At the end of a week packed with exciting matches in the national championships playoffs, the final in the second-tier European competition for clubs will start.
Radnicki and Pro Recco will play in the Euro Cup final. The first match will take place tomorrow at 21:00 CET in Kragujevac. The return match in Italy is scheduled for May 24.
The home team is set to compete in the Euro Cup final for the second time. Radnicki made its European debut in the 2012/13 season. In that season, the Serbian team, which featured many water polo stars, won the Euro Cup with a perfect record. Twelve years ago, Radnicki triumphed over Florentia in the final (7:6 and 8:4).
This year, Radnicki will face an Italian club in the final again, but it won’t be a heavy favorite as it was in 2012.
Pro Recco, the most decorated club in the world and an 11-time European champion, has reached the Euro Cup final (formerly known as the LEN Trophy) three times. The club qualified for the final in the inaugural LEN Trophy in the 1992/93 season but lost to Ujpest in both legs. Recco was defeated by Brescia in the final in 2002.
The Euro Cup remains the only competition in which Pro Recco has participated without securing a trophy. Recco even won the Regional League, participating as a special guest in a competition for former Yugoslav clubs in 2012. If Recco wins this final, it will finally complete its trophy cabinet with the only title it lacks.
Two different summers, two different final rehearsals
Last summer, Recco faced difficulties after its patron, Gabriele Volpi, left the club, but the club overcame the crisis. Despite several player departures, it composed a very good team. It withdrew from the Champions League, but was allowed to enter the Euro Cup. Meanwhile, a new owner and sponsor emerged to support the club, allowing Recco to keep its place in the European elite.
Preparing for the 2024/25 season, Radnicki signed several excellent players, including five reigning Olympic champions and Serbia’s legendary centre-forward Dusko Pijetlovic. Although Radnicki struggled in the first half of the season and did not meet expectations in many games, the team improved remarkably after the New Year. As a result, Radnicki achieved a high level of performance and secured the first trophy of the season—the Regional League.
The finalists are in different mindsets ahead of the first leg.
On Tuesday, both teams had their final rehearsals before tomorrow’s encounter. Radnicki secured a thrilling 13:12 victory against Novi Beograd in the first match of the Serbian League final. Pro Recco began the final of the Italian Championships losing 10:12 to Brescia after trailing by four goals in the middle of the fourth quarter. It was Recco’s third loss of the season. The Italian champions were defeated by BVSC in the Euro Cup qualifiers in September and by Brescia in the 26th round of the regular season in Italy.
The win over Novi Beograd should encourage Radnicki, while the defeat to Brescia will certainly serve as a wake-up call for Pro Recco, allowing them to identify their flaws.
However, both teams possess more strengths than weaknesses, promising two great clashes ahead.
The players and coaches are familiar with each other and share mutual respect. For example, Radnicki’s head coach, Uros Stevanovic, and Milos Ciric, the first assistant to Recco’s coach Sandro Sukno, worked together at Partizan for many years. Ciric is also Stevanovic’s assistant on the coaching staff of the Serbian national team.
The players and coaches of both teams commented similarly on the final: “We have great opponents ahead; two tough games await us. Our goal is to win the trophy!”
Five who have already lifted Euro Cup
Five players who will participate in the 2025 Euro Cup final have previously won the trophy in this competition.
Three of them are from Radnicki. Serbia’s captain, Nikola Jaksic, won the trophy with Ferencvaros in 2017, while veteran Dusko Pijetlovic and Radomir Drasovic clinched the Euro Cup playing together for Szolnok in 2021.
Marco Del Lungo Photo by Laszlo Balogh/Total Waterpolo
Pro Recco’s goalkeeper, Marco del Lungo, and Nicholas Presciutti triumphed with Brescia in 2016.
Dusko Pijetlovic is the only finalist who has played for both clubs competing for the 2025 trophy. He was a member of Pro Recco on two occasions and won two Champions Leagues with them (in 2012 and 2015). Before joining Recco, he also won the Champions League as a player with both Partizan and Crvena Zvezda.
Additionally, Pijetlovic triumphed in the Regional League both with Pro Recco (2012) and Radnicki (2025).
Road to final
Radnicki
Champions League – Qualifications: 1st place in Group B (9 points); Preliminary Stage: 3rd place in Group B (7 points). Euro Cup – Eighth-finals: Radnicki – Jug 15:9 (a) and 14:13 (h); Quarterfinals: Radnicki – Brescia 9:9 (a) and 14:10 (h); Semifinals: Radnicki – Mladost 10:13 (a) and 15:8 (h).
Pro Recco
Euro Cup – Qualifications: 2nd place in Group D (6 points); Group Stage: 1st place in Group C (18 points) Eighth-finals: Pro Recco – Dinamo Tbilisi 17:5 (h) and 17:5 (a); Quarterfinals: Pro Recco – Vasas 11:9 (a) and 14:7 (h); Semifinals: Pro Recco – Sabadell 16:6 (h) and 10:10 (a).
History: Pro Recco leads 4:1
Radnicki and Pro Recco have met five times. The first encounter dates back to 2013. Radnicki, the reigning Euro Cup winner then, beat Recco in Italy (12:10). That year, Radnicki finished in 2nd, and Recco in 6th place at the Champions League Final Six.
Recco recorded wins in the following four matches. In the season 2014/15, when Radnicki started passing through a deep crisis, Recco defeated the Serbian club twice in the Champions League very convincingly – 12:5 and 19:6. Radnicki returned to the Champions League in the season 2022/23 and suffered two losses to Recco which eventually won the trophy (12:21 and 8:16).
However, those results should not be used as a basis for predictions, as both teams have changed since their last match.
