Novi Beograd and Olympiacos opened the quarterfinal stage of the Champions League with wins.
Novi Beograd faced a bad start against Marseille, trailing 0:3 at the beginning of the match. However, the Serbs turned the game around, achieving a four-goal lead (12:8) in the fourth quarter. Despite this, the French team fought back, resulting in a thrilling finish. Novi Beograd secured three points with a narrow 15:14 win.
Jadran Split hosted Olympiacos in a game with a similarly close scoreline but a different narrative. Olympiacos managed to control the match for most of the game, although Jadran was coming back from time to time. When Jadran cut the deficit to one goal, it was too late to mount a full comeback. Ultimately, Olympiacos defeated the Split-based team 12:11.
Champions League 2024/25, Group A, Day 1
Novi Beograd – Marseille 15:14 (2:3, 4:3, 5:2, 4:6)
Novi Beograd: Vlachopoulos 4, Martinovic 3, Cuk 3, Radovic 2, Perkovic 2, Lukic 1.
Marseille: Prlainovic 5, Bouet 3, Crousillat 3, Vernoux 1, Bodegas 1, Velotto 1.
Marseille started the match very strongly, taking an early 3:0 lead thanks to its oldest and most experienced players. Andrija Prlainovic converted a man-up opportunity during the visitors’ first possession. A few minutes later, Crousillat scored from a 6 on 5, and Michael Bodegas extended the lead to three with a counterattack goal. Shortly after Bodegas’s goal, left-handed shooter Djuro Radovic put the hosts on the scoreboard with a power-play goal in the 6th minute. Nikola Lukic then closed the quarter by scoring from a counterattack.
In the 11th minute, Vasilije Martinovic leveled the game with a penalty shot. However, Prlainovic quickly responded with a well-placed long-range shot, bringing the score to 4:3. Bouet then doubled the French team’s advantage, making it 5:3. Novi Beograd managed to catch up again. Angelos Vlachopoulos equalized at 6:6 in the very last second of the first half.
In Novi Beograd’s first possession in the second half, Vlachopoulos assisted center-forward Perkovic, who gave the hosts a first lead in the match – 7:6. Prlainovic equalized. Novi Beograd built a 2-goal lead with two goals within 47 seconds (9:7) and started dictating the pace. The hosts’ defense and the attack became better. Milos Cuk stretched the margin to three (11:8) in the 21st minute. Novi Beograd went to “+4” early in the fourth period (12:8), but Marseille didn’t say its last word. The French made a 3:0 run to reduce the gap to one (11:12).
Vlachopoulos doubled Novi Beograd’s advantage shortly after, but the contest wasn’t over yet. Andrija Prlainovic scored his fifth goal, bringing the score level at 13:13 with 1:58 left on the clock. Cuk then put Novi Beograd back in the lead A minute before the end, Novi Beograd’s goalkeeper, Milan Glusac, made a crucial save with a man-down. With 23 seconds remaining, Novi Beograd forced a penalty shot situation. Vlachopoulos sent the ball into the net from the 5m line, making it 15:13 and securing the points for the Serbs. Vernoux added a consolation goal for his team 13 seconds before the final buzzer.
Jadran Split – Olympiacos 11:12 (o:2, 4:4,3:4,4:2)
Jadran Split: Zovic 2,Cagalj 2, Marinic Kragic 2, Butic 2, Pejkovic 1, Banicevic 1, Duzevic 1.
Olympiacos: Genidounias 5, Papanastasiou 4, Fountoulis 1, Zalanki 1, Nikolaidis 1.
Olympiacos took control in the first quarter and took a 2:0 lead with back-to-back goals from Konstantinos Gendionuias. Early in the second period, Alexandros Papanasyasiou made it 3:0
It wasn’t until the 10th minute that Jadran got on the scoreboard, with Marino Cagalj converting during an extra-player attack. Midway through the quarter, Genidounias added his third goal with a long-range shot. Although Zovic scored for Jadran, bringing the score to 2:4, the Croatian team struggled offensively and failed to find a key to unlock Olympiacos’ defense. Late in the second quarter, Olympiacos built a solid 6:2 advantage.
Konstantinos Genidounias (Olympiacos) Photo by Laszlo Balogh/Total Waterpolo
However, the Croats produced a quick comeback. By the end of the first half, they cut the deficit to two (4:6) and opened the second with two goals in the first 95 seconds (Pejkovic and Marinic Kragic) for 6:6, Genidounias silenced the home crowd immediately, scoring from a 6m-shot. At the finish of the quarter, the visitors rebuilt a 4-goal lead (10:6). In the last second, Banicevic kept the hosts’ hopes alive with a goal for 7:10.
Pejkovic narrowed the gap to two at the beginning of the fourth quarter. but Olympiacos didn’t let the Croats come back in the match again. Genidounias replied with his 5th goal of the evening – 11:8. After that, the teams traded the goals for a while. Olympiacos entered the final quarter leading 12:10. Zvonimir Butic then scored to make it 11:12, but it was too late for a complete comeback. In the remaining 16 seconds, Olympiacos managed to maintain possession without taking a shot.
Group B, Wednesday, February 5
All games start at 20.00 CET. Follow the scores live on Total Waterpolo Arena
