The end of the Preliminary Stage of the Champions League is very near.
The last “bubble” tournaments will be played in Ostia and Budapest next week.
After seven rounds, five teams have secured their spots at the Final Eight, which will be held in Belgrade (June 3-5): Pro Recco, Jug (Group A), Barceloneta, Brescia, Ferencvaros (Group B). None of the remaining seven teams still isn’t out of the race for the F8 berths.
Olympiacos, which is currently 3rd in Group A, needs one point to earn a Final Eight berth. But, the Greeks will have demanding tasks in the third “bubble” (Jug, Pro Recco, Marseille).
Marseille, Spandau, and Ortigia are in a chase for the fourth ticket from Group A.
Marseille is very close to achieving that goal. The French are in 4th place now, while they will play against Ortigia and Spandau in the third “bubble”. If they win in these two games, they will play at the F8.
On Friday, Spandau was out of the race, since it canceled the trip to Ostia because of the corona cases. But, a day later, all players tested negative at repeated testing, and the Germans arrive in Italy with solid chances. They can’t count on points in the opening match of the tournament, against Pro Recco, but after that, they will meet Marseille and Ortigia, so everything is still open. Ortigia has won only three points so far, but their hopes are still alive.
Barceloneta, Brescia and Ferencvaros are in a battle for the top position in Group B in Budapest. The crucial encounters will be the derby matches Barceloneta – Brescia on Tuesday and Barceloneta – Ferencvaros on Wednesday. Ferencvaros has three points fewer than Barceloneta and Brescia, but the Hungarians will play with a recovered Denes Varga, who missed the second “bubble”, and they have realistic chances to reach 1st place.
Waspo Hannover, Jadran and Dinamo Tbilisi are in a race for the fourth ticket. Hannover has six points, while Dinamo and Jadran have three each. The duels Jadran – Dinamo and Dinamo – Hannover will probably determine the classification from 4th to 6th.
Group A (Ostia), third “bubble”
Monday, April 19
15:15 Spandau 04 – Pro Recco
17:45 Jug Dubrovnik – Olympiacos
20:15 Ortigia – Marseille
Tuesday, April 20
15:15 Ortigia – Jug Dubrovnik
17:45 Marseille-Spandau 04
20:15 Pro Recco-Olympiacos
Wednesday, April 21
15:15 Ortigia – Spandau 04
17:45 Marseille – Olympiacos
20:15 Jug Dubrovnik – Pro Recco
| Group A | |||||||
| 1 | Pro Recco | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 127:68 | 30 |
| 2 | Jug AO | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 102:106 | 19 |
| 3 | Olympiacos Piraeus | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 89:92 | 14 |
| 4 | CN Marseille | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 93:94 | 13 |
| 5 | Spandau 04 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 79:104 | 6 |
| 6 | CC Ortigia | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 69:95 | 4 |
Group B (Budapest), third “bubble”
Tuesday, April 20
14.00 Ferencvaros – Waspo Hannover
16.30 Jadran Herceg Novi – Dinamo Tbilisi
19.00 Barceloneta- Brescia
Wednesday, April 21
14.00 Dinamo Tbilisi-Hannover
16.30 Brescia – Herceg Novi
19.00 Barceloneta – Ferencvaros
Thursday, April 22
14.00 CNA Barceloneta – Jadran HN
16.30 Ferencvaros -Dinamo Tbilisi
19.00 Hannover – Brescia
| Group B | |||||||
| 1 | Ferencvaros Telekom | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 113:73 | 24 |
| 2 | Zodiac CNA Barceloneta | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 119:81 | 24 |
| 3 | AN Brescia | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 117:80 | 21 |
| 4 | Waspo 98 Hannover | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 89:122 | 9 |
| 5 | Dinamo Tbilisi | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 74:121 | 6 |
| 6 | Jadran Herceg Novi | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 74:109 | 6 |
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