On Saturday, the season for the European national teams finished with the final of the 35th European Championships in Split.
The pause between two international seasons won’t be long. The series of LEN men’s competitions for clubs will begin in two and a half weeks.
This season, the clubs will battle for three trophies. We have already written about a newly launched LEN Challenger Cup, which will gather the teams eliminated from the LEN Champions League and LEN Euro Cup qualifications.
A total of 62 clubs will start in the Champions League or the LEN Euro Cup. The season will be opened by the first qualification round of the LEN Champions League in Het Rejvin, Herceg Novi, Oradea, and Tourcoing (September 29 – October 2).
The qualifications for the LEN Euro Cup begin in mid-October (13 – 16), while the first-ever LEN Challenger Cup starts with the Preliminary Round in November (11 – 13).
We collected all information about the calendar, the lists of the participating teams, competition formulas, and the draws that have been done so far.
The LEN Challenger Cup and the LEN Euro Cup end in April. The culmination of the season is, as always, the Champions League Final Eight. As in the previous two years, the host of the F8 will be Novi Beograd, but in the season 2022/23, the tournament will be played in four days (May 31 – June 3). The venue will be an outdoor pool at the Sports Centre “April 11”.
Champions League 2022/23
Qualification round 1 ( September 29 – October 2)
Group A (Het Ravinj, Netherlands): Vasas (Hungary), Steaua Bucharest (Romania), Primorac Kotor (Montenegro), Het Ravinj (Netherlands), Invictum Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Group B (Oradea, Romania): Savona (Italy), Galatasary Istanbul (Turkey), CSM Oradea (Romania), ASA Tel-Aviv (Israel),
Group C (Herceg Novi, Montenegro): HAVK Mladost Zagreb (Croatia), Jadran Herceg Novi (Montenegro), EVK Zaibas (Lithuania), Enka Istanbul (Turkey)
Group D (Tourcoing, France): Tourcoing (France), Panionios GSS (Greece), Vitoria Guimaraes (Portugal), Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina), KVIK Kastrup (Denmark).
The top 2 clubs will advance to Round 2. The other clubs will continue the season in the LEN Euro Cup Qualification Round 2 or in the LEN Challenger Cup (depending on the place they win in the group)
Qualification Round 2 (October 14 – 16)
Sixteen teams will play in Round 2: the top two teams from each group of the QR 1 and eight teams that are directly qualified – Jadran Split (Croatia), Barcelona (Spain), Noisy-le-Sec (France), Vouliagmeni (Greece), ASC Duisburg (Germany), OSC Budapest (Hungary), Brescia (Italy), Sabac (Serbia).
The clubs ranked 1st and 2nd qualify for the LEN Champions League Qualification Round 3.
All other clubs qualify for the LEN Euro Cup Qualification Round 2.
Qualification Round 3 (October 29 and November 5)
The winners and the second-placed teams from groups of the QR3 will face in four encounters on a home-away basis. The four winners of the duels will advance to the Preliminary Stage. The losing teams go to the LEN Euro Cup eighth finals.
Group A: Pro Recco (Italy), Barceloneta (Spain), Waspo Hannover (Germany), Radnicki Kragujevac (Serbia), Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia), Olympiacos (Greece), Qualifier D, Qualifier B
Group B: Novi Beograd (Serbia), Ferencvaros (Hungary), Marseille (France), Jug AO (Croatia), Sabadell (Spain), Spandau 04 (Germany), Qualifier A, Qualifier C.
Day 1: November 15/16, 2022
Day 2: November 29/30, 2022
Day 3: December 13/14, 2022
Day 4: December 20/21, 2022
Day 5: January 10/11, 2023
Day 6: January 24/25, 2023
Day 7: February 7/8, 2023
Day 8: February 17/18, 2023
Day 9: February 28/March 1, 2023
Day 10: March 21/22, 2023
Day 11: April 4/5, 2023
Day 12: April 25/26, 2023
Day 13: May 12/13, 2023
Day 14: May 23/24, 2023
The matches of Group A will be played a day before Group B in the first seven rounds. In the second half of the season, the playing dates will be switched – Group B will play a day before Group A.
For the full schedule, visit Total Waterpolo Arena
Pro Recco, 2022 champion Photo by Djordje Kostic/VK Novi Beograd
Final Eight Belgrade
May 31: quarterfinals
June 1: semifinals
June 2: 5th-place and 7th-place match
June 3: Final and bronze-medal match
LEN Euro Cup 2022/23
Qualification Round 1 (October 13 – 16)
Group A (Thessaloniki, Greece): Solaris (Croatia), Ludwigsburg 08 (Germany), Montpellier (France), Tenerife Echeyde (Spain), PAOK Thessaloniki (Greece), ZV De Zaan (Netherlands)
Group B (Syracuse, Italy): Szolnok (Hungary), Partizan (Serbia), Ortigia Syracuse (Italy), Ydraikos NC (Greece), Pays d’Aix (France), ZVL 1886 (Netherlands)
Group C (Kranj, Slovenia): Terrassa (Spain), Strasbourg (France), Honved (Hungary), Telimar Palermo (Italy), Valis Valjevo (Serbia), Triglav Kranj (Slovenia)
Group D (Barcelona, Spain): Trieste (Italy), Apollon Smyrnis (Greece), Mediterrani (Spain), Crvena Zvezda (Serbia), BVSC-Zuglo (Hungary), SKP Kosice (Slovakia).
The first four ranked teams from each group shall advance to the next round. The teams that finish 5th and 6th in their respective groups can continue the season in the LEN Challenger Cup.
Photo: Total Waterpolo
Qualification Round 2 (October 28 – 30)
Besides the clubs from Qualification Round 1, the clubs eliminated from the Champions League Qualification Rounds 1 and 2 will participate in this stage.
The round-robin tournaments will be played in 8 groups.
The clubs ranked 1st and four clubs ranked 2nd with the best coefficient qualify for the LEN Euro Cup eighth-finals.
Eighth finals (November 30 and December 14)
A total of 16 clubs will play in the eight finals – 12 from the Qualification Round 2 and four losing teams in the Champions League Qualification Round 3. They will play matches on a home-away basis. The eight winners will qualify for the quarterfinals.
Quarterfinals (January 25 and February 8)
Matches on the home-away basis
Semifinals (March 1 and 22)
Matches on the home-away basis
Finals (April 15 and 29)
Matches on the home-away basis
2022/23 LEN Challenger Cup
Photo: Total Waterpolo
Preliminary Round (November 11 – 13)
The clubs qualified from the Champions League Qualification Round 1 and the LEN Euro Cup Qualification Round 1 will be seeded into the groups. The tournament system will be applied.
Four or two tournaments. In the case of 4 groups, the clubs ranked 1st and 2nd in each group will qualify for the quarterfinals. In the case of 2 groups, the best 4 ranked teams will qualify for the quarterfinals.
Quarterfinals (January 25 and February 8)
Matches on the home-away basis
Semifinals (March 1 and 22)
Matches on the home-away basis
Final (April 15 and 29)
Matches on the home-away basis
More articles about the Champions League
