Title-holder Ferencvaros advanced to the Champions League final after defeating Marseille in the second semifinal at the Final Four in Malta – 14:11.
It wasn’t an easy win for the 2024 champions. Marseille put up a strong fight against the favorites, demonstrating that there are no underdogs at the Final Four. The French team was behind Ferencvaros for almost the entire match. The Hungarians built an early 3:0 lead and maintained control through the end of the first half (8:4). However, the French team came back step by step and leveled the score at 10:10 early in the fourth quarter. Nevertheless, the Hungarians retook control in time and avoided a thrilling finish.
Sunday’s final will be the second encounter between Ferencvaros and Novi Beograd at the CHL final tournaments. Last year, Ferencvaros defeated Novi Beograd in the semifinals after a penalty shootout, before going on to beat Pro Recco in the gold-medal match.
2024/25 Champions League, Semifinal 2
Ferencvaros – Marseille 14:11 (5;2, 3:2, 2:4, 4:3)
Ferencvaros: Mandic 2, Ad. Nagy 2, Vamos 2, Di Somma 1,Vigvari 1, Manhercz 1, Jansik 1, De Toro 1.
Marseille: Prlainovic 3, Vernoux 3, Bodegas 1, Marion-Vernoux 1, Crousillat 1.
Ferencvaros dominated the first quarter. Argyropoulos opened the scoring with a power-play goal. By the 5th minute, the Hungarians surged to a 3:0 lead. Andrija Prlainovic put Marseille on the scoreboard with an extra-player goal in the 6th minute. However, the title-holders quickly responded, scoring two more power-play goals to go to 5:1. Prlainovic managed to close the quarter with another man-up goal, keeping Marseille in the game.
Early in the second quarter, Bodegas reduced the gap to 3:5 by converting a man-up opportunity. However, Di Somma restored Ferencvaros’ three-goal lead with an impressive 6-meter shot. After that, there were no goals for a while – until the 15th minute when Vernoux netted an excellent goal from the left side, marking Marseille’s first action goal. Despite this, Ferencvaros earned a four-goal lead at halftime, scoring twice in the last 38 seconds of the first half. Adam Nagy scored the seventh goal for the Hungarian team and then assisted Szilard Jansik, who made it 8:4 with a close-range shot.
Marseille didn’t surrender and opened the third period quite well, with a goal for 5:8 by Roman Marion-Vernoux. Ferencvaros scored its first goal in the second half only in the 21st minute – Argyropoulos converted a man-up and became Ferencvaros’ first player with two goals in this semifinal. However, Marseille was ready for a big battle. The French netted two consecutive goals (Bodegas and Crousillat) for 7:9 and even had a chance to come even closer in the 24th minute, but they lost the ball. At the other end of the pool, Marton Vamos scored for 10:7. However, Marseille had the last word in this quarter. Vernoux converted a man-up with four seconds left. Nothing was decided yet.
Marseille’s self-confidence grew even stronger after Prlainovic scored to make it 9:10 during the first possession of the fourth period. Shortly after, Bodegas leveled at 10:10. Dusan Mandic ended Marseille’s 3:0 run. Molnar found the net after a rebound to make it 12:10. Vernoux responded, and less than four minutes before the end, Marseille trailed 11:12. In the following few minutes, Ferencvaros scored two power-play goals, and finally broke Marseille’s resistance. First, Del Toro got on the scoreboard. Then, a minute and a half from the end, Adam Nagy found the net from the deep right and sealed the Hungarians’ victory.
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