Two draws for the 2024 Menβs Champions League were made in Manisa today, in a break between the matches at the European U17 Championships.
The composition of the groups in the Preliminary Stage and in the qualifications were determined by todayβs draws.
To remind you, LEN changed the competition formula. The champions of the countries ranked 1st β 11th in the LEN Menβs Club Ranking and the defending champion have the right to play in the Champions League without the qualifications as the wild-card holders.
Twelve wild-card holders and the four teams from the qualifications will be split into four groups in the Group Stage.
The reigning European champion Pro Recco will start its new European campaign from almost a similar place where it started the season 2022/23.
Pro Recco is drawn in Group B with Olympiacos, one of its biggest rivals last season. Recco opened the season with a loss in Piraeus but finished with the trophy.
2024 Champions League Group stage (September 26 – December 6)
The teams were sorted in the pots for the draw according to their standings in LEN Club Ranking (Pro Recco, Ferencvaros, Barcelona and Novi Beograd are in the first four places, so they were in the first pot, etc). The same system was applied to the draw for the qualifications.
GROUP A: Novi Beograd (Serbia), Sabadell (Spain), Steaua Bucharest (Romania), the winner of the qualification group B
GROUP B: Pro Recco (Italy), Olympiacos (Greece), Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia), the winner of the QF Group D
GROUP C: Ferencvaros (Hungary), Jadran Split (Croatia), Jadran Herceg Novi (Montenegro), the winner of the QF Group A
GROUP D: Barceloneta (Spain), Marseille (France), Spandau 04 Berlin (Germany), the winner of the QF Group C.
The top two teams from each group will go to the quarterfinal stage (two groups of four) and the 3rd-placed and 4th-placed in the LEN Euro Cup eighth finals.
All groups are more or less balanced. Novi Beograd won’t have an easy task against Sabadell, which brought several reinforcements this summer.
As mentioned, the duels between Pro Recco and Olympiacos will be some of the highlights in the group stage.
Ferencvaros will face two Jadrans. Both teams have high ambitions, especially Jadran Split, which reshaped its team with several excellent reinforcements.
Barceloneta is the favorite in Group D, but Marseille can go high. The French kept most of the players from the last season’s roster and signed two world champions, Krisztian Manhercz and Danial Angyal.
Still, the actual quality of the groups will be known after the qualifications (the groups for the qualifications are in the second part of the article). For instance, Novi Beograd, Sabadell and Steaua will have a very formidable opponent in the winner of the qualification Group B, where Brescia and Radnicki were drawn.Β Recco’s and Olympiacos’ possible rivals are Jug, OSC Budapest, Tourcoing, which will play in the qualification Group D.
I SABADELL REPLACED BRESCIA Brescia had the right to enter the Champions League directly as the 2nd-placed team in the country of the defending champion. Still, Brescia returned the wild card and decided to start its journey from the qualifications. Sabadell accepted the invitation to replace Brescia and entered the Champions League, paying 25.000 euros, like all other wild-card holders (except the reigning champion Pro Recco).
Qualifications (September 8 – 10)
There will be two groups of five and two of four teams in the qualifications. The hosts will be Waspo Hannover, Radnicki Kragujevac, Oradea and Jug Dubrovnik.
GROUP A (Hannover, host Waspo 98): Waspo 98 Hannover (Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Crvena Zvezda (Serbia), EPS Honved (Hungary), Apollon Smyrnis (Greece)
GROUP B (Kragujevac, host Radnicki): Β Brescia (Italy), Radnicki (Serbia), Primorac Kotor (Montenegro), ASC Duisburg (Germany), Noisy-le-Sec (France).
GROUP C (Oradea): Vouliagmeni (Greece), Ortigia (Italy), Oradea (Romania), Primorje EB Rijeka (Croatia).
GROUP D (Dubrovnik, host Jug): Jug AO (Croatia), OSC Budapest (Hungary), Tourcoing (France), Dinamo Bucharest (Romania).
The road to the Champions League from the qualifications won’t be easy because only the group winners will advance to the Champions League. All non-qualified teams will continue the season in the LEN Euro Cup Qualifications. The draw for the LEN Euro Cup will take place in September.
Calendar
Qualifications: 8-10 September
Group stage β Day 1: 26/27 September; Day 2: 6/7 October; Day 3: 17/18 October, Day 4: 31 October/1 November; Day 5: 21/22 November; Day 6: 5/6 December
The top two teams from each group will go to the quarterfinal stage (two groups of four) and the 3rd-placed and 4th-placed in the LEN Euro Cup eighth finals.
The quarterfinal stage will be played after the European Championships in Netanya and the World Championships in Doha.
Quarter final stage β 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 top two teams from the groups in the quarterfinal stage will qualify for the Final Four (6 β 8 June).
The draw for the Women’s Champions League qualifications was conducted earlier today.
More articles about the Champions League
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