There will be plenty of national derbies in the LEN Euro Cup qualifications.
The draws for the qualifications of the LEN Men’s Euro Cup and both Challenger Cups took place in Netanya today.
The teams were sorted into the lines for all three draws according to the LEN Club’s Rankings and the LEN Nation Clubs’ Rankings (if the clubs didn’t participate in the Euro Cups in the past few years).
LEN Euro Cup Qualifications (September 20 – 22)
A total of 36 teams will play in the Euro Cup (22 of them entered the LEN Euro Cup, and the remaining 14 arrived from the first round of the Champions League Qualifications).
There are many teams from the same countries in the qualifications (only the teams from the countries ranked 1st – 11th were able to enter the competition). Therefore, it was impossible to avoid clashes between the teams from the same countries. The teams were drawn into eight groups. The 1st-placed and the 2nd-placed teams from each group will qualify for the LEN Euro Cup Group Stage.
Vasas, the reigning champion, will play in the group in Budapest, but it won’t be an organizer. The host of this group is BVSC Zuglo. Besides them, Ludwigsburg (Germany) and Mataro (Spain) will play here.
Savona, the runner-up in the 2023 LEN Euro Cup, will also play a national derby, as it was drawn into Group B, together with Partizan (Serbia) and ASC Duisburg (Germany). The Germans are the organizers.
There will be a national derby between Serbian clubs, Sabac and Valis, in a very strong Group A, which will see Ortigia, Noisy-le-Sec and Dinamo Bucharest, besides the Serbs. Sabac is the host.
The water polo fans in Athens will be able to watch the Hungarian derby OSC – Honved in Group E.
The only group in which all teams are from different countries is Group G in Barcelona, where the home team will welcome Mladost Zagreb, Apollon Smyrnis, the winner of the LEN Challenger Cup and OSC Potsdam (Germany). It’s one of four groups with four teams.
Group A (Sabac): Ortigia (Italy), Sabac (Serbia),Noisy-le-Sec (France), Valis (Serbia), Dinamo Bucharest (Romania)
Group B (Budapest, BVSC host): Vasas (Hungary) BVSC Zuglo (Hungary), Ludwigsburg (Germany), Mataro (Spain),
Group C (Tourcoing): Szolnok (Hungary), Tourcoing (France), Trieste (Italy), Pays d’Aix (France)
Group D (Rijeka): Radnicki Kragujevac (Serbia), Oradea (Romania), Solaris (Croatia), Primorje EB Rijeka (Croatia)
Group E (Athens): OSC Budapest (Hungary) Panionios Athens (Greece), Honved Budapest (Hungary), Tenerife (Spain), White Sharks Hannover (Germany).
Group F (Duisburg): Savona (Italy), Telimar Palermo (Italy), Partizan (Serbia), ASC Duisburg (Germany), Sete (France).
Group G (Barcelona): Barcelona (Spain), Mladost Zagreb (Croatia), Apollon Smyrnis (Greece), OSC Potsdam (Germany)
Group H (Kotor): Waspo98 Hannover (Germany), Primorac Kotor (Montenegro), Terrassa (Spain), GS Peristeri (Greece), Panathinaikos (Greece).
The top two teams in the qualification groups will advance in the group stage (four groups of four teams). After six days of the Group stage (October – December), the top two teams from each group will advance to the eight-finals (home and away matches), where they will be joined by the eight teams which finishes in 3rd and 4th places in the groups of the Champions League,
LEN Men’s Challenger Cup, Qualification Round (October 19 – 22)
The teams from the ranked below 11th place in the Men’s LEN Clubs’ Ranking were permitted to enter up to four clubs in the competition. Nineteen teams will battle for eight spots in the next round.
Several clubs among the participants in both Challenger Cups will debut in the Euro cups or will return to the international stage after a long absence.
Group A (Porto, Portugal): Vitoria SC (Portugal), Triglav Kranj (Slovenia), Fluvial Portuense (Portugal), Kreuzlingen (Switzerland), Apoel Nicosia (Cyprus).
Group B (Muscron, Belgium): Carouge (Switzerland), Banja Luka (BiH), ODTU SC (Turkey), Royal Dauphins Mouscronnis (Belgium), City of Manchester (Great Britain).
Group C (Istanbul, Turkey): Galatasaray Istanbul (Turkey), KVP Novaky (Slovakia), Sporting (Portugal), Polytechnic WPC (Great Britain).
Group D (Valetta): ENKA Istanbul (Turkey), EVK Zaibas (Lithuania), Valetta (Malta), Komodor (Bulgaria), Cetus Espoo (Finland).
The top two teams in each group will be qualified for the quarterfinals.
LEN Women’s Challenger Cup, Qualification Round (October 19 – 22)
Fifteen teams )from the countries ranked lower than 6th place in the LEN ranking List) will play in the first-ever LEN Challenger Cup for women,
They were drawn into three groups of five teams each.
The top two ranked teams from each group qualifying for the Final Six (November 24 – 26). The Final Six will be held in one venue. First, the six teams will play in two groups of three. The winners of the groups will qualify for the final, the 2nd-placed for the bronze medal match
Group A (Novi Sad, Serbia): ZAVK Mladost Zagreb (Croatia), Jadran Split (Croatia), Vojvodina Novi Sad (Serbia), ODTU SC (Turkey), City of Manchester (Great Britain).
Group B (Strakonice, Czech Republic): Sport Lisboa en Benfica (Portugal), Hapoel EH (Israel), Izmir (Turkey) AJF Strakonice (Czech Republic), Jarfalla (Sweden).
Group C (Sofia, Bulgaria): Sirens (Malta), Fluvial Portuense (Portugal), ZVK Crvena Zvezda (Serbia), Otter Swimming Club (Great Britain), KVT Lokomotiv- N.Nanov (Bulgaria).
More articles about the LEN Euro Cup
More articles about Women’s water polo
More articles about the LEN Challenger Cup
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. For more video content, subscribe to our Youtube Channel and Tik Tok account
