Radnicki Kragujevac scored the last six goals of the match against Mladost as they came back from three goals down to stay in the hunt. Olympiacos thrashed Vasas and are on their way to the last eight, although the final round in this group promises to be thrilling. Hannover claimed another stunning win to oust Sabadell, and the Germans are now all set to advance. Recco had no mercy, handing Jadran a heavy defeat in Herceg Novi, pushing the Montenegrins into a do-or-die battle with Novi Beograd on the last day.

2025/26 Champions League Men
Group Stage, Day 5
Wednesday 3 December

Group A

SPD Radnicki (SRB) 14-11 HAVK Mladost (CRO)
Olympiacos SFP (GRE) 20-8 Vasas Plaket (HUN)

Group B

Jadran m:tel Herceg Novi (MNE) 13-19 Pro Recco (ITA)

Group D

KEIO CN Sabadell (ESP) 9-11 Waspo 98 Hannover (GER)

Group A

SPD Radnicki (SRB) 14-11 HAVK Mladost (CRO)

Mladost staged a perfect opening period and silenced the crowd in Kragujevac as they stormed to a 0-4 lead. They netted three brilliant action goals, added one from a man-up and killed four man-downs – a real feat in the home of Serbia’s top team.

Almost 10 minutes had gone when Strahinja Rasovic finally broke the hosts’ silence, yet the Croats managed the game well and always found a way to score and kept a four-goal gap until 3-7, with 2:13 to go in the first half.

They even denied Radnicki in their next 6-on-5, but Andrija Prlainovic’s trademark perimeter shot brought the hosts a bit closer 19 seconds before the middle break.

Ivan Nagaev sent the ball home one minute into the third for 4-8, then Angelos Vlahopoulos converted an extra for Radnicki. Just 43 seconds later, Dusko Pijetlovic further reduced the gap – the first time the Serbs scored consecutive goals.

However, Matias Biljaka finished a nice action from a really sharp angle. Still, the home side seemed to have found the right rhythm – Vlahopoulos netted another one from distance, and with 3:42 on the clock, Prlainovic buried a penalty to cut the deficit to a single goal at 8-9.

Just when Radnicki threatened to take control, Konstantin Kharkov came up with a great finish in Mladost’s man-up, and after some strong defending, Franko Lazic added another from action to make it 8-11.

Boris Vapenski’s magical wrist provided the perfect solution for finishing Radnicki’s next 6-on-5, and within 27 seconds it was 10-11 as Mladost lost the ball quickly and Strahinja Rasovic converted the ensuing counter.

The heat was on and the fans were loud as both sides missed a man-up in the remaining time, setting up a fascinating final quarter.

A missed centre shot from Josip Vrlic opened the fourth, then the Serbs forced a penalty and Prlainovic delivered a clean shot to make it even for the first time since 0-0.

A new game began, and the Serbs now held all the aces. The Croats were running out of steam; their offence fell apart as they were unable to create any significant scoring chances.

Their shooting power diminished as the Serbian defence worked with ruthless perfection and its usual aggression.

Mladost missed a crucial man-up at 11-11, and Prlainovic scored his fifth of the evening to put the Serbs ahead from another 6-on-5.

Forty-four seconds later, Vlahopoulos doubled the lead, and the Croats’ next man-up ended without them taking a shot.

There were still four minutes to play when Ivan Marcelic made a stop in a man-down to halt the Serbs’ rush – but his teammates were unable to lift their game up front. The ensuing minutes were full of fierce battling but no goals.

At this point the teams were tied in head-to-head, as Mladost had won 17-15 on Day 2 and Radnicki now led 13-11.

In the wake of that, it was somewhat surprising the Croats went for a 7-on-6 after a time-out with 56 seconds remaining. They will face Vasas at home on Day 6, while Radnicki visit Olympiacos in Piraeus, so Mladost would have been in a better position had the score stayed as it was.

Instead, pure madness ruled the pool: the Croats missed two shots, but the Serbs also failed to score even though a field player was in Mladost’s goal.

Still, a rushed third shot from 8m gave the hosts one more chance, and they took it as Vlahopoulos put away the counter with 0:02 on the clock.

The win keeps the Serbs in the race, and they can force a three-way tie if they beat Olympiacos in Piraeus – but we will need to wait for that exciting last round in February.

Group A

Olympiacos SFP (GRE) 20-8 Vasas Plaket (HUN)

Olympiacos didn’t hold anything back and stormed to a 6-0 lead. Ironically, half of their goals were scored by Hungarians, Daniel Angyal and Gergo Zalanki (the lefty hit two) – while a Greek, Angelos Foskolos, was the one to score Vasas’ only goal, six seconds before the first break.

The Magyars, already out of the race, could barely show resistance – indeed, Olympiacos demonstrated their absolute superiority in the opening eight minutes, leaving no room for Vasas to force at least a somewhat exciting game.

The Greeks led 10-3 and never thought of stopping as they went on a 6-1 run in the third, scoring all kinds of goals – counters, centre-shots, nicely played extras, perimeter shots… Vasas’ goalies didn’t get much help from their defenders, both Marton Mizsei and Joao Fernandes finished the match with three stops from 13 shots.

Indeed, Olympiacos had 37 attempts, 26 on target – Vasas had 30 and 19, reflecting the difference between the sides in quality and depth.

In the end, Olympiacos handed another heavy defeat to Vasas, after thrashing them 15-5 in Budapest, they crushed them 20-8 this time – to keep their three-point advantage. Still, they are yet to reach safe waters, as a three-way tie with Radnicki and Mladost is still possible.

Group B

Jadran m:tel Herceg Novi (MNE) 13-19 Pro Recco (ITA)

It was only a question of time before Recco started dismantling the young Montenegrins. The hosts fought bravely, but the Italians’ physical superiority and super-aggressive defending began to make the difference as early as the middle of the second period.

In the first, Jadran found a way to equalise three times, but the first three minutes of the second put the game on its expected path.

Recco hit three in succession and Dmitri Kholod could pull one back from a 6-on-4, soon after, Max Irving scored twice from action in just 28 seconds for 4-8, and he added a third two seconds from time. Jadran could score only one of their three man-ups, so it stood at 5-9 at half-time.

The American was really in the mood, hitting a fourth straight action goal 25 seconds into the third, and just a further 28 seconds later Giacomo Cannella netted a counter to expand the gap to six goals (5-11).

And there was no stopping the Italians, as they responded to Dorde Lazic’s man-up strike with four unanswered goals.

Winning the middle two periods 6-2 each was enough to blow away their rivals – and to cause a drop in their focus, especially in defence.

After limiting Jadran to seven goals in three periods, Recco conceded six in the final eight minutes, though they also scored four in the festive closing chapter.

The Montenegrins netted the last three of the game in their final three possessions – though the very last one didn’t last long.

Recco went to practise a 7-on-6, but a lazy shot ended in the goalie’s hands, and Lazar Andric sent the ball into the empty net to offer something memorable for the otherwise enthusiastic home crowd.

Group D

KEIO CN Sabadell (ESP) 9-11 Waspo 98 Hannover (GER)

After upsetting Marseille in France, all Sabadell needed was a win against Hannover to set up a knockout home game with the French in the last round.

Though Sabadell were stunned by the Germans in Hannover on Day 2 – Marseille also fell in Hannover – the Spaniards were still considered the favourites for this match.

And their start was promising, although Waspo did stay level until 3-3, as they regained the lead 39 seconds from the first break, when Alberto Barroso buried a penalty.

What’s more, they killed a man-down and still had time to add a great one from a counter, finished off by Martin Famera for 5-3.

Sabadell had a couple of possessions to further expand the gap, but they weren’t as sharp as usual and Denis Strelezkij finally pulled one back by putting away an extra after two and a half minutes.

The Spaniards’ struggles started becoming more and more visible as they missed three man-ups in a row before they managed to score from the fourth. However, Lazar Vukicevic was on target in Waspo’s 6-on-5 to make it 6-5 by half-time.

The hosts kicked off the third with another missed extra and even though they also denied Hannover’s man-uo, Zoran Bozic’s fine attempt from the perimeter brought Waspo level at 6-6.

Being unable to build a calming difference, let alone lead at all, made the home players more and more tense. They couldn’t score from a 6-on-4 and a great centre shot by Nikola Milardovic put Hannover ahead, and not even a minute had gone when Lukas Kueppers converted an extra to make it 6-8.

After this 0-4 run and an embarrassing 7-minute drought, Quim Colet called a time-out, and it helped as Rafael Saboya hit the next man-up for 7-8.

They had another one, but their top shooter, world champion Sergi Cabanas, didn’t have his best day and missed another shot (he was 2 for 7 at the end…), so Waspo turned into the fourth with an advantage in hand.

However, Vukicevic was on fire. He opened the fourth with a smooth action shot and even though Cabanas could finally fire one in, Vukicevic put the ball away precisely from a 6-on-5 to make it 8-10.

Within 70 seconds, Sabadell were in real trouble as they missed a man-up while Mark Gansen sent the ball home for a three-goal lead.

Oscar Asensio gave some hope for the home side with a nice action shot for 9-11, and they still had 4:18 to turn the tide.

But their offence never really clicked. They forced man-ups in their next two possessions but couldn’t beat Max Spittank, who came up with back-to-back saves.

And it went on like this – Sabadell had two more 6-on-5s but were unable to score any more goals – after netting five in the first period, they added only four in the remaining three, and this loss dropped them out of the race.

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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics