A few months ago, some Greek media reported that Olympiacos was considering the withdrawal from the Champions League because of financial troubles.
But, the best Greek club, officially, confirmed participation in the Champions League.
Today, the Greek Water Polo Federation announced that three Greek clubs would participate in the Men’s Champions League.
Olympiacos, as a wildcard-holder, will play in the Main stage, while Vouliagmeni and Ydriakos will start in the Champions League Qualifications.
Apollon Smirnis will play in the LEN Euro Cup.
These four clubs won the first four places in the 2019/20 Greek Championships.
Many players left Olympiacos in the past few months: Maro Jokovic, Stefan Mitrovic, Ivan Buljubasic, Alexandros Gounas, Emmanoui Mylonakis, Stefan Zivojinovic…
The team won’t be as good as it was last season, but eight new players arrived at the club: two Americans Max Irving (arrived from Ydriakos) and Hannes Daube (University of Southern California), than Marios Kapotsis (Steaua), Thanasis Chrysospathis (Szentes), Achilles Grammatikos (Apollon Smyrnis), Stefanos Galanopoulos, Emmanouil Prekas (both returned from the loan in Ydriakos), Giannis Syrmas (Glyfada).
Captain Konstantinos Mourikis and some other players stay at the club, so head coach Theodoris Vlachos will have a solid team.
Unlike Olympiacos, Vouliagmeni and Apollon will be stronger than last season. Apollon’s significant reinforcements are Stefan Mitrovic (Olympiacos), Alexandros Gounas (Olympiacos), Alex Bowen (Mladost), etc. Vouliagmeni brought in Luka Lozina (Jug), Emmanouil Mylonakis (Olympiacos), and several other Greek players.
There were a lot of changes on the roster of Ydriakos. Many newcomers came, but several key players left the club, including two Americans, Alex Obert (Jug) and Max Irwing (Olympiacos), and two experienced Greeks – Emmanouil Prekas and Stefanos Galanopoulos (Olympiacos).
Three Greek clubs will play in the LEN Euro League for women: Olympiacos, Vouliagmeni, Ethnikos.
