AN Brescia and Panathinaikos AC emerged as the big winners on the opening day of the Champions League Qualification Round on Friday evening. The Italians downed CN Sabadell, while Panathinaikos upset their hosts Jadran in Split. VK Novi Beograd and A-Polo Sport Management also kicked off their respective campaigns with victories, while Oradea came back from four goals down late on to beat Spandau in a thrilling shootout.
Champions League Men 2026/27
Qualification Round
Friday 18 September
Group A
(Oradea)
VK Novi Beograd Tehnomanija (SRB) 15-12 Team Strasbourg (FRA) (2-1, 5-4, 5-4, 3-3)
CSM Oradea (ROU) 19-17 Spandau 04 Berlin (GER) (3-3, 3-5, 3-2, 6-5, 4-2P)
Group B
(Tbilisi)
AN Brescia (ITA) 16-15 CN Sabadell (ESP) (4-3, 5-5, 4-2, 3-5)
A-Polo Management (GEO) 19-16 Budva BR (MNE) (4-4, 4-5, 5-3, 6-4)
Group C
(Split)
VK Jadran Split (CRO) 14-15 Panathinaikos AC (GRE) (4-4, 2-3, 3-4, 5-4)
Group A
(Oradea)
VK Novi Beograd Tehnomanija (SRB) 15-12 Team Strasbourg (FRA) (2-1, 5-4, 5-4, 3-3)
Favourites Novi Beograd found it difficult to shake off a resilient Strasbourg in the opening fixture, but the Serbs eventually overpowered their French rivals to build a three-goal gap before the final period and managed to keep that distance until the end.
The French put up a good fight, penetrating the NBG defence from time to time, but they couldn’t do much to stop the young sniper of the Serbian giants, Vasilije Martinovic, who hammered in six goals.
Strasbourg had some promising moments in the third when they climbed back to 9-8 and 10-9, but the Serbs struck twice in the final 49 seconds to restore their three-goal cushion. Two more fast goals in the fourth put the game to bed.
CSM Oradea (ROU) 19-17 Spandau 04 Berlin (GER) (3-3, 3-5, 3-2, 6-5, 4-2P)
The second encounter ended up a real thriller. Spandau enjoyed a great surge late in the second period, scoring three in a row to go 8-5 up, and were still 10-7 ahead early in the third. However, they couldn’t score in the final 5:35 of the period, while Oradea lifted their game to score twice and trail 10-9 heading into the last quarter.
Even if that spell looked promising, the Germans stunned the hosts with a 0-3 rush early in the fourth and seemed to have it at 13-9.
The Romanians responded with a double in 43 seconds to halve the deficit, but Arne Hofmann was on fire for Spandau and his third and fourth goal of the night restored the two-goal difference at 15-13 with 1:28 remaining.
Petar Velkic pulled one back from a man-up at 1:03 and, despite a time-out from Spandau, the Romanians managed to survive the next German possession, force another extra and Ivan Gusarov converted it with 14 seconds remaining to send the match to a shootout.
The hosts buried all four shots they needed, while the Germans had two misses, which gave Oradea two crucial points.
Group B
(Tbilisi)
AN Brescia (ITA) 16-15 CN Sabadell (ESP) (4-3, 5-5, 4-2, 3-5)
If the whole season is going to be almost as good as the opening game between Brescia and Sabadell, then we’re in for some great water polo over the coming months.
The two favourites produced an epic 31-goal match, with Brescia making the better start and building a three-goal lead in the second period. Sabadell responded with a strong spell before the middle break, cutting their deficit to 9-8.
However, the Italians came back even stronger in the third and, with a 3-0 run, appeared to have taken control. Despite a couple of late goals from the Spaniards, Brescia led comfortably at 13-10 heading into the final eight minutes.
Their tough defending, though, began to take its toll. In total, 26 exclusions were called against Brescia, with two players fouled out in the third and two more joining them in just three minutes in the fourth, narrowing their rotation to the minimum.
Sabadell smelt blood and two fast goals brought them back to life at 13-12. However, when it mattered most, Vlado Popadic and Oliver Leinweber put away back-to-back extras to keep Brescia above water.
They missed their next one, though, and Francisco Valera buried a six-on-five for 15-14.
Filippo Ferrero managed to net a last-second man-up for 16-14, but Jack Larsen pulled one back once more, from action.
In the remaining 2:18, Sabadell had two more extras to equalise but missed both, allowing Brescia to celebrate a big win.
A-Polo Management (GEO) 19-16 Budva BR (MNE) (4-4, 4-5, 5-3, 6-4)
There were goals galore in the second match, too, as hosts A-Polo and Budva combined for 35, although the Georgians’ strong second-half performance left less drama for the endgame.
The first half didn’t look good from the home side’s perspective, with the Montenegrins outplaying them for most of the time and leading 9-8.
A-Polo then lost one of their key players, Filip Gardasevic, to a direct red card in the last second before the buzzer – a true sign of their frustration.
Still, they had one more Gardasevic, Martin, on board and he equalised deep into the third for 11-11, although Budva had led 11-9 a little earlier, while the Georgians even missed a penalty.
A couple of action goals then put A-Polo ahead at 13-12 before the last break.
In the fourth, the Montenegrins tried to keep up with their rivals, burying three man-ups to stay close.
However, after 16-15, Vuk Draskovic’s double from action delivered a killer blow, with the second coming 1:17 from time to make it 18-15, and the Georgians sailed away with a fine win.
Group C
(Split)
VK Jadran Split (CRO) 14-15 Panathinaikos AC (GRE) (4-4, 2-3, 3-4, 5-4)
Panathinaikos stunned the hosts in an incredible encounter that saw two missed penalties apiece and a much more organised Greek side galloping to a four-goal lead in the fourth. Despite Jadran’s late surge, Panathinaikos held on to grab a huge win.
Though the Greeks took the lead twice, after Toni Popadic stopped Efsthatios Kalogeropoulos’ penalty, the Croats soon went ahead at 3-2 and later at 4-3.
Perhaps no one in the pool thought at that moment this would be the last time Jadran were in the lead.
Conceding three goals from counters wasn’t the best sign for the home side, and things worsened soon after as Zvonimir Butic missed a penalty, while Dimitrios Nikolaidis converted a man-up to make it 6-4.
After this 3-0 surge, Jadran regained some ground to come back to 7-6 by half-time and drew level shortly after the restart through Duje Pejkovic’s hit.
Nikolaidis replied immediately and, despite another penalty save from Popadic, two more action goals put the Greeks three ahead at 10-7.
Ivan Zovic missed a penalty too, but at least buried the rebound 2:36 from time for 11-9. Panathinaikos, though, still looked the better team.
And they proved it in the fourth. Nikolaos Kopeliadis’ fine centre shot kicked off the final quarter and, after some great defending, Dimitrios Skoumpakis gave the Greeks a four-goal lead for the first time at 13-9 with 4:15 remaining.
A minute later it was 14-10 and Jadran’s chances of a comeback were getting closer to zero by the second.
However, in just 56 seconds they cut the deficit to two and still had two minutes to pull off a miracle.
Panathinaikos missed their extra and Dusan Matkovic fired in his fourth for 14-13 with 35 seconds to go.
But Jadran were unable to survive the next possession as Aristeidis Chalyvopoulos netted a great one from action with 13 seconds remaining.
Butic’s 6m blast at 0:04 came too late and couldn’t prevent the Greeks from bagging all three points.
Still, in a group of three, that last shot might have an impact in the event of a three-way tie.
One thing is sure, though: Panathinaikos need just a single point against Honved on Saturday to secure their Group Stage berth.
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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics