Top sides are set to increase the gap
ahead of their chasers – Recco, Barceloneta and Olympiacos in Group A, Brescia,
Novi Beograd and perhaps Ferencvaros in Group B, while the battle for the
fourth qualifying spots will be intensifying.
Recco’s fine win in Barcelona put the
three top dogs on equal points – and thanks to the other results, the gap
between them and their chasers grew to 7 points. This Tuesday might increase
that difference as Olympiacos are definitely the favourite at home against
Radnicki, while Barceloneta need to bounce back in Split against Jadran. This
won’t be easy since the Croats are fresh from winning the big home clash
against fellow CL team Jug, while Barceloneta could beat the other CL
participant Sabadell only by penalties in the cup final.
After tasting the sweetness of
winning for the first time this season by beating Dinamo, Hannover might want
more of that. At home, they have a good chance against Vouliagmeni, though they
need an ‘upgrade’ after a shocking domestic loss to Duisburg in the weekend.
Recco is set to win their sixth straight match as they face an easy challenge
in Tbilisi.
In Group B, the other Italian side
Brescia, which also sit in the first place, meet the bottom-ranked team too.
However, that’s going to be a tougher match as Marseille are anything but an
easy-to-beat rival, despite their miseries so far in this season. Still,
Brescia are so formidable at home that it’s hard to see the French stop them.
Second ranked Novi Beograd cannot
expect an easy ride in Sabadell either. Two weeks ago, the Spaniards managed to
take down Marseille to win their first game and they may cause the Serbs some
headaches too who, as a contrast, lost for the first time, in Budapest (though
missed several key players). It’s yet to be seen how NBG’s returning greats
will fare after illness hampered their recent weeks.
The last round in the first half of
the prelims offers the collision of the Hungarian arch-rivals. OSC and FTC
already staged two thrillers in the domestic competitions, their cup final was
a 31-goal epic, and some weeks later their league match was also close but both
times FTC edged out OSC (16-15, 9-8) and they are the favourites once more.
Jug travel to Berlin with the
memories of a painful defeat at home from Jadran. Since Spandau could catch
Ferencvaros in early January, the Croats need to be on high alert – a loss in
Germany would seriously undermine their goals of making the F8 as usual.
For live streaming, livescoring, game
reports, stats and more, visit www.championsleague.len.eu
Fixtures, Day 7
Group A (Tuesday)
17.30 (16.30CET) Olympiacos Piraeus
(GRE) v Radnicki Kragujevac (SRB)
19.00 (16.00CET) Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO)
v Pro Recco (ITA)
19.00 Waspo 98 Hannover (GER) v NC
Vouliagmeni (GRE)
19.00 Jadran Split (CRO) v Zodiac CNA
Barceloneta (ESP)
Standings: 1. Recco 15, 2. Olympiacos
15, 3. Barceloneta 15, 4. Radnicki 8, 5. Vouliagmeni 7, 6. Jadran 7, 7.
Hannover 3, 8. Dinamo 0
Group B (Wednesday)
18.30 CN Marseille (FRA) v AN Brescia
(ITA)
19.30 Genesys OSC Budapest (HUN) v
FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN)
19.30 Astralpool Sabadell (ESP) v VK
Novi Beograd (SRB)
19.30 Spandau 04 Berlin (GER) v Jug
Adriatic Osiguranje Dubrovnik (CRO)
Standings: 1. Brescia 15, 2. Novi
Beograd 13, 3. Ferencvaros 12, 4. Jug 8, 5. OSC 6, 6. Spandau 5, 7. Sabadell 4,
8. Marseille 4
Pre-game quotes
Group A
Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE) v Radnicki
Kragujevac (SRB)
Igor Milanovic, coach, Olympiacos
“One would expect that against
Radnicki we will appear tired after the cup games we had this weekend, but I
see that we are properly prepared and here I would like to thank my assistants,
Vangelis Delakas and Manolis Vassiliadis who do a very good job. On Monday we
will analyse Radnicki on video. Of course, at home, in front of our fans, we
expect to win, and we will do our best to do so, as winning this game will be a
decisive step towards our participation in the Final 8.”
Giannis Fountoulis, player,
Olympiacos
“We play a home game against Radnicki
which are a very good team with some roster changes lately, but still a very
respectable opponent. We want to win to get one step closer to the final 8.”
Uros Stevanovic, coach, Radnciki
“Olympiacos are one of the main
candidates for winning the Champions League, so we are expecting a very
difficult game. We will look to make the most of this game and get ready for
the challenges ahead in the domestic championship, the Adriatic League and
later the Champions League.”
Stefan Todorovski, goalkeeper,
Radnicki
“Olympiacos are filled with top
players in all positions, and it is also well led by our great coach Igor
Milanovic. They are playing well this season in the Champions League, which
they showed with the victory over the champions, Pro Recco. It will be very difficult
to stand tall against them, but it is up to us to show how much we can do.”
Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO) v Pro Recco
(ITA)
Zurab Rurua, assistant coach, Dinamo
“Pro Recco is currently the strongest
team in the Champions League. It will be a very difficult match for us, and we
will have to be very careful in finishing the attacks to prevent them from
launching their counters. We have to prove that we deserve to be here...”
Irakli Razmadze, player, Dinamo
“Pro Recco are arguably the best club
in water polo history and it’s always big motivation to play against teams like
them. It’s a good chance to show where we are, we’ll be compared to them, and
we can also prepare ourselves for more important games.”
Nicholas Presciutti, player, Pro
Recco
“All the teams that face Pro Recco
always give 100% to show their qualities. So we have to be more and more
concentrated to avoid bad impressions. We will not underestimate this game.”
Alessandro Velotto, player, Pro Recco
“Our aim is to go in Georgia and
close the first leg with a victory. Dinamo Tbilisi at home is always a more
dangerous team, a nice mix of young and experienced players with good
individuals.”
Waspo 98 Hannover (GER) v NC
Vouliagmeni (GRE)
Karsten Seehafer, coach, Hannover
“It’s another big and important game
for us. We play the next two against Vouliagmeni, it is good to start the first
game at home.”
Alexander Radovic, player, Hannover
“It will be very difficult, but we
are motivated enough to play a good game.”
Hrvoje Benic, player, Hannover
“Vouliagmeni is a very good team,
their strongest quality is patience, and they play their attacks till the end,
with quick passes. Of course, we want to win this game, it is a very important
one for us, and three points would leave us in the game for the Final 8.”
Vladimir Vujasinovic, coach,
Vouliagmeni
“This match is last chance for them
to join the battle for the final eight in Belgrade, so we are expecting a very
difficult game. After the final four in the Greek Cup that we played last
weekend, it’s hard to say in what condition we'll be in Hanover. I believe we
have enough time to recover the team for another great game in the Champions
League.
Dylan Robert Woodhead, player,
Vouliagmeni
“Tuesday will be a huge match for our
team. We’ve had a couple of poor results and face a good team at their home
pool. We have to come with tremendous focus and be prepared to play well all
the way for all four quarters. If we play together as a team with full energy
and effort, I’m confident we can return home successful.”
Jadran Split (CRO) v Zodiac CNA
Barceloneta (ESP)
Jure Marelja, coach, Jadran
“We must reset ourselves, get
together in a working atmosphere after we won a game against Jug in the
domestic championship. Victory against Jug is big after a bad period. My
players were mature, and I hope we will carry on the momentum against Barceloneta.”
Mate Anic, goalkeeper, Jadran
“Finally, we had a good approach
against Jug. It was an aggressive game, we intended to play like that, and it
paid off. If we keep playing like this, we can expect a good outcome from the
game against Barceloneta. They are a great team, I would like to play for
Barceloneta since I would like to live in Barcelona sometimes. But now, I want
to win this game.”
Elvis Fatovic, coach, Barceloneta
“Jadran Split is an experienced team
with plenty of players who know how to win trophies. They recently changed the
coach and the way they play. For us, this match comes at an inconvenient time,
after the Spanish Cup. But I believe in my team and that we will play a good
match.”
Nicholas Porter, player, Barceloneta
“As a team, we are very excited for
this match against Jadran Split. They have a young but ambitious team, complete
with a number of European Champions and they have shown their quality with some
good performances in the Champions League and Adriatic League this season. It
will be a difficult match for us as we will travel to Croatia the day after the
Spanish Cup finished, but I am confident that fatigue will not be an issue for
us. It is important to bounce back from a tough match against Recco in the last
round. We expect a physical, high-quality match and hopefully we can bring the
points back to Barcelona.
Nikolas Paul, player, Barceloneta
“The game against Jadran is very
important for both teams, it will be a hard one where we will give our one
hundred percent to play well and continue the good season we have had so far.”
Group B
CN Marseille (FRA) v AN Brescia (ITA)
Milos Scepanovic, coach, Marseille
“This match is going to be crucial
even if we are aware that the AN Brescia team is one of the best European
teams. We are in a difficult situation considering the qualification for the
Final 8, especially since we are playing important matches. We will give
everything. My players like victory and we will go to get all three
points."
Andrija Prlainovic, player,
Marseille
"I consider AN Brescia one of
the best teams in Europe, so it’s an opportunity to excel in order to get a
win. It will be tough, but I think we are capable of meeting this big
challenge."
Genesys OSC Budapest (HUN) v
FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN)
Daniel Varga, coach, OSC
“This season we have already played
two games against Ferencvaros, and we were so close to them. We are in good
form now, but OSC v FTC is always a special clash. They are the favourites in
the game, in the Champions League they can play with four excellent foreign
players, but we want to cause a surprise and keep the three points at home. I
believe we can do it, but we need to play close to our maximum.”
David Bisztritsanyi, goalie, OSC
“There are two reasons why we are
expecting a hard game. The first is that Ferencvaros have one of the best
rosters with a lot of high-quality players, and very experienced coaches on the
bench. The second is, they haven’t lost to a Hungarian team for almost one
year. We would like to show our best performance, and I believe we are able to
do it, and that could be enough to secure the three points. I really hope that
a lot of fans will watch the game, and we can create a very good atmosphere
together in the swimming pool. Let's go OSC!”
Zsolt Varga, coach, Ferencvaros
“The two team know each other very
well. Not only from this year, but from last year too. Once I heard maybe from
Dani Varga that if we had to write it on a paper what the other team would do,
we would hit it 9 times out of 10. I think the more these two teams play with
each other, the more balanced the outcome will be. It will be a different match
than the previous ones, because we will play in the Champions League, and it is
an important match, so we need to be on top to get the three points.”
Erik Molnar, player, Ferencvaros
“Personally, I am really looking
forward to this match, it will be in completely new mood than the previous
three. The opponent is the same, but this is the Champions League where the
atmosphere is totally different, so I am expecting a different match too. The
team is ready for the clash, we cannot wait for the start.”
Astralpool Sabadell (ESP) v VK Novi
Beograd (SRB)
Quim Colet, coach, Sabadell
“The victory against Marseille has
boosted our morale a lot to face the next match at home. We had been deserving
such a game in front of our fans for a long time, and people left the pool very
happy. We know it will be a tough game since we come from playing the Cup
finals throughout the weekend."
Edu Lorrio, goalie, Sabadell
“We just lost the Cup final on
penalties after a very intense weekend. Right now, we have to rest and regain
our strength because Wednesday will be a very tough game, but I'm sure we will
have our chances.”
Zivko Gocic, coach, NBG
“It’s another very important game in
a row. As always, we will try to prepare ourselves in the best possible way. We
had a lot of problems with injuries, and still we have it, but the situation is
a little bit better and I hope that we will be ready for the next game in the
Champions League. As I like to say, if we do our best and give 100 percent of
our abilities, we can achieve a good result and bring back 3 points to
Belgrade.”
Dusan Mandic, player, NBG
“I am very excited about our next
game in the Champions league which is for us the most important competition this
year. It will be a very tough game against a good team who we respect very
much. Every team who took a win against them did not do it in an easy way and I
am sure that there is a very difficult task ahead of us. But I hope that we
will play on a very high level and that we will win in the end.”
Spandau 04 Berlin (GER) v Jug
Adriatic Osiguranje Dubrovnik (CRO)
Athanasios Kechagias, coach, Spandau
04
“My team have experienced highs and
lows in the current season. We are working hard to reach the Final Eight, which
is our target. Our group is very tough, and every game is a big challenge.
There are no easier games for us. The standings show that any team can cause
problems for any team. Dubrovnik is an experienced team with an experienced
coach who has already won the Champions League with his team. We will try
everything not only to be an adequate opponent, but also to make it difficult
for the Croatians to take the points from Berlin.”
Denis Strelezkij, player, Spandau 04
“I am looking forward to the match
against Dubrovnik, the champion from the country that won the last European
Championship. Dubrovnik is a strong team, but we don't have to be afraid to
play against them. My team can only win in this match. Welcome Jug in Berlin.”
Vjekoslav Kobescak, coach, Jug
“The first in a series of games that
will determine our road in the Champions League this season. We have to
consolidate the team after the defeat against Jadran in the Croatian
championship and show that we deserve a place in the final tournament of the
eight best teams in Europe.”
Toni Mozara, player, Jug
"We are tired and burdened by
injuries, but our goal is clear and that is the Final 8. Therefore, we have to
go to Berlin to win, knowing that we are playing against a very good team that
have already made several surprises this season.”
Facts and Figures
Group A
Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE) v Radnicki
Kragujevac (SRB)
Matches so far:
Olympiacos: WWWWLW – Radnicki: DWLLWD
Last round:
Olympiacos: 14-6 v Vouliagmeni (h) –
Radnicki: 10-10 v Jadran (a)
Recent encounters:
2021-22: 11-7, 8-10. 2014-15: 13-7,
8-7
Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO) v Pro Recco
(ITA)
Matches so far:
Dinamo: LLLLLL – Recco: LWWWWW
Last round:
Dinamo: 11-14 v Hannover (h) – Recco:
11-5 v Barceloneta (a)
Recent encounters:
2019-20: 3-13, 9-24
Waspo 98 Hannover (GER) v NC
Vouliagmeni (GRE)
Matches so far:
Hannover: LLLLLW – Vouliagmeni:
DLWLWL
Last round:
Hannover: 14-11 v Dinamo (a) –
Vouliagmeni: 6-14 v Olympiacos (a)
Recent encounters:
Never met in CL.
Jadran Split (CRO) v Zodiac CNA
Barceloneta (ESP)
Matches so far:
Jadran: WLLWLD – Barceloneta: WWWWWL
Last round:
Jadran: 10-10 v Radnicki (h) –
Barceloneta: 5-11 v Recco (h)
Recent encounters:
2021-22: 13-15, 6-11.
Group B
CN Marseille (FRA) v AN Brescia (ITA)
Matches so far:
Marseille: DLLWLL – Brescia: WWWLWW
Last round:
Marseille: 11-13 v Sabadell (a) –
Brescia: 16-10 v Spandau (h)
Recent encounters:
Never met in CL.
Genesys OSC Budapest (HUN) v
FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN)
Matches so far:
OSC: DLDWLD – FTC: WLWWLW
Last round:
OSC: 9-9 v Jug (h) – FTC: 14-12 v NBG
(h)
Recent encounters:
2019-20: 10-10, 11-8. Domestic: HUN
cup final (2022): 15-16, league (2023): 8-9
Astralpool Sabadell (ESP) v VK Novi
Beograd (SRB)
Matches so far:
Sabadell: LDLLLW – NBG: WWDWWL
Last round:
Sabadell: 13-11 v Marseille (h) –
NBG: 12-14 v FTC (a)
Recent encounters:
Never met in CL
Spandau 04 Berlin (GER) v Jug
Adriatic Osiguranje Dubrovnik (CRO)
Matches so far:
Spandau: LDDLWL – Jug: LWDLWD
Last round:
Spandau: 10-16 v Brescia (h) – Jug: 9-9
v OSC (a)
Recent encounters:
2021-22: 8-16, 9-12. 2020-21: 7-13,
10-12. 2019-20: 7-12. 2018-19: 9-14, 6-7. 2014-15: 8-9, 6-12
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