The eight participants in the Champions League Final Eight in Belgrade finished their national championships last week, and they are now focused on the tournament in the capital of Belgrade (May 31 – June 3).
But, before the F8, they will play one more round of the Preliminary Stage. The 14th round is on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Most of the games scheduled for the next two days will be rehearsals for the F8, and the teams will have no pressure.
Practically only one match will affect the standings. It will be a big derby. European champion Pro Recco welcomes Olympiacos in Recco’s outdoor pool on Wednesday. The stake is 2nd place in Group A.
Two games, with no competitive performance, will be played in Budapest, but one of these will be something special.
2022/23 Champions League, Day 14, Preview
Group B(Tuesday)
The teams in Group B finish the Preliminary phase tomorrow. Ferencvaros will go to Belgrade from 3rd, and Jug from 4th place in the group.
Brescia is currently 1st. Novi Beograd has a slight chance of climbing atop. But the last hope is still alive, so the race hasn’t ended.
Two points separate Novi Beograd and Brescia, which has a better score in the head-to-head matches against the Serbian champion
Novi Beograd will host Spandau 04 tomorrow. Both teams won their national titles last week. The trophy in the German League is the crown of the season for Spandau, since it didn’t qualify for the F8, while the domestic title was one of Novi Beograd’s stops on their way to the biggest goal at the Final Eight.
It’s expected that the Serbian team will beat the Germans. After that, Novi Beograd will wait for the news from Italy and hope that Jug will earn an away win.
Many facts indicate that everything, but the hosts’ win, in the game Brescia – Jug would be a surprise. Brescia played well throughout the season. The Italians haven’t lost a single point in home matches. Jug has nothing to gain in this match. But, it’s sure that Jug would also like to finish the group stage with a victory, which would be a good encouragement before the Final Four.
Jug suffered a painful 8:13 defeat in Dubrovnik in the 1st round, so it will be an additional motive for the Croats.
If Jug does its best, this duel might be interesting.
Jug hasn’t won three points in the Champions League since the 9th round and a 12:9 victory over OSC Budapest. In the next four games, Jug collected two points, but it was enough for 4th place. Last week, Jadran was better than Jug in the last match of the final of the Croatian League.
Brescia lost to Recco 0:2 in the final of the Italian League. Before that, Ferencvaross taught a lesson to Brescia in Budapest with a 10:6 victory.
The encounter between Ferencvaros and Sabadell will decide nothing in terms of the standings. But, the game is significant for Ferencvaros. Tomorrow’s Hungarian – Spanish battle will be the last home match for Ferencvaros’ coach Zsolt Varga and his farewell to the fans. The game will be played in the outdoor “Alfred Hajos” pool on the Margaret Island.
Zsolt Varga with the trophy for the 2023 Hungarian champion Photo by Laszlo Balogh/Total Waterpolo
Varga was appointed as Hungary’s head coach last summer. Then it was agreed that he would coach both Hungary and Ferencvaros until the end of this season. From this summer, he will focus only on the national team. Varga will leave Ferencvaros after the Final Eight in Belgrade (where Ferencvaros will also have the fans’ support), and he will be replaced by his current assistant Balazs Nyeki. Varga has coached Ferencvaros since 2013 and led the club to two LEN Euro Cups and the 2019 Champions League.
OSC Budapest and Marseille will face off at the same time as Ferencvaros and Sabadell.
SCHEDULE (May 23)
Ferencvaros – Sabadell (19:30)
OSC Budapest – Marseille (19:30)
Novi Beograd – Spandau 04 (19:45)
Brescia – Jug (20:30)
1. Brescia 13 games – 31 points ( goal difference +41)
2. Novi Beograd 13 – 29 (+37)
3. Ferencvaros 13 – 25 (+9)
4. Jug 13 – 16 (-1)
5. Marseille 13 – 13 (-11)
6. Sabadell 13 – 13 (-18)
7. Spandau 13 – 11 (-33)
8. OSC Budapest 13 – 10 (-24)
Group A (Wednesday)
The big derby, Olympiacos – Pro Recco, opened the Champions League group stage. The same rivals will face off in the derby of the last matchday.
As mentioned, this duel is decisive in the battle for 2nd place. Recco needs only a point to keep 2nd place since it has two more than Olympiacos.
Maybe 2nd place isn’t a significant advantage. Whoever finishes 2nd and 3rd will have a demanding opponent in the quarterfinals – Novi Beograd or Ferencvaros. But it’s definitively better to avoid a clash with the host at the start of the tournament.
Olympiacos opened the season excellently, beating Recco in a great battle (9:7). At that moment, the Greeks seemed the most serious contender for the top spot. But, the Greeks lost some points unexpectedly (home loss to Barceloneta, a tie with Radnicki in Kragujevac), and 1st place became unreachable. Recco has played better and better in the last few months.
Punta Sant’Anna pool Photo by Pro Recco
The European champion is a slight favorite in the match in its outdoor pool “Punta Sant’Anna”, where it will have big support from the fans. Olympiacos, with three former Recco players (Bijac, Filipovic, Buslje) and head coach Igor Milanovic who led Recco to the European title in 2015, is a team that can beat anybody.
6:3 Pro Recco and Olympiacos have played each other nine times in the Champions League in the last ten years. Recco recorded six, and Olympiacos three wins. But Olympiacos defeated Recco twice in crucial matches. In 2018, the Red Whites from Piraeus beat Recco in Genoa in the final of the Final Eight (9:7). Next year, Olympiacos beat Recco 12:11 in the semifinals in the F8 in Hannover. The third win came at the start of this season.
In theory, Recco can still move to 1st place if beats Olympiacos. The second condition of that possibility is Barceloneta’s loss in the last round. Knowing that the group leader meets Dinamo Tbilisi in Barcelona, it’s clear that that option is almost impossible.
The fourth participant in the F8 from Group A, Vouliagmeni, plays against Radnicki in Greece. In the first encounter between these two teams, Vouliagmeni erased a 4-goal deficit and earned a point (9:9), signaling that it was a serious contender for the F8 ticket. The Greek club has been keeping a solid level of shape throughout the season. It didn’t drop points in the matches against rivals of similar qualities or in the games against the teams from the bottom of the table. Therefore, Vouligamnei secured 4th place before the last round and can enter the game against Radnicki with no pressure.
The game against Hannover is a fine opportunity for Jadran Split to celebrate their first-ever title of the Croatian champion, won last week, with their fans and finish the season with a victory.
SCHEDULE (MAY 23)
Vouliagmeni – Radnicki (19:00 – 18:00 CET)
Pro Recco – Olympiacos (19:00)
Jadran Split – Waspo 98 Hannover (19:00)
Barceloneta – Dinamo Tbilisi (20:00)
1. Barceloneta 13 games – 36 points (goal difference +62)
2. Pro Recco 13 – 33 (+89)
3. Olympiacos 13 – 31 (+62)
4. Vouliagmeni 13 – 17 (-25)
5. Jadran 13 – 14 (-3)
6. Radnicki 13 – 12 (-36)
7. Dinamo T 13 – 6 (-78)
8. Waspo 98 Hannover 13 – 3 (-71)
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