Recco is looking for retaining its
title, which would be the first double since 2008 when also the Italians had managed to win back-to-back
editions. However, six other freshly crowned national champion teams and their fellow Italian
arch-rival Brescia all line up to prevent Recco from a record-breaking 10th victory. Belgrade is
ready for another three-day show, starting this
Thursday.
Since the reshaped format of the
Champions League has been introduced in 2014 (preliminary with two groups, a Final Six, then Eight at the end),
the first six editions saw six different teams from six different countries lifting the trophy. Last
season Recco halted that trend and managed to clinch the title for a second time after 2015 – of course,
that was also the Italians’ record-breaking 9th victory in the competition.
Now Recco can raise the stakes as the
favourite team may achieve a title-defence for the first time since 2008. Indeed, they were the last one till
date to retain their gold medal 14 years ago. It’s not an easy feat – it happened only 8 times in history (the
competition started in the 1963-64 season), and only one team (Mladost, CRO, then YUG) could make a treble
in 1968-1970.
This also demonstrates that going all
the way in the Champions League has been anything but easy – and even if Recco
dominated the prelims as usual, the Italian champions could take nothing for
granted in Belgrade.
First of all, there will be seven
freshly crowned champions in the field – all but one qualified team managed to win its respective domestic
league, Brescia is the only exception for obvious reasons as they lost to Recco in Italy. This already adds
some extra flavour to the three thrilling days – so this edition will lack the irony we had a year ago when
the two sides reaching the final, Recco and Ferencvaros, had fallen short before the F8 in their countries
(Recco got silver in Italy, Ferencvaros got bronze in Hungary).
The quarter-finals on Thursday
already offer a series of exciting clashes. Only Brescia seems to face a bit easier task – this might be their reward
for finishing atop in the group considered the toughest ever –, still, Hannover might cause them some
headaches in a single game.
Despite losing only one game in 14
rounds, Recco will need to pass a crucial test right on Day 1 against Barceloneta. The Spaniards were on the rise
in the spring and this match is something all water polo lovers are poised to see. It’s going to be
interesting for another aspect too: both teams are led by a Croatian head-coach. Sandro Sukno is in
charge in Recco, Elvis Fatovic is the boss in Barceloneta – both of them spend
their first season in this job at the clubs. Add: when Croatia won the Olympic
gold in 2012, Fatovic was the assistant
coach of the national team where Sukno was a key player.
When Ferencvaros won the trophy in
2019, they downed Jug in the quarters to put an end to the Croats’ big run as the Dubrovnik-based side always
reached the semis in the previous four editions. This year, the Hungarians were in trouble in early March
but bounced back spectacularly and Jug also had some great matches lately – and don’t forget, the
Croats are the only team having beaten Recco in the group stage.
Last but not least, host Novi
Beograd, the only new participant compared to the 2021 field, will have a showdown with Marseille which showed some
tremendous improvement during these years. The
French first won the Euro Cup in 2019, qualified for the F8 last year
and staged a 11-game winning streak in
the prelims this season. With a great mix of French and foreign players, mostly
from Montenegro and Croatia, led by a
Montenegrin coach, they know the ways to put up a great fight against a Serbian team. However, Novi Beograd
was put together to win this title in its home pool, preferably right on their first try. During
the season, his majesty Igor Milinovic entered the scene to take over the team as the head coach. The
legendary player already proved that, as a coach, he knew how to win the title against all odds when he led
Partizan to a stunning victory against top favourite Recco in 2011 in the Foro Italico in Rome.
All matches can be followed via a live
stream on our dedicated website with on-site English commentary (though in some countries
geo-blocking may occur) – and the live-scoring site shall offer all the stats and video-clips of each goal
scored in Belgrade.
Champions League, Final Eight – Schedule
Quarter-finals, 2 June
14.30 AN Brescia (ITA) v Waspo 98
Hannover (GER)
16.30 Pro Recco (ITA) v Zodiac
Atletic Barceloneta (ESP)
18.30 CN Marseille (FRA) v Novi
Beograd (SRB)
20.30 FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN) v
Jug Adriatic Osiguranje Dubrovnik (CRO)
Semi-finals, 3 June
14.30 Crossover for 5-8th places
16.30 Crossover for 5-8th places
18.30 Semi-final: Brescia/Hannover v
Marseille/Novi B.
20.30 Semi-final: Recco/Barceloneta v
FTC/Jug
Final Round, 4 June
12.00 For the 7-8th place
14.00 For the 5-6th place
17.00 Bronze medal match
19.30 Champions League Final
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