Champions League Water Polo Matchday 5 – Five Talking Points
1. Seven of the eight Quarter Final spots are booked and three group winners already confirmed. Novi Beograd, Barceloneta and Ferencvaros all claimed their respective top spots, with each side having won all five matches so far. Marseille, Jadran Split, Olympiacos and Savona joined them this week – the latter two are yet to decide which side will be ranked first in Group D. It’s going to be a clear battle as they face off against each other on Day 6 in Savona, and the winner, either in 32 minutes or in a shootout, will win the group. The last berth will go down to the all-Romanian clash between Oradea and Steaua. Oradea enjoy a two-point advantage, so for them, any result other than a home defeat in regular time would be enough to see them progress. 2. Title-holders Ferencvaros have been overwhelming since the start of this new season – and indeed they were last season too when they posted a 40-1 win record across all competitions. This year, their count stands at 16-0 and their home stats are even more stunning. The last time they lost in Budapest dates back to 23 May 2023 when Sabadell downed them 12-10 on Margaret Island, in the last round of the Group Stage, which was a game without anything at stake. Since then, they are 44-0 at home, across all competitions. In the Champions League, they’ve lost twice in 25 matches in the last four years in Budapest. Besides Sabadell, they fell to Barceloneta in 2022, so only the Spanish may pose some threat to Fradi. In the penultimate round this week, the Hungarians were especially brutal with Radnicki – one could barely see a top Serbian team being thrashed 16-4, but FTC were absolutely superior from the beginning to the end. Too bad for Radnicki that Soma Vogel enjoyed an exceptional day in the goal, as he came up with a 78% save rate after stopping 14 of Radnicki’s 18 shots on target. 3. It’s interesting to see that Novi Beograd are having some struggles playing at home – while they have been flying high in their away matches. Even though they’ve snatched three victories in Serbia, none of them have come with ease. They beat Steaua 11-7, but they could only secure the win in the last period, and they also had a tough match with Hannover in a game that saw them triumph 10-8. And this Wednesday, Oradea had a couple of possessions to equalise in the final quarter before a late goal secured NBG’s 12-10 victory. In stark contrast, they blew Steaua and Oradea away in Romania, hitting 15 in both matches and won by 6 and 7. Coming next, a visit to Hannover and a fine chance for another big win. 4. KEIO Sabadell’s Champions League dreams are over again, which must be painful for the Spanish side, as they’ve always given a really tough time to even the strongest teams over the last three years since they joined the top flight. In their first year (2022/23), one goal separated them from qualifying for the Final Eight as they beat Jug 15-12 at home, but lost away 14-10, and the rule for equal points saw them drop to fifth place. A year later, they beat Novi Beograd in Belgrade in the Group Stage, but after losing thrillers to Brescia by one goal both home and away, their quest to reach the quarters ended early again. And this season they lost crucial matches in the toughest group. Indeed, after opening their campaign with a brilliant win in Savona, they were unable to add any regular time wins in their next four matches. Unlike the two advancing teams, Olympiacos and Savona, they were unable to beat Primorac in Kotor, only in the shootout, but more painfully, they had to settle for a loss on penalties to Savona at home, which had actually put the writing on the wall. They should have prevailed against Olympiacos in Piraeus, but the Greeks, after two bad home games, found their composure and hit 15 goals against the Spaniards once more, just like in Sabadell, and bagged all three points after a convincing performance. It leaves Sabadell with another shot in the Euro Cup – but they remain still far from becoming the force their seven-time CL-winning women’s team are in Europe. 5. Marseille strengthened their squad in the summer by bringing in some quality signings, including Montenegro goalkeeper Petar Tesanovic, who enjoyed a series of outstanding Champions League matches for his previous club Brescia (he even scored against Novi Beograd in the 2022 semi-final). However, in the first three matches of this season, Marseille lost twice and they looked vulnerable at the back. They somehow overcame Jadran Herceg Novi at home in the opening round – after conceding 11 goals – but then came a stunning defeat away at Vasas (13-11) and a total thrashing in Barcelona (19-14). Receiving 43 goals in three matches is not the way to reach the next stage, so the French side had to step up and the players have delivered. On Day 4, they held Jadran to three goals in Herceg Novi, a tremendous achievement, and in this last round they also conceded a single-digit amount as they took revenge on Vasas with a 13-9 win and advanced to the top eight once again. — Watch all the Champions League Men action live on www.euroaquaticstv.com and stay up-to-date with live results/tables and real-time updates through the European Aquatics App. Download it here: Google Play.
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