CN Marseille were more than up for the fight as they denied last season’s runners-up SPD Radnicki a place in a second successive Euro Cup final, producing a sensational comeback in the south of France. Roared on by a packed and passionate home crowd, Marseille tore into the Serbians from the opening swim-off and gradually wiped out Radnicki’s first-leg advantage with a stunning display. Big hitter Thomas Vernoux may have been kept relatively quiet, but Adam Nagy, Alexandre Bouet and Efstathios Kalogeropoulos all stepped up, each firing in hat-tricks. Later, seven goals from VK Jadran Split’s Jerko Marinic Kragic inspired his side to a nervy and narrow victory in Budapest as they did just enough to finish the job against a dogged BVSC Manna ABC.

2025/26 Euro Cup Men
Semifinals, Second Legs
Saturday 9 May
(Aggregate scores shown)

CN Marseille (FRA) 16-11 SPD Radnicki (SRB) (Agg: 30-28)
BVSC Manna ABC (HUN) 12-14 VK Jadran Split (CRO) (Agg: 24-27)

CN Marseille (FRA) 16-11 SPD Radnicki (SRB) (Agg: 30-28)

Radnicki’s three-goal lead from the first leg looked immediately fragile as Marseille dominated the early exchanges, winning the swim-off and with blasts from Thomas Vernoux and Efstathios Kalogeropoulos putting the French side 2-0 up within four minutes.

Marseille captain Ugo Crousillat also had a glorious chance to level the tie on aggregate, but his penalty cannoned off the left-hand post and into a relieved Radoslav Filipovic’s hands.

Crousillat’s opposite number and former team-mate Andrija Prlainovic soon made him pay for that miss, firing in from distance to keep his side’s overall lead intact.

Alexandre Bouet had the home fans back on their feet with a 6m blast, but Radnicki once again responded quickly, this time through Viktor Rasovic, who hammered in from the right side of the perimeter for 3-2.

The Serbians could have equalised, but home goalkeeper Petar Tesanovic produced two huge blocks to deny a fierce backhand from Nikola Murisic and Angelos Vlahopulos from distance, keeping the French ahead by one at the first break.

In the second period, Marseille kept surging forward and restored their two-goal advantage on three occasions (4-2, 5-3 and 6-4), but were pegged back each time.

After 6-4, Boris Vapenski rifled in a fine effort before Prlainovic arrowed home from distance to level the night at 6-6, which could have been a real blow for Marseille.

Lifted by their fans, their heads didn’t drop and they kept pushing, with Adam Nagy’s effort restoring their lead. Vernoux then had the chance to move them two clear again, but his penalty crashed off the crossbar to keep it at 7-6 at half-time.

At the start of the third, Strahinja Rasovic slipped his marker on the left wing and was fed the ball for a simple finish to tie the game at 7-7.

Prlainovic then fired in from distance with a pinpoint strike that flashed into the top-right corner to give the visitors the lead for the first time on the night and move them four clear on aggregate (7-8).

Kalogeropoulos quickly equalised and it was a case of third time lucky with penalties, as Nagy made no mistake from 5m, smashing his shot low to the left and beyond Filipovic’s outstretched arm.

The momentum was back with the hosts and Crousillat finally opened his account with a fierce finish from the right, bringing the crowd to their feet and moving Marseille within one on aggregate for a sixth time.

Radnicki successfully closed the door once more, with Prlainovic rifling in a penalty to keep the Serbians in front, but they were far from comfortable and their defence was beginning to creak.

Both teams misfired over the next two minutes before Crousillat found space on the right and perfectly angled his finish to make it 11-9, with the French trailing by one on aggregate for the seventh time.

This time, they finally found a way to move three clear and level the aggregate score. After forcing an exclusion, Nagy took his time at the top on man-up before flashing the ball into the bottom-left corner.

Radnicki now had no lead to defend and when Bouet scored a penalty for 13-9, they were left chasing the game as their hopes of reaching a second successive final began to fade.

Vapenski put the visitors back on track momentarily, halting Marseille’s 3-0 run with a fine 6m strike to make it 13-10 and set up a thrilling final eight minutes.

With the aggregate scores level, the fourth quarter became a straight shootout, with Bilal Gbadamassi drawing first blood with a powerful turn-and-backhand effort from the centre that evaded Filipovic’s grasp.

When Vladan Spaic tapped in at the far post to finish off a neat passing move for 15-10, Radnicki were in real trouble, although there was still 6:31 left on the clock.

The mountain only grew steeper for the Serbians as a Marseille counter ended in a penalty that Kalogeropoulos buried for 16-10, and when Nikola Jaksic had his 5m effort saved by Tesanovic at the other end, the remarkable comeback was almost complete.

Radnicki were crashing their shots against the posts and, when they did hit the target, Tesanovic was there to beat the ball away.

Marseille controlled the closing stages and although Nikola Jaksic added an 11th goal for Radnicki late on, it was little more than a consolation with only 20 seconds remaining.

The home fans clapped down the final seconds before the party atmosphere erupted at the buzzer, with Marseille’s players raising their arms in triumph as they secured their place in the final for the first time since 2019.

BVSC Manna ABC (HUN) 12-14 VK Jadran Split (CRO) (Agg: 24-27)

A man-up, man-down contest kicked off the second semifinal in the Hungarian capital.

BVSC missed their first, while Jadran managed to score both of theirs – though their initial attempts were saved by Viktor Gyapjas, Jerko Marinic Kragic was on hand to provide a couple of smooth finishes from the respective corners.

In between, David Tatrai converted a six-on-five and Matyas Meszaros also netted the hosts’ third six-on-five for 2-2.

Marinic Kragic was on fire and next struck from action, again after a saved first shot, to keep the trend alive.

Then the pattern shifted slightly as Gyapjas produced saves in back-to-back man-down situations, though BVSC also wasted one at the other end.

After some battling, Jadran forced another man-up – again following a rebound after a save – and Dusan Matkovic produced a fine finish from the wing, while the hosts could not create a credible set-up at 2m.

Still, Zsombor Ekler blasted one in from action with 0:05 on the clock to make it 3-4 after eight minutes.

Loren Fatovic then demonstrated that Jadran could score a six-on-five straight from the first shot, while Marko Bijac came up with another fine man-down save.

After some solid defending, however, Meszaros fired one in from the perimeter. BVSC then had a six-on-five to draw level, but again were unable to convert, while Marinic Kragic struck his fourth with a rocket from 6m.

Ironically, while the Magyars were just 2-for-8 from man-ups, Tatrai hit their third from distance in open play to keep them close at 5-6.

The Croats missed a man-up and Gyapjas followed with a huge save in a 2-on-1 counter before Benedek Batizi levelled from the centre with 2:49 on the clock.

Jadran replied in style through Mislav Curkovic from the centre, but the hosts finally converted a man-up through Matyas Meszaros.

They had one more chance, though the feed to the post lacked precision, and the Croats wasted their extra too, leaving it all square at 7-7 at half-time.

BVSC opened the second half with a missed man-up – no shot in 18 seconds – while Jadran had two opportunities but neither reached the net.

Bijac stopped the next one, before Marinic Kragic once again beat the blocks with a 6m effort to restore Jadran’s lead.

The post then spared the hosts when Fatovic had a clean look, while a steal denied BVSC in their third man-up in as many minutes – hardly the way to win semifinal matches at this level.

Jadran missed the extra, but Fatovic’s blistering second attempt, already at even strength, doubled the Croats’ advantage.

Tatrai kept the home hopes alive by firing through the arms on a six-on-five, and this time Jadran also wasted an extra.

Still, they remained one ahead, and two up on aggregate, making it less costly. The next miss, after a time-out and featuring two poor passes, was perhaps more frustrating, especially as BVSCs forced a penalty during a lengthy possession that included back-to-back man-ups – first-leg hero Zvonimir Butic fouled out in the process – and Erik Csacsovszky converted for 9-9 with 1:13 to go.

Yet Marinic Kragic remained on top, burying a six-on-four for his sixth of the game with 41 seconds remaining, and Jadran held that edge through to the break to carry a 9-10 lead into the final quarter.

Fatovic was blocked by the home defence in the first man-up of the fourth, while Meszaros found the corridor to the net from the hosts’ extra to turn up the heat at 10-10.

Fatovic responded in style, showing his class to finish the next extra from an almost impossible angle.

At the other end, BVSCs earned a penalty as the visitors lost their fourth player on three exclusions, and Csacsovszky equalised once more with 5:28 remaining.

The hosts then had another man-up to move ahead, but Bijac came up with a fine stop – just as Gyapjas did at the other end, also in man-down.

The bar denied the Magyars, before Nardo Sejkic was brave enough to let fly in Jadran’s next man-up; earlier no attempt had come from the left-hand side, and this proved a huge boost for the Croats with 3:06 remaining.

Ekler tried his luck from distance, but lacked the precision he had shown in the first half.

Still, a left-handed surprise came at the other end as Zsombor Szeghalmi stunned Bijac from action for 12-12.

Jadran then missed a match ball – a man-up without a shot – and again BVSC had a six-on-five to take the lead with 1:09 on the clock.

However, Nika Shushiashvili committed a turnover foul and Marinic Kragic crowned his display with an astonishing lob-like finish, 36 seconds from time, his seventh, to set the very same scoreline as in the first leg (12-13).

Sejkic added one more in the final second when BVSCs went all-in with seven on six, sending Jadran through to the final with victories in both legs.

Missing 12 extras and converting only six proved decisive – though that was also testament to the Croatian defence.

Jadran, like Marseille, will contest the Euro Cup final for only the second time, though their previous appearance dates back to 1998.

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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics