For the first time, the respective Final Four tournaments in the Champions League Men and Women will be held as joint events when they take place in Malta from June 10-13.

There is one month to go until the crowning event of the European club season which will see Malta hosting both the men’s and women’s Champions League Final Four.

A joint hosting has never happened before but now the top eight clubs of Europe are set to come together and play for the most prestigious of trophies.

Tthe Champions League finals will be contested on back-to-back days in the same pool at the renowned Tal-Qroqq Aquatic Centre.

The site has welcomed the men’s top sides in the previous two years. Now the women will join the party to ensure that fans enjoy a truly outstanding water polo spectacle.

The women’s Final Fours have previously been held several weeks before the men’s version, and this novel format is testimony to the growth of the women’s game.

The joint party will get underway with the women’s semi-finals on June 10, followed the next day by the men’s semi-finals.

The medal games of the women’s CL and the men’s bronze medal match will take place on Friday, June 12, with the men’s final concluding the four-day bonanza on Saturday, June 13.

Will we see new champions – or will the usual suspects prevail? All will be revealed in a month’s time…

Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics