As the competition reaches Day 4 of the men’s Euro Cup Group Stage, the first tickets to the Eight Finals could be confirmed on Thursday night. This week’s highlights include VK Jug AO’s trip to CN Terrassa – a game that could decide who finishes top of Group A – and BVSC Manna ABC’s clash with Vouliagmeni NC in Budapest, with both teams sitting on seven points at the summit of Group C.

2025/26 Euro Cup Men
Group Stage, Day 4
Thursday 20 November
(Local times shown)

Group A

19:30: ASC Duisburg (GER) v VK Solaris Sibenik (CRO)
20:30: CN Terrassa (ESP) v VK Jug AO (CRO)

Group B

20:00 CN Barcelona (ESP) v Pallanuoto Trieste (ITA)
18:00: Szolnoki Dozsa Praktiker (HUN) v CS Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU)

Group C

18:30: BVSC Manna ABC (HUN) v Vouliagmeni NC (GRE)
18:00: PVK Buducnost Podgorica (MNE) v Panathinaikos AC (GRE)

Group D

19:00: CSA Steaua Bucharest (ROU) v VK Sabac Elixir (SRB)
19:00: RN Savona (ITA) v Spandau 04 Berlin (GER)

Group A
(Local times shown)

19:30: ASC Duisburg (GER) v VK Solaris Sibenik (CRO)

After three successive defeats, ASC Duisburg stand on the brink of elimination and will need a huge performance on Thursday night against VK Solaris Sibenik – who they lost 15-10 to on Day 1 – if they are to keep their slim hopes of progressing alive.

“In last week’s game against Terrassa [a narrow 14-13 loss in Spain], we showed we are a team to be reckoned with,” said Duisburg coach Vuk Vuksanovic. “Heading into this rematch against Solaris, at home and with the support of our fans, I believe we can win.”

“We’ve had very intense, high-level matches over the past weeks and want to build on our performances,” added Duisburg’s Philipp Dolff. “We aim to develop from game to game and get more consistent in our game. That’s why we will give everything on Thursday in front of our home crowd.”

Solaris, meanwhile, will also go all out for the win in order to keep the second qualification spot firmly in sight, and they will aim to build on the good spells they enjoyed away at group leaders VK Jug AO last week when they only lost by two (12-10).

“On Thursday we face a crucial match in our group,” stated Solaris coach Bruno Sabioni. “After two away losses, we know we must go for the win in order to stay competitive in the standings, close the gap to the top, and keep our chances alive for advancing to the knock-out stage.

“In the next three games, we want to show character, improve on our previous away performances, and demonstrate the quality we possess. We believe in our game, and with the right energy and focus we can achieve a result that keeps us in the fight for progression.”

20:30: CN Terrassa (ESP) v VK Jug AO (CRO)

After edging past Duisburg last week, 14-13, CN Terrassa will need to raise their game if they are to stop group leaders VK Jug AO, who arrive after three straight victories, including a 16-12 win against the Spaniards in Dubrovnik on Day 1.

The Croatians’ head coach Vjeko Kobescak will be aware the Spaniards pose a bigger threat in their home pool, but he’ll set his team out to secure another three points, which would cement their place in the Eight Finals with two games to spare.

Terrassa warmed up for this fixture with a powerful 19-5 win against Boadilla on Saturday in the Spanish División de Honor, with the result keeping them fifth in the table behind Barceloneta, Mataro, Barcelona and Sabadell.

Jug, meanwhile, sank Zadar 1952 17-9 at the weekend to advance to the semi-finals of the Croatian Cup, where they’ll be joined by Jadran, Mladost and Solaris.

“We will have our last Euro Cup Group Stage game at home on Thursday against Jug, who are a very good team,” said Terrassa coach Sergi Mora.

“Until now at home we got two victories, and against Jug in their home we lost. So we are ready for this tough game against them. They have very experienced players, also good quality young players, they have a complete team.

“But we are ready, we will be at home, we want to be close to Jug during the whole game, because I think we can produce a good performance.”

Group B
(Local times shown)

20:00 CN Barcelona (ESP) v Pallanuoto Trieste (ITA)

CN Barcelona have won both their Euro Cup games (22-11 at home against Dinamo and 10-14 away to Szolnok) since their opening-day 20-16 away loss to Pallanuoto Trieste.

“Our performance in Trieste was our worst of the season, they rolled over us,” said Barcelona coach Andrei Iosep. “But since then we’ve worked hard, learned and grown.

“We arrive now in good shape, with very good results in recent weeks. The team is confident, motivated and ready to battle in what is a very important match for us.”

Pallanuoto Trieste coach Maurizio Mirarchi is equally ready for the challenge ahead. “The stakes are particularly high with this game,” he said. “We’ll need another performance with great focus, and we’ll have to play a perfect match.”

The Spaniards should be the fresher of the two teams, as they haven’t played since their Euro Cup game last week, while Trieste faced Savona away in the Italian A1 division on Sunday, where they were outclassed 19-10.

With three teams in Group B locked on six points (Barcelona, Trieste and Szolnok), a win here would go a long way in the hunt for one of the two qualification spots.

18:00: Szolnoki Dozsa Praktiker (HUN) v CS Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU)

Szolnok were leading Group B after two narrow victories in the first two rounds – 15-16 away to Dinamo and 16-14 at home to Trieste – but they finally came unstuck at home against Barcelona last week, losing 10-14.

Now, Szolnok face Dinamo again, a team fighting to stay alive in this competition after three straight defeats have left them bottom of the table with zero points.

This fixture is the Romanians’ last roll of the dice, as a defeat would see them eliminated, so after troubling Szolnok in their home pool on Day 1, they will set out to cause similar problems in Hungary on Thursday.

“We played a tough game against Szolnok at home,” said Dinamo’s Ricardo Sachetti. “They managed to beat us by one goal and we are looking forward to paying the favour back.

“We arrive after a hard game in Italy, where I think we played very well. Our form is improving and we are ready for the next challenge and we really want to get the three points in Hungary.”

Group C
(Local times shown)

18:30: BVSC Manna ABC (HUN) v Vouliagmeni NC (GRE)

After last week’s 10-10 (6-7P) shootout win against fierce domestic rivals Panathinaikos, Vouliagmeni coach Vladimir Vujasinovic couldn’t have been prouder of his players.

“We managed to win a very difficult match against Panathinaikos in their home pool,” he said after the victory. “We have reached a good level in our performances and we are showing a very good competitive spirit in our European matches.

“With that victory we have reached seven points and are first in the group. However, we are only halfway through the group stage, and this next match in Hungary against BVSC will be crucial.”

On Day 1, BVSC had the brighter spells away at Vouliagmeni, before the Greeks’ Charalampos Troulos scored with 24 seconds remaining to send the game to penalties, which the hosts won 9-8.

With BVSC also sitting on seven points at the top of the table, whoever wins this hugely anticipated contest will firmly plant one foot in the next round.

“We played a good game in Podgorica last week,” said BVSC coach Daniel Varga. “We won with a big difference, but it wasn’t perfect, especially in defence. We made some mistakes, but all in all I was satisfied with my team.

“The result was OK. We are past that game and are preparing for this next challenge against Vouliagmeni, it is a crucial game for us, because in this group there are three teams fighting for the top two spots.

“I think we are in good form, we grew a lot in every stage of the game, so I am positive about the game on Thursday.”

18:00: PVK Buducnost Podgorica (MNE) v Panathinaikos AC (GRE)

“I was not happy with the image and the result from last week,” said Panathinaikos coach Dimitris Mazis following his team’s 10-10 (6-7P) shootout loss to Vouliagmeni. “That game was a good lesson for us. We must improve immediately and we will do it through hard work.

“There hasn’t been much time, but we must return to victory in Europe. We want to achieve a high performance and combine performance with a victory against PVK Buducnost.”

“It’s certainly not pleasant when you lose a match at home and we will undoubtedly have to make up for lost ground in our next matches,” added Panathinaikos’ Dusan Banicevic. “We first want the three points against Buducnost and then we have to claim victories against BVSC and Vouliagmeni in our last two games.”

After two losses following their opening-day 16-8 home win against Buducnost, Panathinaikos need to return to winning ways in Europe when they face the young Montenegrins again on Thursday.

They will also start this clash high in confidence after a morale-boosting 8-20 away victory against Ethnikos in Greece’s A1 division on Saturday.

PVK Buducnost Podgorica, meanwhile, have struggled this season to build any momentum after three straight defeats, and another loss would send them to the exit.

Group D
(Local times shown)

19:00: CSA Steaua Bucharest (ROU) v VK Sabac Elixir (SRB)

VK Sabac Elixir’s push for a top-two finish in Group D takes them to the Romanian capital this week, where they aim to record a second victory over Steaua Bucharest after their 11-9 win at home on Day 1.

The Serbian side travel in confident spirits after sensationally defeating domestic rivals Novi Beograd 16-17 away in the Premier VRL League on Saturday – a result that lifted them to the top of the table.

Winless Steaua have been competitive in all their Euro Cup outings so far, losing by two away to Sabac (11-9), by two at home to Spandau (9-11), and by just one at home to Savona last week (10-11).

With only minor adjustments needed judging by their previous results, they could claim their first points of the campaign on Thursday night.

19:00: RN Savona (ITA) v Spandau 04 Berlin (GER)

After three consecutive wins – including a narrow 15-16 victory away to Spandau 04 Berlin on Day 1 – RN Savona are now just one win away from securing their place in the Eight Finals.

The Italians are in excellent form, having won four of their last five games in all competitions, including a 19-10 home victory over Trieste in the domestic A1 division on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the German league leaders are under pressure, having suffered two defeats in the Group Stage and urgently needing points to stay in contention.

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Andy Rollé for European Aquatics