Marseille is at the top of the Champions League Quarter Final Group A after the fourth round.
The French champions played excellently in front of their fans this evening and blew Novi Beograd away 14:9. Marseille displayed perhaps its best performance this season. Novi Beograd, which had had a perfect 9-0 record in the 2025 Champions League until this game and a chance to secure its Final Four ticket, suffered one of the biggest losses in its history. Marseille held an 8-goal lead before the final period, but Novi Beograd managed to reduce the gap in the fourth quarter and avoided a catastrophe.
The French and the Serbian teams are currently tied on points, but Marseille has the edge in their head-to-head matchup, having lost by just one goal in Belgrade (14:15).
A very thrilling game took place in Piraeus, Jadran Split defeated Olympiacos after a penalty shootout – 14:13 (7:7). Before the final quarter, Jadran was trailing by three goals. However, the Croats rallied back, thanks to an outstanding performance by their goalkeeper Marko Bijac, scoring four consecutive goals in the fourth period to take a 7:6 lead. Olympiacos equalized with just two seconds left on the clock, but ultimately fell in the shootout.
This victory is Jadran’s first win in the Champions League Quarter-Final stage after nine previous losses (six last season and three this season). Still, two points weren’t enough for Jadran to remain in contention for the Final Four, as it is now seven points behind Marseille and Novi Beograd with only two rounds remaining.
Olympiacos is also struggling, sitting five points behind the leading duo, but nothing is over yet.
All in all, Jadran’s win goes in favour of Marseille and Novi Beograd. The Croats can help Olympiacos if they beat Marseille or/and Novi Beograd at home.
2024/25 Champions League, Quarter Final Stage, Round 4, Group B
Marseille – Novi Beograd 14:9 (2:1, 6:3, 4:0, 2:5)
Marseille: Angyal 3, Larumbe 3, Bodegas 2, Velotto 2, Crousillat 1, Prlainovic 1, Vernoux 1, Bouet 1.
Novi Beograd: Lukic 2, Gladovic 2, Gbadamassi 1, Skoumpakis 1, Martinovic 1, Vucinic 1, Vlachopoulos 1.
The opening minutes of the game didn’t indicate that Novi Beograd would face a significant loss, as both teams battled evenly during the first period.
Each team missed several good opportunities to score, including one penalty shot apiece in a tense first quarter. Novi Beograd’s Vasilije Martinovic opened the scoring, but Marseille gained the advantage before the first break, thanks to goals from Vernoux and Velotto. The hosts maintained their momentum in the second period when Danial Angyal scored to make it 3:1. Vucinic responded immediately for Novi Beograd, but the French team then went on a 3:0 run within just a minute and a half. Bodegas increased the lead to 6:2 in the 12th minute, and Marseille stretched the margin to five just three minutes later when Crousillat converted a man-up opportunity, making it 8:3. In the last second of the first half, Lukic scored, giving some hope to Novi Beograd.
Danial Angyal Photo by WP Inside
But, Marseille dominated in the third period. The French, having great support from the stands, were far better than Novi Beograd, both in defense, which was commanded well by Petar Tesanovic, and in the attack. They made the most of the man-up situations. Marseille had four extra-player attacks and scored from each. The series was opened by Bouet. Bodegas added one goal, and Larumbe two. Novi Beograd wasted five 6 on 5s in the third period. After Marseille went to 12:4, there was no dilemma about who would win.
The visitors netted three straight goals to open the fourth period and reduced the gap to five (7:12), but it was too late for a comeback. Marseille controlled the result in the rest of the match.
Olympiacos – Jadran Split 13:14 (2:1, 2:1, 2:1, 1:4, PSO 6:7)
Olympiacos: Genidounias 1, Loncar 1, Zalanki 1, Buslje 1, Alafragkis 1, Kakars 1, Nikolaidis 1.
Jadran Split: Fatovic 3, Butic 1, Berehulak 1 Banicevic 1, Duzevic 1.
Penalty shootout: Butic 0:1, Genidounias 1:1, Fatovic 1:2, Foutoulis 2:2, Marinic Kragic 2:3, Zalanki 3:3, Zovic 3:4, Kakaris 4:4, Berehulak 4:5, Gkillas 5:5, Butic 5:6, Genidounias 6:6, Fatovic 6:7,Fountoulis – Bijac saved.
Olympiacos scored in its first two possessions in the game, earning a 2:0 lead after less than two minutes. But, after that the hosts’ long goalless phase started. Jadran halved the deficit in the 5th minute. Early in the second, the Greeks wasted a great chance – their former goalkeeper Marko Bijac saved a penalty shot from Fountoulis. Bijac’s countryman, Luka Loncar, finally ended the hosts’ nine-minute silence, scoring from a counterattack to make it 3:1. However, the Croatian champion didn’t surrender. Jadran trailed by 2:4 at halftime. Banicevic reduced the gap in Jadran’s first possession in the second half. Still, in the last 125 seconds of the third period, Zalanki and Kakaris gave the Greeks a 6:3 lead, and it seemed that the hosts were on the right track.
Marko Bijac Photo: Laszlo Balogh/Total Waterpolo
But Jadran didn’t say the last word. The visitors’ goalkeeper posted one save after another, while his teammates played better in the attack and produced a 4:0 series. Berehulak gave Jadran a 7:6 advantage with 01:52 minutes remaining. Following that goal, Olympiacos forced another penalty shot. Gergo Zalanki took responsibility this time but didn’t send the ball into the net. Bijac saved his shot. It was his 4th saved penalty in the match (and the 12th save in total)! After that, Jadran kept the ball with a series of consecutive attacks (the hosts’ goalkeeper Zerdevas, who also had a good day, blocked a few nice shots at the finish) and finally lost the ball with four seconds remaining. Olympiacos’ head coach, Hrvoje Koljanin, called a timeout and managed to prepare a good action. Genidoinias leveled two seconds before the buzzer.
There were no misses in the first six rounds of shots. In the seventh, Bijac posted another save. He stopped Fountoulis’ shot again, and Jadran celebrated a win.
Standings: 1. Marseille 9, 2. Novi Beograd 9, 3. Olympiacos 4, 4. Jadran S 2.
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