The fifth round of the Premier VRL League was very interesting, causing ups and downs in the standings.
The games in Sabac and Kotor were under the spotlight this evening.
Sabac earned a very valuable 12:10 victory over Jadran, which was the only unbeaten team after four rounds.
Radnicki dominated in Kotor, beating Primorac 13:7.
“The Eternal Derby”, between Crvena Zvezda and Partizan, was a high-scoring thriller. Crvena Zvezda collected three points with a 19:17 victory.
Novi Beograd proved too strong for Buducnost, achieving a 25:7 victory.
Sabac’s victory helped Novi Beograd climb to the top of the table. Sabac is in 2nd place now. Jadran dropped from 1st to 3rd place, Radnicki is equal in points with Jadran, but holds 4th place because it lost to the Montenegrin champion.
The score in the encounter between Sabac and Jadran was tied nine times. During the first half, the lead changed hands a few times. In the next 16 minutes, the contest remained even, but Sabac managed to control the score and did not allow Jadran to take the lead. Sabac started strong, scoring two quick goals to establish a 2:0 lead. Midway through the first period, Jadran gained momentum and went on a 3:0 run within two and a half minutes, taking a 3:2 lead. At halftime, Jadran had a slim 6:5 advantage.
Aljosa Macic (Sabac) and Dmitrii Kholod (Jadran) Photo by VK Sabac Eliixir
The hosts entered the third period in the same manner as the first one – with two goals. In the 20th minute, Nemanja Stanojevic found the net for 7:6, and Jadran became the team that had to chase the rival again. The Montenegrins did it successfully for a while and equalized at 7:7, 8:8, 9:9, and 10:10. World champion Fran Valera scored from the deep right to make it 10:10 with 05:30 minutes left on the clock. However, it was Jadran’s last goal in the game. Immediately after Valera’s equalizer, Barac answered with a goal for 11:10. Following that goal, the defenses dominated, but both teams made mistakes in their attacks. With one minute and 57 seconds left, Sabac earned a penalty shot, which Stanojevic successfully converted, bringing the score to 12:10. The hosts maintained their 2-goal lead and secured three important points.
Andrej Barac was instrumental in Sabac’s attack, scoring four goals, while Stanojevic also contributed with three goals. Goalkeeper Darko Djurovic, who joined from Jadran this year, made a significant impact by recording 14 saves. On the other side, Fran Valera led Jadran with four goals. The visitors’ goalkeeper, Ilija Radovic, surprisingly played the entire match instead of Lazar Andric, making 10 saves.
Radnicki has been reaching a high level of shape, which resulted in a very convincing win over Primorac. For the first time this season, defense was key to Radnicki’s victory. The Kragujevac-based team dictated the pace from the beginning. Primorac leveled twice at 1:1 and 2:2. Radnicki earned a 4:2 lead with two quick goals from Prlainovic and Strahinja Rasovic. In the 6th minute, Mrsic halved the deficit (3:4). Then, Radnicki tightened its defense and held Primorac goalless for 16:09 minutes, while scoring four goals to establish a comfortable 8:3 lead deep into the third quarter. Mrsic ended the hosts’ drought from a penalty, but Radnicki regained a 4-goal advantage by the last break and increased the margin to six during the final eight minutes.
Angelos Vlachopoulos (Radnicki) and Yusuke Inaba (Primorac) Photo: VK Primorac Kotor
Strahinja Rasovic scored four, and Andrija Prlainovic netted three goals for Radnicki, but the best scorer was Marko Mrsic, who scored almost all goals for the home team – he found the net five times.
Twelve goals in the first quarter of the encounter between Crvena Zvezda and Partizan indicated that the “Eternal Derby” would turn into a scoring festival. Crvena Zvezda managed to build a 2-goal lead in the first period (7:5). By the middle of the second quarter, Partizan equalized at 7:7. In the following several minutes, the teams traded goals until 17-year-old Luigi Canepa put Partizan in front, 11:10 in the 15th minute. However, Nikolov leveled at 11:11, just 22 seconds later, with an extra player, so nobody had an advantage at halftime.
Photo by BVK Crvena Zvezda
Crvena Zvezda played well in defense after the middle break, which allowed “Red and Whites “to earn a 3-goal lead (14:11). Partizan netted two goals in the last 84 seconds of the third quarter and trailed by a goal before the final period (13:14). Partizan caught up with Crvena Zvezda at 14:14, 15:15, 16:16 and 17:17. Two minutes and five seconds before the final buzzer, Crvena Zvezda’s leftie Marko Radovic made it 18:17. After that, Partizan had no response. Aleksandar Radanovic sealed Crvena Zvezda’s victory, scoring from a distance for 19:17 with 35 seconds to go. Partizan lost, but displayed that it had made progress since the start of the season.
Five players scored four goals each: Petkovic, Radovic, and Pjesivac for Crvena Zvezda, while Andjelic and Djokanovic for Partizan.
Novi Beograd blew Buducnost away. The runner-up in the 2025 Champions League scored six unanswered goals in the first quarter. By halftime, Novi Beograd reached a double-digit margin (13:3). The hosts’ attack didn’t slow after the middle break. Novi Beograd recorded a 25:7 win with five goals from Marko Dimitrijevic.
2026 Premier VRL League, Round 5
Sabac Elixir – Jadran m:tel 12:10 (3:4,2:2, 4:2, 2:2)
Crvena Zvezda – Partizan 19:17 (7:5, 4:6,3:2, 5:4)
Primorac – Radnicki 7:13 (3:4, 0:2, 2:3, 2:4)
Novi Beograd – Buducnost One 25:7 (6:0, 7:3, 5:2, 7:2)
1. Novi Beograd 5 – 13
2. Sabac 5 – 12
3. Jadran HN 5 – 10
4. Radnicki 5 – 10
5. Primorac 5 – 9
6. Crvena Zvezda 5 – 6
7. Partizan 5 – 0
8. Buducnost 5 – 0
Visit the Premier League’s page on Total Waterpolo Arena for the live scores, schedule and standings.
