After building a five-goal lead in the first leg (14-9), EPlus CN Catalunya placed one hand on the Euro Cup trophy last week and will be looking to finish the job against Zodiac CNAB on Wednesday night. However, with European newcomers CNAB hosting the second leg, the tie is far from decided, and Chus Martin’s team will look to draw on the support of the home crowd to overturn the deficit and complete a remarkable turnaround.
2025/26 Euro Cup Women
Final, Leg 2
Wednesday 3 June
(Local time shown)
19:30: Zodiac CNAB (ESP) v EPlus CN Catalunya (ESP)
(First leg: 9-14)
Catalunya ended a three-game losing streak against their domestic rivals CNAB in style, by beating them 14-9 in the first leg of the Euro Cup final last week.
The previous two encounters between the teams were decided by shootouts, so another closely contested clash was expected, but Catalunya – who were expertly marshalled by Dutch European champion goalkeeper Laura Aarts – dominated and established a five-goal cushion.
CNAB have left themselves with a small mountain to climb, but with home advantage, anything can happen, and the players and fans will be confident they can overturn the deficit.
“We face a difficult challenge, but it is far from impossible,” said CNAB captain Nerea Martin. “Playing in front of our home crowd, we will give everything we have and fight until the very end.
“We hope to put on a great performance and make it an unforgettable night.”
As neither side has reached this stage of the competition before, whatever the result on Wednesday evening, a new name will be engraved on the famous trophy.
The winners will also become only the second Spanish side to claim the title, following in the footsteps of CN Mataro, who triumphed in 2016 against Greece’s Vouliagmeni.
“We will start this game as if the score is still 0-0,” said Catalunya coach Javi Belmonte. “We can’t think we are five goals ahead because that would be bad for us.
“Barceloneta have a lot of quality players who will want to reverse the situation. We have prepared ourselves conscientiously for this.”
In the opening fixture, as well as Aarts’ inspiring performance between the posts, Lucia Gomez starred in attack for Catalunya, top-scoring with four goals, while Emmerson Houghton, Ruth Arino and Laura Ferrer each struck twice.
For CNAB, American star Elena Flynn was their standout performer, hitting a hat-trick and helping to keep her team in contention.
“We’re really excited to play this second leg of the final against Barceloneta,” added Catalunya’s Houghton. “It’s always an exciting occasion whenever we play them.
“We know them well and we know they’re a strong team. We’ve been preparing really well this week and we know it’s going to be a tough match.
“We just have to focus on what we do and what we know.”
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Andy Rollé for European Aquatics
