The list of the participants of the 2024 Champions League participants was finalized today, with Jug and Brescia securing the top spots in their qualification groups and joining Crvena Zvezda and Vouliagmeni, which qualified yesterday .
Even yesterday, it was almost sure that Jug would make it to the elite competition. Today, the Croats confirmed their 1st place in the group in Dubrovnik with a comfortable 14:10 win over OSC Budapest.
The last match of the qualifications determined the 16th participant. Brescia and Radnicki faced off in the derby in Group B in Kragujevac. Brescia proved too strong for a rejuvenated team of Radnicki, recording a 15:8 victory.
The 14 teams that didn’t reach the Champions League Main Phase will play in the LEN Euro Cup qualifications.
2024 Champions League Qualifications, Day 4
Group A (Hannover), Round 5
Barcelona – Apollon Smyrnis 12:11 (4:1, 2:4, 4:3, 2:3)
Barcelona: Bertran 4, Linares 2, Goma 2, Veich 1, Valls 1, Prat 1, Ramon 1.
Apollon: Bogdanovic 4, Alamanos 3, Troulos 3, Shushiashvili 1.
Hannover – Honved 13:12 (2:4, 4:2, 2:2, 5:4)
Waspo 98 Hannover: Benic 4 , Gansen 3, Schipper 3, Macan 1, Jaeschke 1, Milradovic 1.
Honved: B. Ekler 4, Zs. Ekler 3, Sugar 2, Nyiri 2, Vadovics 1.
Crvena Zvezda bye
The games of the last round in Hannover were practically preparation matches. Nothing was at stake.
Crvena Zvezda finished the tournament yesterday and went home with the Champions League ticket in the pocket.
All eliminated teams will continue the season in the LEN Euro Cup. There is no difference between 2nd and 5th place because the teams will be sorted into batches for the LEN Euro Cup draw according to the LEN Club’s Ranking and not according to the results achieved in the CHL qualifications.
However, both games were interesting.
Honved led 8:6 a minute before the end of the third quarter against Hannover. The hosts leveled at 8:8 with two goals in the last 47 seconds. Hannover continued its series and led 10:8 in the 26th minute. However, Honved regained the lead – 12:11. The Germans had the last laugh, they netted two goals in the final 61 seconds. Shipper scored a winner with three seconds left on the clock. Hannover finished 2nd and Honved in 5th place with no points—a quite disappointing result for the Hungarians, who lost to Crvena Zvezda by three goals (7:10) and suffered three one-goal defeats after that.
Barcelona led for most of the match with Apollon. The Greeks leveled only twice (4:4 and 5:5) but chased the Spaniards until the end. Still, Barcelona saved all three points.
1.Crvena Zvezda 4 – 12
2.Barcelona 4 – 9
3. Hannover 4 – 6
4. Apollon 4 – 3
5. Honved 4 – 0
Group B (Kragujevac), Round 5
Primorac – ASC Duisburg 16:10 (6:1, 3:1, 3:4, 4:4)
Primorac: Mrsic 4, Dr. Brguljan 3, Vico 2, Vuckovic 2, Dj.Stanojevic 2, Markovic 1, Perov 1, P.Cetkovic 1.
ASC Duisburg: Dolff 3, Seifert 2, Kolak 2, Sekulic 1, Illinger 1, Gusakov 1.
Radnicki – Brescia 8:15 (2:4, 1:4, 2:5, 3:2)
Radnicki: Randjic 3, Vickovic 3, Kojic 1, Jankovic 1.
Brescia: Del Basso 3, Dolce 3, Manzi 3, Renzuto 2, Guerrato 1, Alesiani 1, Irving 1, Balzarini 1.
Primorac earned three points, beating ASC Duisburg in the morning session of Day 4.
The most anticipated match of the tournament was played in front of the packed stands. Radnicki had great support, but Brescia silenced the home fans. The Italians’ experience came to the fore. They grabbed an early 4:1 lead. Radnicki cut the deficit to 2:4 and 3:5.
Still, Brescia’s defense, commanded by goalkeeper Petar Tesanovic, who had a great evening, did a great job in the middle of the game. The Italians kept Radnicki scoreless for more than eight minutes (between the 10th and the 19th minute). In that interval, Brescia scored four goals (and missed one penalty), so it had a huge 9:3 advantage at the beginning of the second half. Radnicki showed signs of life with two quick goals (5:9), but Brescia responded with four to head into the fourth quarter with a 13:5 lead and practically qualified for the Top 16. An official confirmation came eight minutes later.
Brescia will play in the Champions League Group A with Novi Beograd, Sabadell and Steaua (the composition of the groups is at the end of the article).
1.Brescia 4 – 12
2.Radnicki 4 – 8
3.Noisy-le-Sec 4 – 6
4.Primorac 4 – 4
5. ASC Duisburg 4 – 0
Group C (Oraeda), Round 3
Ortigia – Primorje 16:14 (4:3, 3:3, 3:4, 6:4)
Ortigia: Cassia 7, Inaba 3, Ferrero 3, La Rosa 1, Carnesecchi 1, A.Condemi 1.
Primorje: Brubnjak 4, Te Riele 3, Da. Brguljan 2, Cubranic 1, L. Babic 1, Crippa 1, K. Babic 1, Kadivec 1.
Oradea – Vouliagmeni 5:14 (2:3, 0:3, 1:4, 2:4)
Oradea: Belenyesi 1, Negrean 1, Velkic 1, Vancsik 1, Remes 1.
Vouliagmeni: Kalogeropoulos 2, Papasifakis 2, D.Woodhead 2, Kastrinakis 2, Kourovanis 2, Chalyvopoulos 1, Spahic 1, Kapotsis 1, Konstantopoulos 1.
Like in Group A, today’s games in Group C decided nothing because Vouliagmeni cemented 1st place yesterday.
Ortigia beat Primorje in a 30-goal match. The Croats led 9:8 and 10:9 at the finish of the third quarter. The Italians leveled before the fourth quarter, which was a one-man show. Ortigia’s Francesco Cassia was unstoppable in the fourth quarter. He scored five goals in the last five minutes and led his team to a 16:14 win.
Vouliagmeni confirmed it was the best in Group C with a convincing win over Oradea.
1.Vouliagmeni 3 – 9
2. Ortigia 3 – 6
3. Primorje 3 – 3
4. Oradea 3 – 0
5 Five countries will have two clubs in the Champions League: Italy, Spain, Serbia, Croatia and Greece
Group D (Dubrovnik), Round 3
Dinamo Bucharest – Tourcoing 8:14 (1:3, 3:4, 3:3, 1:4)
Dinamo Bucharest: Vranceanu 3, Bindea 1, Gorea 1, Piriianu 1, Pandelea 1, Jiganea 1.
Tourcoing: Kujacic 4, Marzouki 4, D.Zivkovic 2, Canonne 2, Milicic 1, Draskovic 1.
Jug – OSC Budapest 14:10 (4:3, 4:0, 4:4, 2:3)
Jug AO: Jokovic 4, Daube 3, Buric 2, Mozara 2, Lazic 1, Krzic 1, Zuvela 1.
OSC Budapest: Vin.Vigvari 2, Toth 2, Varnai 1, Baksa 1, Ten Broek 1, Salamon 1, Aranyi 1, Harai 1.
After Tourcoing beat Dinamo in the first match of the day, the only possible scenario that would stop Jug on their way to the Champions League was a 7-goal loss to OSC.
Probably nobody believed that storyline could happen.
Jug controlled the match and broke OSC’s resistance in the second quarter. Daube gave Jug a 5:3 lead in the 8th minute. Then, veteran Maro Jokovic scored three goals in a row and widened the gap to five – 8:3. The hosts had a 6-goal advantage in the third quarter. At the end of the game, four goals separated the rivals – 14:10.
Jug won 1st place very convincingly. It reached a +25 goal difference in three games (47:22). It qualified for the Champions League Group C, where it will face Pro Recco, Olympiacos, and Dinamo Tbilisi.
1.Jug 3 – 9
2.Tourcoing 3 – 6
3. OSC Budapest 3 – 3
4. Dinamo Bucharest 3 – 0
Champions League, Main Round, Groups
GROUP A: Novi Beograd (Serbia), Sabadell (Spain), Steaua Bucharest (Romania), Brescia (Italy).
GROUP B: Pro Recco (Italy), Olympiacos (Greece), Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia), Jug Dubrovnik (Croatia).
GROUP C: Ferencvaros (Hungary), Jadran Split (Croatia), Jadran Herceg Novi (Montenegro), Crvena Zvezda (Serbia).
GROUP D: Barceloneta (Spain), Marseille (France), Spandau 04 Berlin (Germany), Vouliagmeni (Greece)
The top two teams from each group will go to the quarterfinal stage (two groups of four) and the 3rd-placed and 4th-placed in the LEN Euro Cup eighth finals. The season starts on September 26—the full calendar – HERE.
More articles about the Champions League
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