italian giant this time – they won their QF and SF by four goals respectively and the final by three, leaving no chance for their rivals. Recco landed their 11th title and won the last three in a row to become the second team in history after 52 years to make the three-peat.  On contrary, Novi Beograd is the 6th club losing finals in back-to-back years, the first since Jug’s double defeats in 2007 and 2008 – back then also Recco downed the Croats in succession. A couple of greats also passed historical milestones: though Pietro Figlioli did not play in Belgrade, he was part of the show in the prelims, and now the others won the 7th title for him, an absolute record. Ivovic and Aussie Aaron Younger joined an elite club of 5-time winners (they are the 5th and 6th member respectively), and Younger also became the first player in history to lift the trophy at the end of four straight finals (he won in 2019 with Ferencvaros – he clinched his five gold medals across the last six editions).  In the bronze medal match, underdog Vouliagmeni were close to another miracle. Though Barceloneta controlled the game for most of the time, the Greeks held on and with a spirited performance they even took the lead in the fourth period and had two man-ups to win the game after 9-9, but missed both, leaving the decision to the penalties. The Spaniards lost a shootout in the semis (to NBG), now they were the luckier side to finish third, for the fourth time since 2013. Vouliagmeni still deserves all praises as they came up with the club’s best-ever result in the top competition. Champions League shall restart in early September with a new playing format as the preliminaries will be contested in four groups of four, followed by the quarter-final round with two groups of four and a Final Four tournament shall crown the season, in a year or so, on 6-8 June, 2024.

Final: Novi Beograd (SRB) v Pro Recco (ITA) 11-14 Recco opened its title-defence campaign in a cool and collected way, netted their first two man-ups – the first was a clean job, by Francesco di Fulvio, the second was a bit adventurous, but after a saved shot, Alessandro Velotto sent the ball home from the back for 0-2. The Serbs efforts in the first three minutes were less impressive but they also delivered in their first man-up, Strahinja Rasovic’s pinpoint shot from the left wing opened their account. The second was gone, though, they didn’t have much time to set themselves up and a forced shot from a bad angle was a gift for Marco del Lungo. Recco’s next man-up copied the previous one, this time they regained the ball after a blocked shot, then patiently overplayed the hosts’ defence and Aleksandar Ivovic had an easy job from the 2m line. Angelos Vlachopoulos’ first shot was caught by del Lungo in NBG’s next extra, and a great feed for the centre and a fine action earned a penalty for the title-holders, Gergo Zalanki buried it for 1-4. And a third 6 on 5 also went down the drain via a 2m violation – while Recco scored three goals from three man-ups (even though the last two hits came in the 22-23rd seconds), NBG were 1 for 4 – and that made the difference in the opening quarter. The next one began differently, Alvaro Granados didn’t leave much chance for del Lungo in NBG’s first man-up, but Zalanki’s blast was also a mission impossible for Joao Fernandez. Granados hit his second after he had received a hit from Gonzalo Echenique – that was reviewed, the goal was revoked and Echenique was ejected for four minutes for brutality. Rasovic sent the ball home from the ensuing penalty for 3-5. However, the Italians brought all their experience to spend 40 seconds in front of NBG’s goal, force a 5 on 4 man-up and Younger netted it. On contrary, the Serbs missed their chance – a bad shot, followed by a awful pass, and Ivovic, even this time in 5 on 6, sent a fierce shot to the net from 8m for 3-7.  Despite an emergency time-out, and the chance to play man-ups for 30 seconds, NBG missed the following one as well before Rasovic finally converted one from the wing for 4-7. Then Granados also finished off the next one in the seconds when sixth player was swimming back – so this four-minute period saw a modest 3-2 partial run by NBG, a missed opportunity indeed. Once back to normal, Recco claimed a 6 on 5, and di Fulvio made it with ease – this time incoming goalie Radoslav Filipovic couldn’t put a hand the ball. And the difference between the goalies’ performances started became more and more visible as Ivovic blasted another one from the distance for 5-9. The key stats for those in the red caps were telling at this stage: 3 saves on 12 shots here, 6 on 11 there. Granados kicked off the third with a 6m rocket, followed by a man-up goal from the 2m line by Dusko Pijetlovic to create some noise on the packed stands as NBG managed to halve the gap in 56 seconds. But again, the goaltending problems haunted the hosts once more, Di Fulvio’s shot sneaked in under Fernandez’s arm, then, after the Serbs gave away the ball in a man-down, di Fulvio’s lob also beat the Brazilian-born goalie – and the two action goals in 38 seconds led to goalie change No. 3… Granados buried a penalty, then Filipovic denied Zalanki in a dying man-down, but not at the next 6m shot – between the two NBG missed another 6 on 5 as del Lungo made another easy catch thanks to his defenders. Granados scored his 5th from a man-up to keep his side in the game at 9-12, then Rasovic’s ball hit the bar but never crossed the virtual line – on contrary, Zalanki offered no mercy and blasted his fourth from a man-up after a time-out. And Granados couldn’t save NBG’s next extra, di Fulvio blocked his shot, so despite NBG’s renewing attempts the gap remained four goals before the final period – and it was hard to imagine that Recco would let this go. Especially how the last period started – Recco had earned a man-up in the dying seconds in the third (after grabbing the rebound in the man-down), won the swim-off, set up Hallock quickly on the 2m line and the American made it 9-14 after 18 seconds. Angelos Vlachopoulos finished off a 6 on 5 quickly, but despite denying Recco in a man-down, they couldn’t make theirs, which, as the clock was ticking down, didn’t promise a happy end. Another 2m finish in an extra ended up in del Lungo’s hands and all the Italians had to do was killing the time which they executed perfectly. With 2:27 to go, Zivko Gocic used his last time-out to try to create miracle as NBG still trailed by four. And even though they forced an extra, another 2m violation virtually ended their quest – when Nikola Jaksic somehow sent the ball into the net from the next one, only 43 seconds remained from the game. That was it – Recco made it again, flawlessly, winning their matches here twice by four goals, and by three in the final, a very convincing way to equal the feat of Mladost Zagreb from 1968-1969-1970 to become the second team in history to win three Champions League titles in a row. Here is what the protagonists had to say after the final. Sandro Sukno, coach, Recco “It’s hard to find the proper words to describe the feelings I have now… What the players did today… We controlled the whole match, we did some really great defending and our offence also worked extremely well… I can’t really add to much, just… Thanks

Bronze medal game: Zodiac CNA Barceloneta (ESP) v NC Vouliagmeni (GRE) 8-8, pen: 5-4 After two rather convincing wins, Barceloneta were the overwhelming favourite against the Greeks but the game took a totally different path – and it ended a shootout, the second one for the Spaniards after the semis, however, this time they emerged victorious.  Miguel del Toro quickly put the Spaniards ahead a fine centre shot, but that didn’t gear them up immediately. Their next came only in the middle of the first, when Felipe Perrone netted their first man-up for 2-0. The Greeks could sign up after five minutes when Efstathios Kalogeropoulos ball from a sharp angle caught Unai Aguirre by surprise. Unai Biel replied immediately, putting away Barceloneta’s second man-up but Kalogeropoulos was also on target from the Greeks’ first 6 on 5. Then kicked off the Panagiotis Tsortsatos Show. Vouliagmeni’s goalie stopped a shot in man-down still in the first period, then carried his momentum on in the second. Soon after the restart he came up back-to-back catches on balls coming from the 2m line in another man-down, and that was followed by four more saves, in action, then he denied Barceloneta in a third extra. Midway through this quarter Vouliagmeni earned a penalty in a man-up, Charalampos Troulos buried it for 3-3. It took more than six minutes for Barceloneta to find the way to beat the goalie, Biel hit one quickly in a 6 on 5 from the back – but the Greeks managed to level the score in a similar way, though the exclusion came 7sec from time, but Troulos sent the ball home right after the first pass to make it 4-4. Dusan Matkovic quickly regained the lead for Barceloneta from a man-up, then Alberto Munarriz joined the party with a magnificent lob to double the favourites’ lead at 6-4, and even though Kalogeropoulos pulled one back in 20 seconds, converting a penalty, Alejando Bustos reset the two-goal gap from a finetuned man-up (after a time-out). Another brilliant shot from Troulos, this time from a man-up from the wing, kept Vouliagmeni on track at 7-6, then they managed to kill a man-down. Soon they could go for the equaliser in a 6 on 5 with 1:13 to go in the third, after a time-out, but now Aguirre could have his hand on Troulos’ attempt. At the other end Tsortsatos did the same, it was his 11th save, so only one goal separated the sides before the final period. And none after a minute as Kalogeropoulos hit his 4th from the back in a man-up for 7-7. Tsortsatos closed down the incoming roads and at the other Dimitrios Nikolaidis delivered another penalty for Vouliagmeni – Kalogeropoulos was not to miss this one either and for the first time in the game, the Greeks were closer to Wonderland, a medal, as they led 7-8. A short break, because of a clock malfunction, might have helped the Spaniards to regroup themselves as they could make a clean job in a man-up at last, and Roger Tahull brought them back to even. The Greeks weren’t disturbed, though, and also did well in a 6 on 5, Ioannis Alafragkis joined the scorers’ list where only Kalogeropoulos and Troulos appeared up until then.  A great one-timer by Marc Larumbe from action levelled the score with 3:10 to go, then came the first crucial miss by the Greeks in extra. Shots from the perimeter didn’t work at either side, and only 37 seconds remained from the game when Vouliagmeni got the ball and called their last time-out. Then 0:18 left when Nikolaidis earned a man-up, but Troulos’ shot was stopped by Aguirre – it wasn’t as clean and well-timed as the previous ones –, then the Spaniards had 1.3sec left after their time-out. A double red card gave some extra flavour to the closing scene as the players looked for spaces in dead time, but the time was too short to do anything big here. So the decision was left to the penalties – seemed to be exciting perspective in a game where both goalies were outstanding: Aguirre had 14 stops on 23 shots for 60.9%, while Tsortsatos had 16 on 25 for 64%.However, the Spaniards started with Jon Porter right away in the goal – and his huge size might have had an impact on Papasifakis’ thoughts who hit the bar in the second round. The Greeks went for a change in the fourth round, and it paid off in the fifth as Emmanouil Andreadis managed to catch Matkovic’s shot to keep Vouliagmeni alive. But it was a short-lived joy as Porter could save Troulos’ attempt in the 6th round to secure the bronze for Barceloneta, the fourth in the team’s history. How they saw it Elvis Fatovic, coach, Barceloneta “I was aware that Vouliagmeni was a totally different team here with whom we met in the prelims. Weeks ago they came without their second centre-forward and their first goalie and they were much more interested in the other results which would secure their qualification – and they showed even more here, it was an amazing run from such a young team. Congrats to them, to Vlado (Vujasinovic) and his staff, they did a tremendous job. Just think of this game – even if I felt that we kept the game under control for most of the time, in the fourth we had to go after them and equalise from time to time. It was the third game in four days here, at the end of the season, we had to overcome our disappointment after the semi-final where we lost in a way we did, so that was not easy. Of course, we came here to win the trophy, even if we knew that there were bigger teams, better teams, still, we saw a chance to make it. At the end we have this bronze medal, it’s also fine, after all, it’s much better to finish

In the new playing schedule, the third day of the Final Eight was devoted to the classification games while teams playing for the medals enjoyed a rest day in Belgrade. Olympiacos clinched the 5th place with a fine win over Ferencvaros, while Jug bounced back to down Brescia for the 7th place. For the 5-6th place: Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE) v FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN) 9-4. For places 7-8th: Jug Adriatic Osiguranje Dubrovnik (CRO) v AN Brescia (ITA) 14-10 Fixtures for Saturday 19.00, Bronze medal match: Zodiac CNA Barceloneta (ESP) v NC Vouliagmeni (GRE) 21.00, Champions League Final: Novi Beograd (SBR) v Pro Recco (ITA) On the very first day of the Champions League prelims, Brescia outpowered Jug in Dubrovnik and won 8-13, then on the last day of the regular season the Italians secured their top spot with a 14-10 victory over the Croats. Two weeks on, the two sides faced off for the 7th place – and this time Jug won 14-10 against Brescia whose players lost almost all their desire by the last day. They came to Belgrade with a fine chance to make the final after two semi-final appearances – instead, after a shocking defeat against underdog Vouliagmeni in the quarters, they were dropped to the last place, the worst-ever performance by a group-winner since 2014. Today’s match saw the Italians jump to a 2-4 lead but then the Croats found a higher gear, scored five goals in the second period while Brescia started losing their remaining composure. Before the final quarter they were trailing by three, then in the fourth they completely fell apart as Jug went on adding more goals and expanding the gap to six as time went by. Something similar happened in the late evening show by Olympiacos and FTC – four years after these two had clashed for the trophy, this match had much less at stake, and the pace and the concentration level were also significantly lower. It stood 3-3 at halftime, then the Greeks had a couple of better shots, unlike the Hungarians, who were frozen for an unlikely 21:35 minutes, and during this phase Olympiacos netted seven goals to secure the 5th place. Saturday shall bring the coronation of the season with the bronze medal match between Barceloneta and Vouliagmeni, followed by the Champions League Final, featuring host Novi Beograd and the title-holder Pro Recco.

For the 5-6th place: Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE) v FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN) 9-4 Though Filip Filipovic hit a big one after just 16 seconds, the Greeks next five attempts went anywhere but on target and FTC first managed to equalise from a man-up, then Denes Varga surprised Marko Bijac from a sharp angle after a counter-like action. FTC then wasted their next 6 on 5 without a shot and Marton Vamos levelled the score soon by burying a man-up against his former team-mates. Stylianos Argyropoulos showed something similar against his Greek friends, came up with a stunning 8m shot in the very last second to give Ferencvaros a 3-2 lead. The second period was filled with swimming and position play without any real danger generated at either end. After a while it seemed so hopeless that Igor Milanovic called a time-out to refresh the bodies but mostly the minds. It did not help that much, though at least they killed a man-down lately, before Georgios Dervisis managed to direct the ball towards the goal and his pinpoint blast equalled the score with 29 seconds to go – the Hungarians lacked the same precision so stayed scoreless for this quarter. Numbers mirrored all we saw: total number of shots stood 16-13 – on target: 4-6… Both teams missed a man-up at the beginning of the third, after the Greeks’ one Varga broke clear but Bijac stole the long pass by swimming out to 10m and Marton Vamos finished off the re-counter for 3-4. FTC’s scoreless phase was getting longer and longer, the Greeks did a great defending to deny their next man-up too, and for the third time in the game, right after the killed man-down they netted a goal, this time a great one from the centre, by Konstantinos Mourikis. Soon Ioannis Fountoulis buried a penalty for 3-6 – Olympiacos was on a 0-4 run, while the Magyars were sinking constantly, missed three more man-ups and at these minutes only Vogel kept them in the game. He couldn’t score though – while his team-mates couldn’t find the way for the 16th minute. While FTC missed its fourth 6 on 5 in succession, it wasn’t that surprising that Konstantinos Genidounias netted one from action and a bit later the other Konstantinos, Gouvis also buried a dying man-up. The Konstantinos Show went on, Genidounias scored a very nice one from the distance – at the same time, it was astonishing that the Magyars were simply frozen, or rather worn out by the previous two days’ fights against the Italians, Recco and Brescia. Bijac also made some great saves, he was 10 for 13, before Argyropoulos broke the ice 21:35 minutes after his fine goal in the very last second of the first period. Between the two, Olympicaos had a 7-0 run to secure the fifth place, while FTC, with a single goal in the last three periods, had to settle for their lowest rank in their four appearances. Igor Milanovic, coach, Olympiacos “You know, in these games nothing is at stake, so yesterday I didn’t see the fighting spirit in Jug and today I didn’t see that big will from Ferencvaros. We did some good things, we found some motivation so we won this match as well, but you cannot consider this as a big thing.” Zsolt Varga, coach, FTC “After ten years at the bench of this fantastic club, of course I wished to have a better farewell game ending in a win. But this is not like a wishlist, sometimes you leave after a loss. Today we did well in the first half, we missed some fine chances in the second period, then I saw a turning point once we conceded the fourth and the fifth goal. After two tough matches, players are obviously worn out and you can get to a point in a game like this, when your physical and mental condition simply blocks you in taking the right decision. We started losing control, losing strength and consequently the belief to be able to do this. Still, this sixth place won’t ruin what we have achieved over the years – where we had started, when we were fighting against relegation in the Hungarian league and managed to escape in an endless penalty shootout, then we began to rise, made the top four, won the Euro Cup twice and then lifted the Champions League trophy and landed two more medals, besides those ones collected at home. I might not look emotional now, after a game many things cross your mind, I’m still thinking of what just happened to us, what we could learn from it, though on the long run it’s my successors’ job – as the head coach of the national team I also need to assess many things we went through during these three days.” Andro Buslje, player, Olympiacos „Looking back at the Final 8, we are not satisfied. We lost the most important match and the reason we came here, which is the quarter-final. Once again it was by Novi Beograd, but we showed that we are good. These last two matches didn’t really matter, but we came back. It’s better to be 5th than 8th. All in all, we are not satisfied, we didn’t fulfil our plan.” Georgios Dervisis, player, Olympiacos “Unfortunately, this is not what we had expected coming here, to be playing for the 5th, 6th place. OK, we won today. It was our job to continue and rise after a tough defeat by Novi Beograd. It was important for us to keep on the team spirit and stay motivated. The next year and a half are going to be crazy for everyone. I think this is the first time in the history to have this kind of schedule really. I wish the best to all the athletes.” Viktor Vadovics, player, Ferencvaros “Unfortunately, we lost the most important match here, the quarter-finals against Recco. Yesterday we pushed to come back, and we did.

For places 7-8th: Jug Adriatic Osiguranje Dubrovnik (CRO) v AN Brescia (ITA) 14-10 Both teams had to work on mentality before the last game of the season – Jug arrived at the game after a humiliating defeat against Olympiacos, while the Italians had to swallow the bitter pill of losing both their previous matches by a single goal and approaching a game for the 7th place after having finished as group winners. Since the inauguration of the F6/8 format in 2014, no first ranked side were facing the prospect of finishing last in the finals… Brescia seemed to have geared up to avoid that blame and after 2-2 Stefano Luongo hit two in 44 seconds towards the end of the opening period, both from action. However, Jug’s youngsters stepped up in the second and in four minutes they netted three man-ups in a row while Brescia missed two at the same time. A time-out was needed to make order at their end, and it helped, Christian Presciutti sent the ball home from a 6 on 5 – it was an equaliser and also meant that Brescia’s legend would finish his career leaving a mark on the scoresheet. Still, his mates’ concentration level dropped further as the Croats could add two from action in the remaining two minutes to take a 7-5 lead, after netting five goals in the second period. Brescia’s players focus did not sharpen in the third either, missed some fine chances including a 2 on 1 counter where Toni Popadic came up with a huge save and made some more before Presciutti finally put the ball behind him to halt their scoreless run after 7:57 minutes. It only reduced the gap to two as Ivan Vukojevic sent the ball home from the perimeter at the middle of this quarter. Jug missed their lonely man-up soon, but Popadic’s posted his 12th save in the following man-down and Vukojevic netted a smart one from sharp angle with 0:05 remaining, so Jug turned onto the last chapter with a massive 9-6 lead in hand. A flurry of goals kicked off the last period, Konstantinos Kakaris hit a great one from the centre, Jacopo Alesiani replied from a man-up. Kakaris then tipped another one in with some luck, after a rebound in a man-up and Ivusa Burdejez had an easy put-away in a 6 on 4 for 12-7. Tommaso Gianazza pulled one back from the centre, but Kakaris was set up on the 2m line as he reset the five-goal difference. While Jug went 3/3 at this stage in extra, this was the 6th goal in a three-minute span. Brescia’s defence fell apart, Marko Zuvela also scored from action for 14-8 and the game was over. Brescia netted two lately which were still too few to erase the bad taste they might have had at the end of their completely derailed run in Belgrade.Jug managed to erase some bad memories and also avoided repeating their all-time low rank from last year when they finished 8th – at the same time Brescia dropped to the last place after a third straight defeat, not an ending they thought of upon arriving at Belgrade after winning their group. How they saw it Vjekoslav Kobescak, coach, Jug “It’s good to finish the season on a high note, especially for this young team. We had two good games here, we couldn’t win the first one against Barceloneta, then yesterday was a disaster but we came back today and played really well, even though we were without three key players from the rotation, but the young ones had more opportunities and they were good. I hope that in some years they could play on this high level, with Jug of course. Our goals are the same, to be here, among the top teams. For this season we reached our goals by qualifying to this event. Now we have to go back and analyse what was good and what was not but overall, I’m satisfied with the team.” Sandro Bovo, coach, Olympiacos “After losing the quarter-final it wasn’t easy for the team, for the players to play these two matches. We played good matches, yesterday and today too, the result was not that important.” Konstatinos Kakaris, player, Jug “Our first game in the Final 8 was really good. We really tried a lot and gave everything we had in that match against Barceloneta, and I am happy with the game we displayed that day and for my teammates. Our match against Olympiacos was really bad. Psychologically, it was difficult to find motivation and obviously we didn’t succeed with that. Today ‘s game was good. We played with passion, and we wanted to finish the season with a victory. Jug was my first experience abroad and it was great. Everybody helped me a lot and I became a better person and a player because of it. It is something that I will remember forever, and you never know what the future brings…” Marko Zuvela, player, Jug “I am satisfied that we have closed this tournament with a victory. It’s always good to finish the season that way. We would have preferred to be playing for a medal at least here. Still, it feels nice to start the national team summer like this. We are satisfied. Without Fatovic and Krzic we almost made it to the semi-finals. With them, we would have had a bigger rotation and we could have been fighting for a medal. On the other hand, our young players were given a chance to see what it feels like to play against the best players in the world.” Christian Presciutti, captain, Brescia “I felt very emotional before the match when I realised that this will be my last game. We wanted to finish the season with a victory. Even more, my teammates wanted it to be a present for me but today we were up against a really good team like Jug. They played really smart

Just like a year ago, Novi Beograd will be Recco’s challenger in the final. The Serbs came back from three goals down against Barceloneta and won in the penalty shootout, while Recco started dominating in the third period against Vouliagmeni, and their brutal 0-7 run ended the Greeks’ wonder quest. Semi-finals: CNA Barceloneta (ESP) v Novi Beograd (SRB) 8-8, pen: 2-4; NC Vouliagmeni (GRE) v Pro Recco (ITA) 8-12. For places 5-8th: Jug Adriatic Osiguranje Dubrovnik (CRO) v Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE) 5-14, AN Brescia (ITA) v FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN) 8-9. Fixtures for Friday: 19.00, for places 7-8th: Jug v Brescia. 21.00, for places 5-6th: Olympiacos v FTC. Fixtures for Saturday: 19.00, bronze medal match: Barceloneta v Vouliagmeni. 21.00, Final: Novi Beograd v Recco. In the first semi-final, Barceloneta dominated almost the entire first half, shut out the home side for 12:23 minutes, at one stage, they led 5-2 and kept two goals from their advantage till halftime. However, Novi Beograd came back with the utmost determination and erased their deficit in three minutes, then added two more still in the third to take a 6-7 lead before the final period. The Spaniards managed to recover from the shock – NBG staged a 0-4 run –, and with a man-up goal and a trademark 2 on 1 counter, they regained the lead at 8-7. Still, another fine finish by Angelos Vlachopoulos from a 6 on 5 levelled the score – and neither side could score the winner in the remaining three minutes, though both had fine chances. The decision was left to the penalty shots, and despite the Spaniards being 3/3 in the game, they had two misses in the shootout, while the hosts buried all four attempts to reach the final for the second year in a row. On the contrary, Barceloneta’s last five semi-final games since 2015 all ended in defeat. 𝗩𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗣𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗢𝗦 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗦 𝗕𝗘𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟 🔥 Novi Beograd clinched the penalty shootout 10-12 to reach consecutive #LENCHL Finals 🇷🇸 #LENFinal8 pic.twitter.com/47X4NA9TsB — LEN Champions League (@LENchampions) June 1, 2023 The other semi did not promise anything similar – Recco had beaten Vouliagmeni with ease in the prelims (13-7, 14-7), and the title-holders were overwhelming favourites even though the Greeks made a miracle by ousting group-winner Brescia in the quarters. For ten minutes or so, however, Vouliagmeni’s fairy tale continued as their fine attacks and pinpoint shots gave them a 5-3 lead. The awakening from the dream was rude, though, as Recco started gaining ground and taking over the control. They raised the level both in defending and in offence, came back to even by halftime, then blew the Greeks away with five more unanswered goals in the third period. Indeed, they staged a 0-7 rush and shut out their rivals for 13 minutes which ultimately decided the game. Is 𝗔𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 title in sight? @ProRecco blasted in 7 goals during the second half to secure the semi-final win. The Italian side will now meet old foes Novi Beograd in a repeat of last year’s final 🔥#LENCHL #LENFinal8 pic.twitter.com/QKAdBhyIQm — LEN Champions League (@LENchampions) June 1, 2023 This set up a rematch of last year’s final when Recco managed to upend Novi Beograd in the shootout – now the Italians are looking for a historical three-peat, something the competition saw once, by Mladost Zagreb between 1968 and 1970. The Serbs will also be there to prevent this and clinch the trophy for the first time. In the matches played for the 5-8th places, Olympiacos destroyed Jug – the final score doesn’t look well from the Croatians’ perspective, but it looked even more disastrous before the last quarter at 1-11. The other game was much tougher, and Ferencvaros managed to edge out Brescia in an exciting, though understandably low-paced match. The Hungarians passed their Italian test as usual: they used to play Recco and Brescia on back-to-back days here in Belgrade, lost to Recco on all three occasions but downed Brescia every time.

Semi-final: NC Vouliagmeni (GRE) v Pro Recco (ITA) 8-12 The Greeks’ fairy tale just continued in the semi-final, at least in the first half. After eliminating Brescia in the quarters, to cause the biggest upset in the history of the Champions League finals, in three minutes they stormed to a 2-0 lead. They killed a man-down, then netted two great goals, Efstathios Kalogeropoulos hit a brilliant one from the perimeter, then Charalampos Troulos buried a penalty. Recco arrived a bit later, with Gergo Zalanki’s blast from a 6 on 5, then, after a missed man-up by the Greeks, Ben Hallock put away an extra from the 2m line. The reply came immediately, Nikolais Papasifakis’ pinpoint shot found the back of the net for 3-2. Vouliagmeni doubled their lead right from their first possession, another centre-action earned them a penalty and Papasifakis converted it for 4-2. Gonzalo Echenique was blocked on a man-down, then the leftie did it better in the next one to pull one back. Still, the underdogs kept their composure and a very nice play found Dylan Woodhead on the 2m line how made no mistake. On contrary, Luka Loncar hit the post from the same position in Recco’s next man-up and the Greeks had a couple of possessions to take a three-goal lead. A fine lob landed on the post and Andrea Fondelli sent the ball home from the ensuing counter for 5-4 with 1:49 to go till the middle break. Then the Greeks missed a man-up, despite playing after a time-out, while Recco, even if the first shot was saved to a corner, could equalise as Echenique still had some room to let the ball fly before the incoming player reached him. It was 0:17 on the clock and 5-5 on the scoreboard, that was also the halftime score. The Italians didn’t need much time to take the lead for the first time, Fondelli’s one-timer in a 6 on 5 gave them a 5-6 lead after only 47 seconds. Further 44 seconds later they were up by two, Aaron Younger converted a penalty to shepherd the game into its expected path. The Greeks were unable to carry on their fine attaching game – mostly because Recco really toughened up in defence. They were a bit lucky too, Giacomo Cannella’s shot just beat the buzzer in a man-up – the VAR validated the goal and in 76 seconds, after a killed man-down, Ben Hallock added a great goal from the centre. Then Cannella scored another VAR-aided goal, from a man-up, though only the review confirmed that the ball crossed the virtual line. This completed Recco’s overwhelming rush in the third where they scored as many goals as in the first half. All in all, after trailing 3-5, they really raised their game and staged a 0-7 run while shutting out Vouliagmeni for 12 minutes (who missed their last four extras).  At 5-10, the Greeks faced a mission impossible in the remaining eight minutes – though at least they had a better spell at the beginning of the fourth, Ioannis Alafgarakis netted one from action (after 13 minutes), then they killed a man-down. It was a short-lived surge though, Echenique’s outstanding shot somehow flew through the arms to reset the five-goal gap. This was the third hit from the Argentinian born leftie who also had a couple of assists in the game, playing a huge part in Recco’s victory. With the outcome decided, there were time for some magnificent plays, one finished by Francesco di Fulvio but Dimitrios Nikolaidis’ magnificent touch in the centre outshined the previous hits and secured a worthy finish of the game and Vouliagmeni’s quest. However, the Greeks couldn’t prevent Recco from advancing to the final and meet Novi Beograd again – last year Recco won the shootout, Saturday will offer another thriller.   How they saw it Vladimir Vujasinovic, coach, Vouliagmeni “It was the quality of Recco which decided the match. Of course, we tried to do our best, we gave all we had but you cannot expect more from us against Recco where the players are better in all aspects, they are stronger and much more experienced. Now we try to do one more wonder as we have one more chance to get a medal here.” Sandro Sukno, coach, Recco “It was a tough match, but we knew we were the better side. Vouliagmeni played great yesterday and today they did some good things in the first half, but we kept going, made our defence tighter and we really raised the level of our game in the third period. We were expecting this, we knew that we have the physical superiority and we would prevail at the end. Now we face another big match against Novi Beograd, a great team with fantastic players.” Panagiotis Tzortzatos, goalkeeper, Vouliagmeni “We started pretty well and focused. We really tried our best but in the third quarter we lost the energy. Yesterday we really gave all we had. We tried to recover in the fourth quarter, but it was too late. I am really proud of my teammates. We had a chance… Barceloneta is a very good team, we played against them not long ago. They are very confident in defence. If we score more goals against them than usual, we have a chance. At the same time, we need to keep their scoring low, and their shooters covered. I hope we can play even better.” Efstathios Kalogeropoulos, player, Vouliagmeni “It was like playing against world champions. It was a difficult match. We started well, at halftime it was 5-5. We wanted to stay in the same rhythm, but then we got a bit tired. They have a much bigger rotation, and we are a very young team with much less experience in playing this kind of matches. We will try to win our next game. We have a chance to win a medal and that is what we will try to do.” Gergo Zalanki, player,

For placed 5-8th: AN Brescia (ITA) v FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN) 8-9 The two sides had regular meetings in Belgrade, but unlike their previous two encounters – a semi-final in 2021 and the bronze medal match in 2022 – this lacked the fantastic tensions and the thrilling moments these two produced in those epic battles (both ending in a 14-12 win to FTC). The level of concentration wasn’t that high, three minutes were needed to see the first goals, Stylianos Argyropoulos finished off a one-on-one after a steal, while Boris Vapenski opened the Italians’ account with 2:20 to go, from a man-up. Then Denes Varga sneaked himself to a clear position and scored his first in the tournament, followed by a fine lob from Vendel Vigvari – this double in 55 seconds gave Ferencvaros a 1-3 lead after eight minutes. A deflected shot in a 6 on 5 brought the Italians closer early in the second, but they couldn’t add any more for a while – their perimeter shots were not that precise. Ferencvaros, after missing three man-ups earlier, managed to make one with Denes Varga’s one-timer, though Konstantin Kharkov also hit his second from Brescia’s next 6 on 5. The remaining time was devoted some tiring swimming and physical battle, where the Italians could find the way again to score – Edoardo di Somma hit their first action goal from the perimeter 34 seconds before the middle break, so it was all equal at halftime at 4-4. A minute into the third the Magyars offered a stint of magic once more, Szilard Jansik’s lob was a real beauty, followed by a pinpoint finish by Daniil Merkulov, FTC rebuilt the two-goal lead in 71 seconds at 4-6. However, Brescia needed only 56 to equalise once more, burying back-to-back man-ups, first by Stefano Luongo, then, after a rebound, with a fine touch-in by Jacopo Alesiani for 6-6. FTC missed their next one, then the remaining minutes were filled with hard battling as players were running low on oxygen and couldn’t create bigger danger – leaving the decision to the final period. Again, Ferencvaros took the lead, Argyropoulos buried a penalty 44 seconds into the last quarter, then Brescia wasted two man-ups, but Tomasso Gianazza made up for those with a great backhander from the centre, while Ferencvaros also struggled with their 6 on 5 and di Somma sent the ball home from the Italians’ next 6 on 5 to put Brescia ahead for the first time in the game, with three minutes remaining. Denes Varga stepped up to finish a man-up with 2:25 to go for 8-8. With 48 seconds to go, FTC earned another 6 on 5, and, after a time-out, Merkulov had a clean finish with 0:32 on the clock. Brescia launched its last possession after a time-out as well, also forced a 6 on 5 but a block denied them, and Vogel managed to put a hand on the second attempt after the rebound, securing his team’s third straight victory over Brescia here in Belgrade over the years.For the Italians, it’s an extremely bitter pill to swallow – after making all efforts to finish atop, they lost two matches here, both by a single goal and now they have to settle for playing for the 7th place. How they saw it Alessandro Bovo, coach, Brescia “These are the games which should not be played, after the loss yesterday, everyone prefers going home. Anyway, we played a good match, better than in the quarter-finals, but Ferencvaros are a great team and they were one better today.” Zsolt Varga, coach, Ferencvaros “It is tough to play on the following day after a loss, and especially after a loss to Recco, however, here in Belgrade we somewhat got used to play with the two Italian teams in 24 hours. We applied the same gameplan which brought us the win in our last match in the prelims and it worked once more. It wasn’t the same match, both teams were in different shape, both mentally and physically, it was about to find our fighting spirit to be able to go to the battlefield with the necessary preparedness.” Boris Vapenski, player, Brescia “We were in the game. It was difficult to come back after yesterday’s match. We need to keep on working. We realised our problems too late because everything was working fine throughout the season. Yesterday was a huge shock but we truly showed our character today. We really fought hard for the 5-8th classification, so we are more satisfied. Yesterday was a disaster and not at the level what Brescia deserves.” Konstantin Kharkov, player, Brescia “We played better today than yesterday. It was difficult after yesterday’s defeat, but we did as much as we could. Tomorrow we will play against Jug. We know them very well from the preliminary stage when we were in the same group. It will be a battle.” Daniil Merkulov, player, Ferencvaros “In order to beat Recco, you have to give everything and more. They covered all our positions, their blocks were high. They play a very hard and fast defence that was difficult to break. Today we prepared well. We knew they also play typical, fast Italian water polo. The key was the defence, the man-down. We covered their main players well. Tomorrow, we play against Olympiacos, we need to cover their left-handed players Filipovic and Vamos well.” Szilard Jansik, player, Ferencvaros “It was very difficult to play today after yesterday’s match against Recco. They destroyed us. Their defence was amazing, we just couldn’t score. I felt sad and disappointed but that is sport. In the last years we always played in the medal matches and this year we are playing for the 5-8th place. It’s hard but next year we go back to Final 4, so there will be no more of this kind of matches. However. I do feel a little bit happier but it will be hard against Olympiacos. They have excellent players Vamos, Filipovic, Fontoulis. We will