The finalists of the previous two editions of the Champions League, Pro Recco and Novi Beograd, will face off earlier this year. They were drawn into the same group of the quarterfinal round of the Champions League.
The draws for the Champions League quarterfinal groups and the Euro Cup’s eighth-finals were held today in Barcelona.
2024 Champions League, Quarterfinal Groups
Group A
Novi Beograd ,Pro Recco, , Jadran Split, Marseille
Group B
Barceloneta, Ferencvaros, Brescia, Olympiacos.
The group phase will be held between March 8 and May 5. The top two teams will qualify for the Final Four (June 6 – 8). The winner of Group A will play against the 2nd-placed team in Group B in the semifinals. The second semifinal pair at the Final Four will be the match B1 – A2
The winners of the groups of the first phase (Novi Beograd, Recco, Barceloneta, and Ferencvaros) were in the first pot of the draw, the 2nd-placed in the second line of today’s draw. The teams that played in the same group in the first phase couldn’t be drawn together.
Novi Beograd can be considered the „winner of the draw“. The Serbian champions will play against the reigning champion, which is, along with them, maybe the heaviest favorite for the title. However, that means that Novi Beograd and Recco can’t meet in the semifinals, and the replay of the 2022 and 2023 finals is possible.
Besides, Novi Beograd avoided Olympiacos, the club that is, according to most experts and fans, the best among 2nd-placed clubs in the first phase. Olympiacos was very close to a win over Pro Recco on Day 6. That match couldn’t affect the standings, but both teams aimed to win. Recco took three points in Piraeus thanks to a last-gasp goal from Francesco Di Fulvio.
Anyway, reaching the Final Four will be a demanding task for each of the eight teams. There will be many outstanding clashes in the Champions League in March, April and May.
Calendar
Group A
March 8: Novi Beograd – Jadran S, Pro Recco – Marseille
March 19: Marseille – Novi Beograd, Jadran – Pro Recco
April 2: Novi Beograd – Pro Recco, Jadran S – Marseille
April 24: Jadran – Novi Beograd, Marseille – Pro Recco
May 4: Novi Beograd – Marseille, Pro Recco – Jadran S
May 15: Pro Recco – Novi Beograd, Marseille – Jadran S
Group B
March 9: Barceloneta – Brescia, Ferencvaros – Olympiacos
March 20: Olympiacos – Barceloneta, Brescia – Ferencvaros
April 3: Barceloneta – Ferencvaros, Brescia – Olympiacos
April 23: Brescia – Barceloneta, Olympiacos – Ferencvaros
May 3: Barceloneta – Olympiacos, Ferencvaros – Brescia
May 14: Ferencvaros – Barceloneta, Olympiaos – Brescia.
LEN Euro Cup eighth-finals (March 8 and 23)
The Euro Cup Round of 16’s derby is undoubtedly the clash between two former European champions. The 2023 LEN Euro Cup winner Vasas will play against Jug Dubrovnik, the team that was a regular participant in the Champions League F6/F8 in the past nine years, but this season, it failed to qualify for the Top 8 of the best competition for the clubs, finishing 3rd in the group behind Pro Recco and Olympiacos. Both Jug and Vasas have the trophies of the LEN Euro Cup and the Champions League in their rich treasuries.
The remaining seven encounters will be interesting, too. Vouliagmeni, the semifinalist of the 2023 Champions League, will face Barcelona, which dominantly won 1st place in Group A of the Champions League. BVSC, which lost 1st place in its Euro Cup group because of an unexpected loss on Day6 and because of that it was in the 4th pot of the draw, will meet Crvena Zvezda, the team that played well both in the Champions League qualifications and the group stage, etc.
Jug AO* – Vasas
BVSC Budapest – Crvena Zvezda*
Spandau* – Ortigia
Sabadell* – Tourcoing
Panionios – Steaua*
Primorje – Dinamo Tbilisi*
Savona – Jadran Herceg Novi*
Barcelona – Vouliagmeni*
The teams marked with * came to the eighth-finals from the Champions League groups, the remaining teams from the Euro Cup group phase.
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 Champions League
More articles about the LEN Euro Cup
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