The first phase of the 2024 Champions League brought no big surprises.
All clubs that had been expected to reach the quarterfinal stage advanced to the circle of the top 8 teams.
The teams in the first four places in the LEN’s clubs rankings – Pro Recco, Ferencvaros, Barceloneta, and Novi Beograd finished atop their groups.
The only surprising result was Sabadell’s win over Novi Beograd in Belgrade in Group A. But the Serbian champion made up for that loss with a victory in Sabadell yesterday and two convincing wins over Brescia. Second place in this group was taken by Brescia, the only qualifier that reached the quarterfinal stage. The Italians’ success can’t be considered a surprise, although this season’s team is weaker than the one that played in the previous years.
Brescia coach Alessandro Bovo with the club’s vice-president Alessandro Morandini and Vincenzo Dolce (R to L) Photo: Slobodan Sandic
Brescia is in 5th place in LEN’s clubs’ ranking and was a regular participant in the F6/F8 tournaments in the past six completed seasons. Brescia had the right to enter the Champions League as a wild card holder (as the runner-up in the league of the European champion). However, the club decided to save the money and not pay for the wild card. It tried to reach the quarterfinal phase from the qualifications and achieved the goal. Brescia was outplayed by Novi Beograd twice, but it earned five points in exciting matches against Sabadell, which accepted the wild card returned by Brescia.
Pro Recco, Ferencvaros and Barceloneta dominated their groups.
Olympiacos started slowly and barely avoided a defeat to Jug on Day 1. But, it easily finished 2nd in Group B and was very close to a win over Pro Recco in yesterday’s match that had no importance for the standings.
As expected, Jadran Split won 2nd place in Group C ahead of Crvena Zvezda and Jadran Herceg Novi, but it had to dig deep to beat the Serbs and the Montenegrins. Moreover, the Croats lost to Zvezda in Belgrade, but it didn’t stop them on their way to 2nd place.
Before the start of the league, Marseille was predicted to grab 2nd place in Group D, behind Barceloneta. The French met expectations. Spandau indicated that it could surprise but finished 3rd. Vouliagmeni, last season’s semifinalist, recorded only one win in this group (over Spandau on Tuesday). The Greeks weren’t favorites because the team changed significantly during the summer. But, considering they played close matches against Barceloneta and Marseille, they may have deserved more than three points this season.
Vouliagmeni will continue the season in the LEN Euro Cup, like all other 3rd-placed and 4th-placed teams (find out more about the Euro Cup knockout rounds at the end of the article)
The 2024 Champions League calendar and scores
What’s next? Three combinations of quarterfinal groups
The quarterfinal stage begins on March 8/9. The draw will be held on December 15.
Two group winners and two 2nd-placed teams will be in each of the two groups. The teams that played each other in the first phase can’t be in the same quarterfinal group.
So we can easily project all possible outcomes of the draw. There are three combinations. Whatever happens in the draw, each group will be of high quality. Still, the one in which the 2nd-placed team in Group C, Olympiacos, will play will be slightly stronger than the other. Like all four group winners, the Greek champion is a serious contender for the spots in the Final Four.
COMBINATION 1
Quarterfinal Group 1
Novi Beograd, Pro Recco, Jadran Split, Marseille.
Quarterfinal Group 2
Ferencvaros, Barceloneta, Brescia, Olympiacos.
COMBINATION 2
Quarterfinal Group 1
Novi Beograd, Ferencvaros, Olympiacos, Marseille
Quarterfinal Group 2
Pro Recco, Barceloneta, Brescia, Jadran Split
COMBINATION 3
Quarterfinal Group 1
Novi Beograd, Barceloneta, Olympiacos, Jadran Split.
Quarterfinal Group 2
Pro Recco, Ferencvaros, Brescia, Marseille
I Quarter-final stage – Day 1: 8/9 March; Day 2: 19/20 March; Day 3: 2/3 April; Day 4: 23/24 April; Day 5: 3/ 4 May; Day 6: 14/15 May.
The 1st-placed and 2nd-placed teams in the groups in the quarterfinal stage will qualify for the Final Four (6 – 8 June).
More articles about the Champions League
LEN Euro Cup
Day 6
As mentioned, the group stage of the Euro Cup ends on Saturday.
One match of Day 6 was played yesterday. Tourcoing beat Telimar in Italy – 10:9 (1:2, 2:2, 4:3, 3:2) and kept 2nd place in Group A, where Barcelona secured the top spot earlier. Telimar dictated the pace until the 23rd minute when it led 7:6. After that, Tourcoing netted three goals. It earned a 9:7 advantage (30th minute). It didn’t let the Italians come back. The French entered the final minute leading 10:8. The hosts scored a consolation goal with 52 seconds to go but couldn’t equalize. A draw and eventual win in a shootout wouldn’t send Telimar to the Round of 16. One point was enough for Tourcoing to stay in 2nd place.
Mehdi Marzouki (Tourcoing) Photo: K.Vulovic
Savona secured at least 2nd place in Group B. Vasas, the reigning champion, will probably join the Italians. Vasas will welcome the bottom-placed Apollon. Honved still has a chance to qualify, but the second Hungarian team in this group will advance if it beats Savona at home (which isn’t impossible) and Apollon defeats Vasas. It’s hard to expect that the second condition in this combination can be met.
The third Budapest-based team in the Euro Cup Group Phase, BVSC, will probably finish atop Group C. BVSC and Primorje qualified from this group. They will play each other in Rijeka on Saturday. BVSC is currently in 1st place. Primorje needs a miracle – a 10-goal victory – to climb atop (BVSC recorded a 22:13 win in Budapest on Day 3).
As for Group D, Panionios qualified, and it will surely stay in 1st place if it wins at least a point in an away match against Trieste. Primorac and Ortigia are targeting 2nd position. But, Ortigia’s chances are slim. Primorac is three points ahead of the Sicilians. These two teams will face off in Kotor in the last round. Ortigia will overtake Primorac with a 6-goal victory because the Montenegrins earned a convincing 14:9 victory in Sicily.
LEN Euro Cup, Day 6 (December 9)
Group A: Solaris – Barcelona (19:00), played: Telimar – Tourcoing 9:10.
Standings:1. Barcelona 12, 2. Tourcoing (6 matches) 10, 3. Telimar (6) 6, 4. Solaris 5.
Group B: Honved – Savona (18:00), Vasas – Apollon (20:00)
Standings: 1. Savona 12, 2. Vasas 10, 3. Honved 8, 4. Apollon 0
Group C: Sabac Elixir – Waspo 98 Hannover (19:00), Primorje EB – BVSC (20:00)
Standings: 1. BVSC 12, 2. Primorje 9, 3. Sabac 6, 4. Waspo 98 3
Group D: Primorac – Ortigia (17:45), Trieste – Panionios (18:30).
Standings: 1. Panionios 11, 2. Primorac 9, 3. Ortigia 6, 4. Trieste 4.
Draw for eighth-finals
The top two teams from each group and the 3rd-placed and 4th-placed in the Champions League groups will play in the Euro Cup eight-finals. The 3rd-placed teams from the CHL will play against 2nd-placed sides in the Euro Cup, while the teams that were at the bottom of the Champions League groups will face the winners of the Euro Cup groups in Round of 16.
Almost all participants in the eighth-finals are known. Let’s see what the pots for the draw will look like-
Pot 1 (3rd-placed in the CHL groups): Sabadell, Crvena Zvezda, Jug, Spandau 04
Pot 2 (4th-placed in the CHL groups): Steaua, Dinamo Tbilisi, Jadran Herceg Novi, Vouliagmeni
Pot 3 (the Euro Cup groups’ winners): Barcelona, B group (Savona or Vasas), C group (BVSC or Primorje), D group (Panionios or Primorac).
Pot 4 (the 2nd-placed in the Euro Cup groups): Tourcoing, B group (Savona, Vasas or Honved), C group (Primorje or BVSC), D group (Primorac, Panionios or Ortigia).
I The eighth-finals (March 8 and 23) and the quarter-finals (April 6 and 27) will be played on a home-and-away basis. The best four teams will play in the Final Four (May 17 and 18).
More articles about the LEN Euro Cup
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