Barceloneta are the next team to advance to the Quarter Final stage of the men’s Champions League after coming back from three goals down in the fourth period against CN Marseille, with a penalty save by Unai Aguirre 15 seconds from time securing all three points for the Spaniards. Elsewhere, AN Brescia ended FTC’s unbeaten run in Budapest by beating the title-holders in a shootout. Novi Beograd’s 6-1 surge in the final quarter ousted Jadran Split and kept the Serbs on track for a qualifying spot.
Champions League Men
Group Stage, Day Five
Tuesday 2 December
Group B
VK Novi Beograd (SRB) 15-10 VK Jadran Split (CRO)
Group C
FTC Telekom Waterpolo (HUN) 12-12 (1-4P) AN Brescia (ITA)
VPK Primorac Kotor (MNE) 15-11 CSM Oradea (ROU)
Group D
CN Marseille (FRA) 11-12 Zodiac CNAB (ESP)
Group B
VK Novi Beograd (SRB) 15-10 VK Jadran Split (CRO)
After three straight losses, Jadran Split downed Jadran Herceg Novi in the previous round, and the Croats carried that momentum to Belgrade, where they dominated the first half and still held on for 9-9 after three periods.
However, they crashed in the fourth; the Serbs rallied to a big win at the end to keep their hopes of making the quarters alive.
NBG took the lead twice in the first four minutes, but the Croats responded with three connecting goals, all from six-on-fives, to lead 2-4 after the first period.
Marcus Berehulak added a fourth one 40 seconds into the second, and Loren Fatovic’s finish was precise too as Jadran led 3-6.
Miroslav Perkovic pulled one back, but the Split side defended well, despite not having their legendary goalie Marko Bijac on board for this game.
Thirty seconds from time, Zvonimir Butic buried a penalty, but the remaining time was enough for the Serbs to force a man-up, and Milos Cuk converted it with 0:04 on the clock; still, Jadran led 5-7 at half-time.
Miroslav Perkovic halved the gap with a great centre shot, then NBG’s Luka Pljevancic was red-carded, and even though Jadran missed that man-up, they finished off the next one for 6-8.
As usual in battles between these two powerhouses, the outcome depends on the man-up/man-down conversions, and this edition wasn’t much different.
NBG converted their next two; in between, Jerko Marinic-Kragic also netted the Croats’ extra. However, at 8-9, Butic’s shot hit the post, and Milos Cuk scored on the ensuing counter for 9-9.
Something broke here for the Croats, as they missed their next two before the break, which kind of put the writing on the wall for them.
The Serbs came back strong early in the fourth, earned two man-ups in 80 seconds, and put away both, by Cuk and Trtovic, to take the lead for the first time since 2-1.
In fact, they never gave it away again. They killed a fourth man-down in a row and, even though Berehulak managed to score a nice one from action to halt NBG’s run (they had a 4-0 rush), it was just temporary relief for the Croats.
Perkovic converted NBG’s six-on-five for 12-10 – their fifth straight successful man-up play – and in just 49 seconds, Vasilje Martinovic’s fierce shot closed down the contest 1:52 from time.
Jadran ran out of steam while the Serbs were flying high; they killed another man-down and then earned two more penalties inside the last 37 seconds. Martinovic and Nikola Lukic netted both to complete their huge 6-1 run in the fourth.
They eliminated Jadran, and they will travel to Herceg Novi next February to play a knockout match – provided the Montenegrins fall short against Recco, the winner of that Day 6 encounter will advance.
Group C
FTC Telekom Waterpolo (HUN) 12-12 (1-4P) AN Brescia (ITA)
With some great goaltending and by riding the waves of an extraordinary shooting festival in the second period, Brescia managed to do what no team had achieved in the Komjadi Pool since February 2022: they beat Ferencvaros at home in Budapest.
They were close to becoming the first team since April 2024 to down the title holders in regular time, but Fradi somehow climbed back to force a shootout; there, the Italians did a perfect job and took away two well-deserved points.
It was an amazing match which started in a way that Ferencvaros had forced recently – brilliant defending with fewer risks in attack. While their first game in Brescia saw an action-packed first period where Fradi built a 2-5 lead (and the match produced 38 goals in total, 17-21), now the crowd saw only a single goal when Szilard Jansik finally broke the ice after almost six minutes.
Tommaso Baggii Necchi came up with a series of saves for Brescia, seven in total, while Soma Vogel had four stops to shut out the Italians.
Ante Viskovic put his side on the scoreboard from a man-up 38 seconds into the next quarter, then after Marton Vamos’ strike, Fradi converted three six-on-fives in a row, while the Italians could only reply from action, so it stood at 5-3 with 3:14 remaining, and no one really foresaw what was about to happen in that time.
Tommaso Gianazza put away an extra with 2:32 on the clock – and then Brescia scored from their next four possessions as well.
Miguel Del Toro put Fradi ahead 6-5, but then came three blasts in the last 78 seconds: Mario Del Basso, Vlado Popadic and, in the very last second, Jacopo Alesiani from an impossible angle all found the back of the net.
The half-time score was 6-8 – so after being shut out in the first period, Brescia hit eight in the second, sending Fradi back to those weeks when the title holders were involved in 35-plus-goal matches.
Still, back then their offence worked well – better than their defence – but that was not the case this time. After two minutes of battling, Del Basso hit another huge one from the perimeter and FTC were in real trouble at 6-9.
Brescia even had a man-up to go up by four, but incoming goalie Marton Levai made a save; still, the hosts were unable to score. Krisztian Manhercz missed his shots in their next two six-on-fives before he managed to halt Fradi’s scoreless phase with a fine shot after 7:40 minutes.
And just 40 seconds later they were back as Edoardo Di Somma fired one in on a counterattack for 8-9, and they had a possession to draw even, but the centre feed didn’t click and Ante Viskovic converted Brescia’s next man-up. Still, the fourth quarter promised sheer excitement as Marton Vamos also put the ball away with 0:04 on the clock for 9-10.
FTC had another man-up to draw level but Dusan Mandic sent the ball over the bar, and Popadic’s one-timer in an extra restored the two-goal cushion with five minutes remaining.
Brescia killed another man-down situation soon but couldn’t remain so sharp in front, understandably. Still, the clock was ticking down when Manhercz put away another six-on-five for 10-11; 2:48 remained.
In 44 seconds it was even at 11-11: a counter ended in a penalty, Stylianos Argyropoulos buried it, leaving 2:14 to decide the match.
After a couple of turnovers, Brescia earned a man-up and Popadic made no mistake to regain the lead with 1:34 remaining, but Manhercz showed his class as he created an open chance with a fine move and finished from close range just 10 seconds later for 12-12.
The Italians had two attempts in their next possession, both denied, though the ball stayed with them – until the moment Argyropoulos made a great steal and earned an exclusion (it would have been a one-on-one otherwise).
Fradi called a time-out 38 seconds from time but their play didn’t work; no shots were taken and a steal ended their possession. Brescia had 10 seconds to score the winner after a time-out but they didn’t have a clean shot – so the decision was left to the shootout.
Soma Vogel had a magical record in the past, but ever since Hungary lost to the US in the bronze-medal match at the Olympics on penalties, he has fallen short of producing big saves.
Fradi also lost the last time in Barceloneta in a shootout. And Vogel couldn’t touch the ball this time either: the Italians buried all four shots, and they didn’t need more, as Baggi Necchi made a stop on Manhercz before Vamos hit the post and the Italians sailed away from Budapest with a win.
Fradi still hold a two-point advantage before the last round, so their top spot is not in great danger, but they need to wait until next February to earn at least a point in Kotor to secure first position.
Group C
VPK Primorac Kotor (MNE) 15-11 CSM Oradea (ROU)
Primorac took revenge with a smooth win over Oradea, and that also ensured the qualification of Brescia, who played later in the evening – not as if the Romanians had had strong chances to make the next stage.
A powerful start from the Montenegrins set the game’s path – they jumped to a 4-1 lead early on and went 6-2 up 80 seconds into the second period.
Oradea had a better spell, halving the gap with a fast double in 40 seconds. Then both sides missed two six-on-fives apiece before Savo Cetkovic converted the hosts’ next man-up, which was a crucial hit for 7-4.
Still, Oradea kept coming back. Filip Gardasevic pulled one back once more with a fine action goal 29 seconds from time, and the Romanians opened the third with some great defending and, more importantly, back-to-back centre goals from Levente Vancsik to make it even at 7-7.
After killing a man-down, they had the ball to take the lead, but a late distant shot was saved, and Marko Mrsic sent Primorac ahead with a rocket for 8-7.
Soon it was 10-7: Nemanja Vico put away a dying man-up from close, while Stefan Vidovic went for a quick finish again in an extra just 36 seconds later.
Gardasevic’s ball was blocked in Oradea’s six-on-five shortly before the buzzer, and it happened again in the fourth. These were grave misses, as it turned out, as Balsa Vuckovic came up with a nice action goal for 11-7, and from there the Montenegrins left no way back for their rivals.
Oradea fought hard and came back to within two goals several times, but Mrsic stepped up and staged another fantastic shooting parade, scoring three in a row.
The third made it 14-11 with 1:28 on the clock, and that sank the Romanians – Vuckovic added one more soon to seal Primorac’s first victory in the group stage.
Group D
CN Marseille (FRA) 11-12 Zodiac CNAB (ESP)
Barceloneta took their revenge, but needed a brilliant fourth period and a late penalty stop from Unai Aguirre to sink Marseille, who had controlled the match for three quarters.
Though the French missed a six-on-four right away, they defended really well while the Spaniards seemed to feel the aftermath of their shocking home defeat by Sabadell at the weekend.
They were unable to find the right rhythm and missed three man-ups in a row, while the French produced as many action goals. Thomas Vernoux opened the scoring with two blasts, Alexandre Bouet added another one, and Marseille were 3-0 up after six minutes.
Gonzalo Echenique finally put away a man-up, but Romain Marion-Vernoux also fired one in from the perimeter to give the hosts a 4-1 lead after eight minutes.
Bernat Sanahuja sent the ball home from a man-up right away in the second, then both sides buried a penalty to make it 5-3.
Bouet converted a six-on-four, the reply came from Echenique from action, but Marseille seemed more composed. Radomir Drasovic added another one from action, then they killed a man-down and Bouet sent the ball home from a penalty, putting his team 8-4 up, 44 seconds from half-time.
Sanahuja pulled one back before the long break for 8-5; but it was still Marseille all the way.
CNAB struggled with their man-ups, missing two more in the third; at this stage they stood two from 11. Unai Biel finally found the back of the net from their 12th, but Efstathios Kalogeropoulos was also on target in the hosts’ following six-on-five for 9-6.
The Spaniards fought on, and they had a great spell with two action goals in just 23 seconds with a steal in between, and they denied a French extra too, and there were four minutes to play.
Still, they couldn’t capitalise on that, and after some big battling, Marseille had another six-on-four in the last seven seconds and Marc Larumbe needed only four to finish it off against his former team-mates, so the French led 10-8 before the final quarter.
And they denied CNAB’s first man-up and forced a penalty two minutes into the fourth; Bouet made no mistake to make it 11-8.
Vince Vigvari kept the Spaniards’ hopes alive with a great action shot, and just 47 seconds later Echenique cut the gap to a single goal again from an extra. Soon a block killed a French six-on-five and it felt as if the Spaniards were set to fight the ultimate battle.
With 3:33 to go, Biel equalised after a six-on-five – since Marseille took the lead at 1-0, it was even again for the first time. And Barceloneta’s defence now dominated the scene; they killed another man-down and even though their one didn’t really work, leftie Gergely Burian beat the goalie and the shot-clock buzzer from a nearly zero-degree angle, from the rope.
There was still 2:11 to play, but the hosts looked bewildered by the fired-up Spaniards, who denied another French six-on-five.
The real drama was still ahead, however. A steal set up Marseille’s last possession with 38 seconds from time.
Goalie Petar Tesanovic quickly joined the attack; he was so fast to get to CNAB’s goal in the first line, and at the end of the seven-on-six attack the ball found him in the centre, and the attempt to stop him brought another penalty for Marseille, 15 seconds from time.
However, Aguirre used all his experience to jump out from his goal on the whistle, towering about a metre out when Drasovic let the ball fly, and the world champion goalie blocked it to send his side to the quarters in first place – while Marseille, unable to score in the last six minutes, now need a win in Sabadell to make the cut.
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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics
