For the first time since 2006, two Italian sides managed to reach the top four (back then three advanced to the Final Four) as Recco downed Hannover in the opening match and Brescia overcame its shadows and beat Jug after three lost quarter-finals in their previous appearances. Title-holder Ferencvaros came up with a brilliant performance against Marseille but in a stunning way it was Barceloneta, which had the most dominant display of water polo. The Spaniards simply demolished 2018 champion and 2019 runner-up Olympiacos while setting a single-game scoring record for the finals with 22 goals, making it the most one-sided quarters ever seen since the current format began in 2014.
Quarter-finals:
Pro Recco (ITA) v Waspo 98 Hannover
(GER) 16-9,
FTCTelekom (HUN) v CN Marseille (FRA)
14-6,
Jug Adriatic Osiguranje Dubrovnik
(CRO) v AN Brescia (ITA) 10-12,
Zodiac Atletic Barceloneta (ESP) v
Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE) 22-8
Fixtures for Friday – semi-finals:
18.00 Recco v Barceloneta.
20.30 FTCTelekom v Brescia.
For places 5-8th:
13.00 Hannover v Olympiacos,
15.30 Marseille v Jug
Since the F6/8 format has been
introduced in 2014, three editions saw two teams from the same nation reach the
semi-finals – the Serbs did it in 2014 (Radnicki, Partizan), the Croats in 2015
(Primorje and Jug) and the Hungarians in 2017 (Szolnok and Eger). Now Italy
joined the circle as both Recco and Brescia cleared the first hurdle. This is
the first time since 2006 that Italy has two teams in the top four (back then
they had three, though Jug won at home at the end).
Recco’s advancing was not surprising,
apart from the 2014 edition they made the semis every year. Brescia, on the
contrary, managed to get rid of its demons and after three lost quarters they
finally made the cut, for the first time in their history. They beat Jug, which
were a quarter-final specialist between 2015 and 2018 (4/4) but now lost the
second in a row after going down against Ferencvaros in 2019.
The Magyars made the semis again in
their second-ever F8, while Olympiacos failed to maintain its fine run – while
they reached the final three times in the last four editions (including the
last two), now they bowed out in the quarters, like in 2017. Barceloneta
handled the Greeks their heaviest defeat in history, so the Spaniards are back
to the top flight once more after 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018. They lost their
last three semis – it’s a fine challenge to break that bad run against Recco
tomorrow.
Game descriptions
Recco didn’t waste much time to leave
any open question in the first quarterfinal. Though Hannover netted the first
one but the Italians hard-pressing defence quickly brought its results, they
had four steals and scored from the ensuing counters to take a 5-2 lead after
eight minutes. Soon they went 8-3 up, but Hannover could keep up somewhat
thanks to its perfect man-up conversions for a while. They stood 5/5 (including
a 6 on 4) in the middle of the second, while Recco missed a couple of extras,
at this stage three in a row. Then Aleksandar Ivovic netted a one-on-one for
9-5 to set the half-time score as the Germans missed their first 6 on 5 shortly
before the break.
The third was dedicated to swimming
as the finishes lacked precision at both ends, a lonely 6m shot from Fynn
Shutze was the only goal for a while, then Aaron Younger broke Recco’s silence
with 25sec remaining from this quarter but the Germans responded with a fine
drive by Darko Brguljan so there was still some slim hope for Hannover with
eight minutes to go (10-7).
It’s gone quickly as they missed a
man-up early and Ivovic finished off the counter for 11-7. That eased the
tensions and that led to more goals but the gap was never lower than three,
ensuring a calm ending to the match.
The other group-winner Ferencvaros
was also quick in securing its semi-final berth. Despite all the hardships and
disappointments the title-holders went through recently, they did a superb job
against Marseille. The first half they produced couldn’t have been any more
dominant. While they killed all 8 manups of the French, they had posted 4/4 in
6 on 5, created some more fine scoring chance while conceding a single goal in
sixteen minutes and took a commanding 7-1 lead.
Added two more man-up goals (were 6/6
at that stage) while kept denying Marseille for 0/11 so they led 9-1 in the
middle of the third, securing a hasslefree finish of the game. Though their
almost perfect stats dropped a bit later, it was still telling that during the
first three periods the Hungarians let only 8 French shots be on target, out of
22, and only four ended up in the net (Marseille’s first two man-up goals
arrived from their 12-13th attempts, in the last minute of the penultimate
period). Thus the Hungarians could afford the luxury of resting their
key-players including Denes Varga who sat out for the entire fourth period.
The following encounters promised
much more excitements as the second and third placed sides clashed – but only
the first one brought a balanced battle.
Brescia tried to break its opening
day curse – lost 3/3 quarters before – and they seemed to be in the right
moment after having clinched the Italian title by stunning Recco a week ago.
However, they faced a tough challenge despite Jug didn’t enjoy the finest
season in its history (lost its home title after five years).
Though the Croats took the lead but
the Italians settled soon, took over the lead, managed to go by two at 3-5 but
Jug could come back to even with some great defending. Still, Angelos
Vlachopoulos put Brescia ahead shortly before halftime for 5-6. With a fine goal
from the centre by Vincenzo Renzuto they jumped to 5-7 after their first
possession but then their offence slowed down and their next one came 6:10
minutes later and in the meantime Hrvoje Benic netted two so Jug came back to
7-7 once more. Again, the Greek master-shooter Vlachopoulos gave Brescia some
psychological edge to end their offensive miseries with 65 seconds to go. It
was an action-packed finish as Xavi Garcia equalised from a man-up but Renzuto
also sent the ball home with 0:03 on the clock for 8-9.
And similarly to the previous period,
the Italians opened with a goal from the centre, this time with a backhander
from Djordje Lazic for 8-10. Then Jug survived a couple of minutes when Brescia
could have gone three goals up and with 4:35 remaining Fatovic halved the gap
but an action goal from Jacopo Alesiani switched back the two-goal cushion. A
nice action goal from the wing kept Jug’s hope alive at 10-11, and after
killing a man-down, they had a chance to go even once more from a 6 on 5. They
had their shots but Marco del Lungo came up with three huge saves and those
proved to be decisive. Brescia earned a man-up at the other end and after a
time-out an easy put-away from the right side by Giacomo Cannella closed down
the contest 78 seconds from time.
The last QF featuring two former
champions was basically decided in eight minutes. 2014 winner Barceloneta
scored from all possible situations including man-ups, counters and perimeter
shots while 2018 winner Olympiacos failed to arrive to the match. Physically
they were in the pool but nothing reminded of the team, which had played three
finals in the last four editions. Indeed, they lacked the firmness, the
‘cement’ what their Croatian legion had meant to especially their defence in
the previous years – now, with just two young Americans in their line-up, they
were simply torn apart in eight minutes as the Spaniards stormed to a 6-0 lead.
Olympiacos could score its first goal early in the second, at 7-0, but it did
not slow down their rivals. When Theodoros Vlachos called for an emergency
time-out in the middle of the second period at 10-2, the number of shots on
target was 14-5 – a shocking difference at this level.
At halftime it stood 13-2 and by the
middle of the third Barceloneta bettered Recco’s single-match scoring record in
the finals from 2017 when the Italians netted 15 against Eger in the bronze
medal game. The two sides were classes apart, at the end Barceloneta stopped at
22 – something one may hardly see again in a final tournament.
Champions League, F8 Quarter-final
QUOTES
Pro Recco (ITA) v Waspo 98 Hannover
(GER) 16-9
Gabi Hernandez, coach, Recco – “I
don’t think it was a tight game at any stage, we kept it under control. I know
we have to improve our 6 on 5 as it did not work well today but I think our
defence was alright for most of the match and I hope we can further cut the
number of our mistakes tomorrow.”
Aleksandar Ivovic, captain, Recco –
“It’s the victory that counts but our man-up and man-down, especially in the
first two quarters, were not good. In the next matches it will be these little
details which will determine the winner so tonight we have to analyse and see
why this happened. But, on the other hand, we played with just the right
intensity. All in all, it was our rhythm that broke them down in the end.”
Karsten Seehafer, coach, Hannover –
“Congratulations to Recco, they deserved this win. We lost a player early due
to an ear injury which was a big disadvantage and that also showed that it was
a tough game, perhaps too tough sometimes. I don’t have anything against
anyone, Recco was better today, however, respecting the rules is something you
expect from all sides. I think we did well all in all, I think 16-9 shows a bit
bigger difference than what was really between the two teams.”
Darko Brguljan, player, Hannover –
“Generally speaking, I am not satisfied. We could and should have done better,
our start was bad. Still, they were the favourites and they deserved to win.
They were better today but I am not happy. For me, the final score 16-9 isn’t
realistic. We had 10 days to prepare for this match. It should have gone
differently. Now we have to see who comes next, maybe Olympiacos. I think we
have a chance. We can regain our rhythm and we are good in that.”
FTC-Telekom (HUN) v CN Marseille
(FRA) 14-6
Zsolt Varga, coach, Ferencvaros –
“I’m extremely proud of my players, they did a brilliant job. Our defence was
close to perfection and once it works like this it’s easier to attack with
confidence and we just did that. Marseille is a great team, they produced a
great season, had some fine results so we really had to put in our maximum to
play a game like this against them. It also makes a difference if you have
enough time to prepare for a game like this, we analysed their matches for long
hours and that helped a lot to have the proper plan in defence. Still, I should
say that the difference is a lot smaller between our teams, it was just a bad
day for them, but of course we were also the cause for this at some extent.”
Milos Scepanovic, coach, Marseille –
“You are right, everyone expected more from us in this match but don’t forget
that we played with Ferencvaros, which is a great team. We started well, we
played the way we wanted, created chances but we missed them all. At the same time,
Ferencvaros started scoring and after a while it’s not easy to stay calm and
play on a high level when you see that your opponent is leading by many goals.
We still tried to play our game and I saw good things. We have to stay
positive, I think this team just began its journey and we should be proud what
we have achieved in this season.”
Ioannis Fountoulis, player,
Ferencvaros – “I think it was a good match. We were under pressure as
favourites. At the beginning Marseille played very aggressively but after they
missed some extraman chances while our defence worked well we could score some
easy goals. At that moment it was as if the pressure was lifted off our
shoulders. We pulled away by 5-6 goals and controlled the game till the end
with our experience. For tomorrow ‘s match I don’t know what to expect. Brescia
beat us twice this year and Jug is a very experienced at playing these kind of
matches. I think it will be a very tight game, whoever comes next.”
Igor Kovacevic, captain, Marseille –
“They started off the match better. It was really difficult for us to handle,
especially our young players. Ferencvaros has the experience of playing
high-pressure games. In our team only Andrija Prlainovic and Ante Vukicevic
know what it’s like, psychologically, and how to deal with that kind of
tension. But for us this must be a learning experience. I wish Ferencvaros all
the best in the following matches and to defend their title. We have fulfilled
our primary goal this season by qualifying for the Final 8. Everything beyond
that would be a huge bonus. Once again, it showed that it is difficult to make
a surprise at one’s first Final8 tournament.”
Jug Adriatic Osiguranje Dubrovnik
(CRO) v AN Brescia (ITA) 10-12
Vjekoslav Kobescak, coach, Jug –
“This game was like our season, we had good moments and bad moments, and the
bad ones prevailed at the end. We tried to bring our best but we are a bit of
short of experienced players and we are not strong enough to be at the top
constantly in such a game of high intensity. Brescia didn’t do any surprising,
they have a great team with many good players and that made the difference. We
need to talk about the future in the summer, we have promising young players
but so far we are not good enough to be among the best four teams in this
competition.”
Alessandro Bovo, coach, Brescia –
“After three losses, we finally made it, we are among the best four teams in
Europe. Today we played badly, especially our defence didn’t work well, we have
to adjust a couple of things for tomorrow but today we are happy as we won our
quarter-final for the first time.”
Hrvoje Benic, player, Jug – “Well, it
was a good match to watch with a lot of fast goals. I think it was a beautiful
game too. Unfortunately, we conceded some goals in the moment the time was
almost running out and after some rebounding shots. Now we have to try to pull
everything together, we need to wash away this bitter feeling and try to finish
this strange season with a winning mood. We had our chances today but failed to
use them.”
Marco del Lungo, goalkeeper, Brescia
– “It was a very difficult match as any quarterfinals, no matter whether it’s
played at national or international level. We won this match with lucidity,
determination and persistence and most importantly we never lost our nerves. We
have yet to improve and correct some things in defence and our 6 on 6. The
winning of the national title gave us a boost in self-confidence. It made us
realise that we are ready for the top level. Tomorrow ‘s match will be
difficult, Ferencvaros players want to make up for losing their home title so
it will be very hard for us.”
Zodiac Atletic Barceloneta (ESP) v
Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE) 22-8
Chus Martin, coach, Barceloneta – “It
was amazing to see the team playing like this. The first period was fantastic
and that decided the match. I think we were well prepared, we played with
discipline, with the right speed, was good in defence and that gave us the
chance to claim such an easy win. Tomorrow we will face Recco, it’s a very
tough match but I think the team is ready for this great challenge.”
Theodoros Vlachos, coach, Olympiacos
– “It’s hard to say a word after a game like this… We expected a different
match but it was all gone after the first period. Barceloneta played an
excellent game, they scored from all their chances, ran their counters, it was
impossible to come back after that. Still, you can lose a game to a great team
like Barceloneta but definitely not this way. It was the worst defeat in the
history of our club and now I feel terribly sorry for our fans, for our club.
I’m the first one who is responsible for this, then the players too… And it’s
going to be tough to recover from this as I saw their faces during the match…
Never saw anything similar in my career… Again, we apologise for our fans, this
match was not worthy to Olympiacos.”
Felipe Perrone, player, Barceloneta –
“Regardless of how it might seem, but this match was not easy. We have been
waiting for this all season. We tried to put pressure on our rivals right away
and we did it. Olympiacos has been in three finals recently and is a great team
that has a lot of experience in the Champions League. Today was excellent but
now we must forget it. We have a new match against Recco tomorrow, one of, if
not the best team in the world. Recco is always Recco, so we have to be focused
and prepared.”
Dimitrios Skoumpakis, player,
Olympiacos – “It was a very bad game. We simply didn’t play our game. This is
not us. Now it’s too late to change that or turn back time. This was one of the
most important matches. We must not leave it like this. Tomorrow we must show
the best of us. We don’t want to finish the season like that. We hope to show a
better face tomorrow.”
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