The Quarter Final stage of the Champions League will conclude on Wednesday. All four matches will start at the same time. Unusually, this week’s matches are somewhat overshadowed by the thrills unfolding in national competitions.
Since last week, exciting and decisive games have taken place across Europe as domestic championship finals reach their peak. In some countries, like Greece and France, the finals have yet to begin, but anticipation is already running high.
In the Champions League, the Final Four lineup is already confirmed:Â Marseille, Novi Beograd (Group A), Ferencvaros and Barceloneta (Group B) will compete in the final tournament in Malta (May 30 – June 1). Still, a few questions remain. The semifinal matchups will only be determined after the sixth round of the Quarter-Final stage. Given the similar quality of teams qualifying from the same group, the specific semifinal pairings may not be especially significant.
Additionally, the last matches in Group B are unlikely to change the standings. The favorites in this group will have easier tasks than the teams that advanced to the F4 from Group A.
For these reasons, the Champions League—despite its prestige—is temporarily taking a back seat to the events of national championship finals.
2024/25 Champions League Quarter Final Stage, Round 6 (May 14)
Group AÂ
The situation regarding the final standings in Group B is pretty clear, but some ups and downs in the standings can happen in Group A after the last round. Because of that, the games in Group A draw more attention. Olympiacos and the group leader, Marseille, will meet in Piraeus, and Jadran Split will host Novi Beograd.
It wouldn’t be a major surprise if both Olympiacos and Jadran win tomorrow, but it’s uncertain whether they’ll be at full strength, as both clubs are primarily focused on their respective domestic championship finals.
Olympiacos has had a disappointing Champions League campaign despite a great roster. The Greek powerhouse has played five home matches in the 2025 edition, achieving just two victories—against Primorac (after a penalty shootout) and Sabadell. Their worst defeat came against Marseille, which beat the Greeks 12:7. Revenge will be on Olympiacos’ mind, and a win could serve as a valuable morale boost ahead of the domestic final against Vouliagmeni. Still, Marseille has been in top form, having defeated its recent opponents convincingly and jumped atop the group. Neither team can be considered a clear favorite in this matchup.
Novi Beograd and Jadran Split have clashed three times this season, with the Serbian side winning all three encounters. Jadran has experienced inconsistency, including two heavy defeats in the Champions League —a crushing 6:18 home loss to Marseille in Round 5 and Novi Beograd in Belgrade 8:17 in Round 3. However, Jadran’s recent form in the Croatian League suggests the team has regained momentum. Wednesday’s match will serve as a final rehearsal for what could be the decisive game of the Croatian League final on Saturday, when Jadran hosts Mladost with a chance to clinch a third consecutive national title as it leads 2:0 in the series.
Novi Beograd’s Vucinic and Lukic vs. Jadran’s captain Marinic-Kragic Photo : VK Novi Beograd
Jadran has to balance its performance with energy preservation for the game against the Zagreb-based team. But, the same goes for Novi Beograd, which will face Radnicki on Sunday in the second game of the Serbian League final—a must-win to stay in the title race after a 12:13 loss in Game 1. If Jadran avoids an early collapse, as it suffered against Marseille three weeks ago, the clash between the champions of the current World and Olympic title-holding nations could turn into a compelling and hard-fought duel.
Standings: 1. Marseille 9, 2. Novi Beograd 9, 3. Olympiacos 4, 4. Jadran S 2.
Head to head: Marseille – Novi Beograd 14:9 and 14:15.
All matches start at 20.00 CET. Follow the live scores and the statistics on Total Waterpolo Arena
Group B
Ferencvaros will host Oradea, and Barceloneta will play a home match against Savona.
Reigning champion Ferencvaros welcomes Oradea after two wins over Vasas in the best-of-five finals of the Hungarian League. Last weekend, Oradea finished an exhausting semifinal series of the national championships against Dinamo Bucharest and secured a spot in the finals. So, the teams are on a similar level of shape, but it’s clear that Ferencvaros is a much better team than Oradea. Anything but the hosts’ victory would be a surprise. If Ferencvaros beats Oradea once again, it will keep the top spot, regardless of the outcome in the match in Barcelona.
Savona is the only of the eight teams in the Quarter Final Stage that didn’t reach the final of the national championships and it will end the season very soon. After the match in Barcelona, they will play one or maybe two games against Trieste in the 3rd-place playoffs of Serie A1 (Savona leads 1:0), but these games aren’t very important since both teams have already qualified for the Euro Cup.
Barceloneta beat Savona 14:11 in the third round in Italy, making a crucial step in its efforts to reach the Final Four. The Spaniards, who are, like Ferencvaros, one win away from a new national championship title, are the favorites in tomorrow’s duel. However, as mentioned, it is almost impossible for them to move from second place in Group A.
Standings: 1. Ferencvaros 13, 2. Barceloneta 11, 3. Savona 6, 4. Oradea 0.
All matches start at 20.00 CET. Follow the live scores and the statistics on Total Waterpolo Arena
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