Ten-time LEN Champions League winners
Pro Recco are three games away from becoming the first team since 1970 to win
three titles in a row. However, there are some strong candidates who may
prevent the Italians' Belgrade Triple. The LEN Champions League Final Eight
tournament kicks off on Wednesday in the Serbian capital.
Winning the last two editions held in
Belgrade, Recco are well set to retain their title and achieve the triple that
only Mladost Zagreb were able to secure in the past, between 1968 and 1970.
The first roadblock on the Italian
sides’ road to the three-peat is Ferencvaros – the Hungarians met Recco in the
2021 final and the 2022 semi-final, Recco beat them convincingly on both
occasions. Now the Magyars need to step up in case they want to continue their
medal winning streak as they were 3/3 in the previous three editions.
Provided Recco passes the first test,
they would most probably face their old foe Brescia. They could take down their
home arch-rival in the Italian final, though in one game anything can happen.
This is exactly what Vouliagmeni is hoping for as they face Brescia in the
quarters – though many think that among the Day 1 fixtures, this might become a
one-sided contest. Brescia won their group and is determined not to wait so long
for their first final – earlier, they had four failed attempts in the quarters.
Then, in the past two editions, they managed to make the semis but couldn’t
reach the final. Now they have other plans in their minds.
The other half of the bracket promises
thrilling battles as well. Host Novi Beograd has a mounting task of overcoming
Olympiacos, led by Igor Milanovic who had coached NBG last season to the final
where they had lost in a shootout to Recco. Playing the F8 at home for the last
time is a big chance for the Serbs, but Olympiacos is one of the strongest
sides here with the potential to win the trophy.
Barceloneta could finally top their
group in the prelims, but the reward - a game against Jug in the quarters -
looks anything but an easy match-up. Indeed, the Croats, despite falling in the
quarters on the last three occasions, always gave a hard time to their
respective rivals, and even without a couple of injured players, they are
considered a really tough opponent. Barceloneta posted the best result sheet in
the prelims, with 13 wins and one loss, and now they need to peak in order to
reach the final - a feat they had achieved first and, to date, the last time in
2014.
Champions League, Final Eight,
Quarter-finals
15.30 Zodiac CNA Barceloneta (ESP) v
Jug Adriatic Osiguranje Dubrovnik (CRO)
17.00 Novi Beograd (SRB) v Olympiacos
Piraeus (GRE)
18.30 AN Brescia (ITA) v NC
Vouliagmeni (GRE)
20.00 Pro Recco (ITA) v FTC-Telekom
Budapest (HUN)
PRE-GAMES QUOTES
Zodiac CNA Barceloneta (ESP) v Jug
Adriatic Osiguranje Dubrovnik (CRO)
Elvis Fatovic, coach, Barceloneta
“In the past I’ve managed to get used
to coaching teams against Croatians and deal with the emotions. I did that on
the Australian bench when we played with Croatia and we also met Jug last
season here in Belgrade, though in a less important match. Jug have always been
a tough rival, especially in a single game, so we need to keep our focus on
this match.”
Felipe Perrone, captain, Barceloneta
“Even if we did well and finished
first in our group which never happened before, this does not matter here.
Tomorrow a new event begins where the chances are equal and you need to do your
best to achieve a good result. And even if we come here after a good run in the
prelims, we must focus on the next game and not look any further.”
Vjekoslav Kobescak, coach, Jug
“Even not all the players on board as
we have to play without Loren Fatovic and most probably Filip Krzic, we are not
lowering our ambitions. Of course, even if we have them, Barceloneta would
still be the favourite for this game but I hope other players will step up and
we can play a great game. We already reached one goal by qualifying – last year
we finished eighth, so we want to do better – now let’s take the first step in
the quarter-final.”
Maro Jokovic, captain, Jug
“Practically, we’ve achieved
everything we had wished for in the season, with the exception of winning the
Croatian championship. We are two key players less, but that doesn’t mean we
hold up our hands. We want to play good games, and this event and this
situation is also a great opportunity for our young players. Unlike most of the
teams here, we are playing without any pressure – and this is when we are the
most dangerous!”
Novi Beograd (SRB) v Olympiacos
Piraeus (GRE)
Zivko Gocic, coach, Novi Beograd
“We are playing at home, we have a
great chance. However, this is a very balanced tournaments, we have eight teams
with almost equal chances to win the trophy. We are well prepared for the first
game, we play Olympiacos, it’s going to be a huge battle.”
Angelos Vlachopoulos, captain, Novi
Beograd
“Last year is last year, finished,
does not matter anymore. We need to reach a good level, we are well prepared to
play three good games and to reach our target.”
Igor Milanovic, coach, Olympiacos
“I feel myself very comfortable in my
beautiful city of Belgrade. And we don’t feel any pressure, no one made huge
expectations towards me or my team – I was a lot more excited during those
three matches in the local final against our great rival Vouliagmeni. We are
here to play good games, we showed in the last round in Recco that we can have
wonderful periods as well as ugly ones, I hope we bring the good things here.
We have problems, we came here with our first centre-forward, but I strongly believe
in my players that they can achieve anything as they have such big hearts.”
Konstantinos Genidounias, captain,
Olympiacos
“Last year we missed the Final Eight
here in Belgrade so we are happy that this season we qualified and can play
here. In this event everything counts, the heart, the brain, everything and I
think we are ready to give our best.”
AN Brescia (ITA) v NC Vouliagmeni
(GRE)
Sandro Bovo, coach, Brescia
“In the last two years we played the
semi-finals but lost both times. I hope we can go one better but first we have
to deal with Vouliagmeni. We need to reach a high level in our game, this is
the only way we can expect good things here.”
Christian Presciutti, captain,
Brescia
“This is going to be my last
tournament, so I’m already full of emotions. We have a great team, and we can
achieve great things, we just need to bring our best efforts to the pool.”
Vladimir Vujasinovic, coach,
Vouliagmeni
“For us, this is already a great
thing to be here for the first time. We played great games in the prelims, now
we want to play good games too and let’s see how far we can go.”
Marios Kapotsis, captain, Vouliagmeni
“We are really happy to be part of
the Final Eight and we just want to enjoy the games here. Our first task is
really easy, to play with Brescia (smiles). This is going to be a really tough
match, they are a fantastic team, so I think we need to do our best to be on
level with them.”
Pro Recco (ITA) v FTC-Telekom
Budapest (HUN)
Sandro Sukno, coach, Recco
“Everyone expects us to win but for
that you need to win three matches and our first one against Ferencvaros is
already a big challenge as they have an excellent team and they can play on a
really high level, so we must concentrate on that game and not thinking of the
cup.”
Aleksandar Ivovic, captain, Recco
“We won the last two editions, but
this is another tournament where we face Ferencvaros in our first game. This is
going to be a very big game where we have to do our best to beat them. We are
ready for this tournament and of course our goal is to win it again but we have
to focus on the quarterfinal now.”
Zsolt Varga, coach, FTC
“We are preparing solely for our
upcoming quarter-finals against Recco. Their line-up is the strongest here, no
doubt, but we are determined to put up a good fight. You cannot invent anything
big in order to beat them – there is only one way, and that is to win every
little duel in defence, then in offence. You have to make one good defence,
then one good offence. And again, and again, and again. That can work, nothing
else.”
Denes Varga, captain, FTC
“It has always been difficult at the
Final Eight, but this is going to be the most difficult one for sure. We came
here to play and not giving away anything for free. We should fight, be
disciplined and united.”
FACTS & FIGURES
Clubs
• Recco are after a more than 50
years-old record: to win the trophy three times in a row. This happened only
once in the history of the competition, Mladost Zagreb made the triple in
1968-69-70.
Besides this, there were eight more title-defences:
Partizan Beograd (YUG) – 1966, 1967
Partizan Beograd (YUG) – 1975, 1976
Spandau 04 (FRG) – 1986, 1987
Mladost Zagreb (CRO) – 1990, 1991
Jadran Split (CRO) – 1992, 1993
Posillipo Napoli (ITA) – 1997, 1998
Pro Recco (ITA) – 2007, 2008
Pro Recco (ITA) – 2021, 2022
• Recco claimed their 10th title last
year to further cement their top rank on the all-time winners’ list. Partizan
Beograd (SRB) and Mladost Zagreb (CRO) are tied second with 7 victories apiece.
• In the current field, five of the
eight participants have already clinched the trophy in the past – Recco (10
times, see the years below), Jug (4 times), Olympiacos (twice), Barceloneta
(once), Ferencvaros (once).
• As for the other three, Novi
Beograd reached the final once, last year, Brescia’s best effort are two bronze
medal matches (last two editions), while Vouliagmeni appear on the big stage
for the first time.
• Six teams also played here last
year (Recco, NBG, FTC, Brescia, Barceloneta, Jug), Olympiacos return after
having been absent a year ago, and this is the first-ever tour for the other
Greek side Vouliagmeni. From last year’s line-up Hannover and Marseille are
missing.
• With the exception of 2015 and
2016, Italy have always had two teams in the finals since 2014 (6 out of 8 occasions,
including the last five). Recco and Brescia are the constant features, BPM
joined them in 2019 as the third one.
• This is the first time Greece have
two teams in the F8 (Olympiacos and Vouliagmeni).
• This is the 5th time that two
nations have two teams apiece. It happened in 2014 (Italy and Serbia), in 2016
(Hungary, Croatia), 2017 (Hungary, Italy), 2018 (Hungary, Italy).
Coaches
• Most of the coaches speak (almost)
the same language – we have three Serbian bosses (Zivko Gocic at NBG, Igor
Milanovic at Olympiacos, Vladimir Vujasinovic at Vouliagmeni), three Croatians
(Sandro Sukno at Recco, Elvis Fatovic at Barceloneta, Vjekoslav Kobescak at
Jug), and natives lead Brescia (Sandro Bovo) and Ferencvaros (Zsolt Varga,
though he speaks Croatian after playing five years in Zagreb).
• All eight coaches have been
outstanding players in the past, we have five Olympic champions among them:
Milanovic (1984, 1988), Gocic (2016), Sukno (2012), Bovo (1992) and Varga
(2000). Kobescak has a silver from 1996, Vujasinovic from 2004.
• Three of them have already achieved
the rare feat of winning the Champions League both as a player and a coach:
•• Milanovic – as player in 1989
(w/Partizan), 1990 (w/Partizan), 1995 (w/Catalunya) – as coach in 2011
(w/Partizan), 2015 (w/Recco)
•• Sukno – as player in 2012 – as
coach in 2022 (both w/Recco)
•• Kobescak – as player in 1996
(w/Mladost) – as coach in 2016 (w/Jug)
• Three of them may join them as they
were champions as players:
•• Vujasinovic in 2003 (w/Recco),
2007 (w/Recco), 2008 (w/Recco), 2011 (w/Partizan)
•• Gocic in 2017 (w/Szolnok)
•• Fatovic in 2001 (w/Jug), 2006
(w/Jug)
• Varga won the Cupwinners Cup with
Mladost in 1999 and led Ferencvaros to Champions League triumph in 2019 as a
coach.
• Bovo won the Euro Cup (LEN Trophy)
as a player with Pescara (1996) and Savona (2005) and won the Euro Cup with
Brescia in 2016.
Players
• Apart from Recco’s record-tying
attempt, there is a giant individual record which might be bettered: if the
Italians retain their title, Pietro Figlioli would write history to become the
first player with 7 Champions League trophies. Man of eternity, the Aussie born
great, who turned 39 this Monday, is tied first on the all-time list with
Partizan’s legend Djordje Perisic and Recco’s current President Maurizio
Felugo, both with 6 victories under their belts (Figlioli was not entered for
the 2012 Final Four but he played in the prelims).
• Aussie Aaron Younger can continue
his outstanding streak and clinch a 4th consecutive title – he was part of the
winning teams in 2019 (with Ferencvaros), then in 2021 and 2022 (with Recco),
and was also champion in 2017 (with Szolnok, so lifted the trophy in four of
the last five editions).
• Younger, together with Recco
team-mate Aleksandar Ivovic they might join an elite circle of players with 5
titles: Ozren Bonacic (YUG, with Partizan&Mladost), Mirko Sandic (YUG, with
Partizan), Tamas Kasas (HUN, with Posillipo&Recco) and Stefano Tempesti
(ITA, with Recco).
• Novi Beograd’s Dusko Pijetlovic can
also become a 5-time winner if NBG land the title.
• While Younger won trophies with
three different clubs representing two nations, Barceloneta’s Felipe Perrone
achieved the rare feat to win the Champions League with three clubs from three
different countries: with Recco (ITA) in 2012, with Barceloneta (ESP) in 2014
and with Jug (CRO) in 2016.
• Serbia’s Andrija Prlainovic holds
the record for winning the Champions League with four different clubs (from
three countries). The Serbian great (currently playing for Marseille) was
synonymous with European success between 2011 and 2017 as in five out of seven
seasons he lifted the trophy – with Partizan (SRB) in 2011, with Recco (ITA) in
2012, with Crvena Zvezda (SRB) in 2013, with Recco (ITA) in 2015 and with
Szolnok (HUN) in 2017.
Quarter-finals
15.30 Zodiac CNA Barceloneta (ESP) v
Jug Adriatic Osiguranje Dubrovnik (CRO)
• Best results
•• Barceloneta: Winner (2014), 3rd
(2013, 2015, 2018)
•• Jug: 4x winner (1981, 2001, 2006,
2016), LEN Trophy-winner (2000)
• Prelims
•• Barceloneta: 13 wins, 1 loss –
169-100
•• Jug: 4 wins, 4 draws, 6 losses –
156-161
• Recent encounters
2021-22: For 5-8th: 12-9. 2019-20:
13-15. 2017-18, 9-9, 8-6, bronze medal: 14-8. 2016-17: 7-7, 10-11. 2014-15,
bronze medal: 14-12
• Barceloneta produced the best
result sheet in the prelims, winning 13 games out of 14. They also conceded the
least goals, 100.
• On contrary, Jug came up with the
weakest run among the eight finalist – indeed, ever since the introduction of
the F8, no team managed to clinch an F8 berth with only four wins in 14 rounds.
Jug also got the highest number of goals among the finalists.
• Barceloneta played seven QF matches
since 2014, won 5 and lost 2, including the last one against eventual winner
Recco. Though since winning the title in 2014, they could never pass the semis.
• Jug had a fine run in the quarters
in the past, won four in a row, then lost the last three (2019, 2021, 2022).
• Barceloneta’s coach Elvis Fatovic
faces an emotionally demanding task – he was born in Dubrovnik and became an
icon of Jug, won two Champions League titles (2001 and 2006), five
championships and six cups with the club.
17.00 Novi Beograd (SRB) v Olympiacos
Piraeus (GRE)
• Best results
•• Novi Beograd: Runner-up (2022)
•• Olympiacos: Winner (2002, 2018),
Runner-up (2016, 2019)
• Prelims
•• Novi Beograd: 10 wins, 2 draws, 2
losses – 178-136
•• Olympiacos: 10 wins, 1 draw, 3
losses – 175-114
• Recent encounters
2021-22: 9-12, 12-12
• This is the second F8 appearance of
Novi Beograd, last year they reached the final where they lost to Recco in a
thrilling match, decided by a shootout.
• After playing three finals in four
years (between 2016 and 2019), Olympiacos was thrashed in 2021 by Barceloneta
in the quarters (9-22) and last year they couldn’t make the cut for the first
time since 2015.
• It’s going to be a very special
game for Serbian legend Igor Milanovic who had led Novi Beograd to the final a
year ago in this pool, now he will be in charge at the other bench.
• Also, the clash will be special for
NBG’s Greeks Angelos Vlachopoulos and Dmitrios Skoumpakis to play against their
former club.
18.30 AN Brescia (ITA) v NC
Vouliagmeni (GRE)
• Best results
•• Brescia: Bronze medallist (2021),
4x Euro Cup winner (2002, 2003, 2006, 2016)
•• Vouliagmeni: Winner of Cupwinners
Cup (1997), Euro Cup runner-up (2004)
• Prelims
•• Brescia: 11 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses
– 169-124
•• Vouliagmeni: 5 wins, 2 draws, 7
losses – 130-156
• Recent encounters
Never met in CL
• After Brescia had failed to reach
the semis upon their first four tries in the F6/8 (lost QFs in 2014, 2017,
2018, 2019), in Belgrade they made the top four in the previous two editions
(2021, 2022), though never won in the semis.
• Vouliagmeni’s only quarter-final
appearance dates back to 2013, the last year before the new Champions League
format was introduced. Ten years ago Barceloneta ousted them by winning both
legs of the QF.
20.00 Pro Recco (ITA) v FTC-Telekom
Budapest (HUN)
• Best results
•• Recco: 10x winner (1965, 1984,
2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2021, 2022)
•• FTC: Winner (2019), Runner-up
(2021), bronze medallist (2022), 4x winner of Cupwinners Cup (1975, 1978, 1980,
1998), 2x Euro Cup winner (2017, 2018)
• Prelims
•• Recco: 12 wins, 2 losses – 192-102
•• FTC: 8 wins, 1 draw, 5 losses –
148-141
• Recent encounters:
2022, semi-final: 10-7. 2021, final:
9-6, 2019-20: 13-13. 2018-19: 9-6, 13-7.
• When in Belgrade, these two sides
should meet: they played the 2021 final, the 2022 semi-final and now face off
in the quarters. Recco won both matches convincingly (see above)
• After failing to win in the
quarters in 2014, Recco played at least in the semi-finals in the last 7
editions.
• Ferencvaros had three F8
appearances so far, in the last three editions, and always made the semis.
However, their final rankings are declining: 1st in 2019, 2nd in 2021 and 3rd
in 2022.
• Recco’s Aaron Younger and Gergo
Zalanki both played for Ferencvaros some years ago.
GENERAL INFORMATION:
Dates: Wednesday 31st May - Saturday
3rd June 2023
Venue:
Outdoor Swimming Pool
SRC 11 April – Autoput za Novi Sad
br. 2 Beograd RS
Wednesday, 31st May
15:30 1A vs 4B ZODIAC CNA BARCELONETA
– VK JUG AO (RM1)
17:00 2B vs 3A VK NOVI BEOGRAD –
OLYMPIACOS PIRAEUS (RM4)
18:30 1B vs 4A AN BRESCIA – NC
VOULIAGMENI (RM2)
20:00 2A vs 3B PRO RECCO – FTC
TELEKOM BUDAPEST (RM3)
Thursday, 1st June
15:30 LRM1 vs LRM4 (SF1)
17:00 LRM2 vs LRM3 (SF2)
18:30 WRM1 vs WRM4 (SF3)
20:00 WRM2 vs WRM3 (SF4)
Note: VK Novi Beograd will play the
game at 17:00
Friday, 2nd June
19:00 LSF1 vs LSF2 (7-8 place)
21:00 WSF1 vs WSF2 (5-6 place)
Saturday, 3rd June
19:00 LSF3 vs LSF4 (3-4 place)
21:00 WSF3 vs WSF4 (1-2 place)
How to Watch:
Live globally on www.len.eu and
Sport Klub: CRO, SRB, MNE, BIH, MKD,
SLO, KOS
CYBC: CYP
GPB: GEO
ERT: GRE
MTVA: HUN
Sky Italia: ITA
RTVE: ESP
ACCREDITATION LINK
Link:
https://mediachampions2023.microplustiming.com
Accreditation deadline: 27 May
ACCREDITATION CENTRE WORKING HOURS
30.05 --- 8am-8pm
31.05 – 01.06 --- 1.30pm-8pm
02.06 – 03.06 --- 5pm-8pm
