Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Swimmer's Daily
    • Home
    • Blog
    • Timeline
    • Tags
    • Sitemap
    • About
    • Contact
    Facebook Twitter YouTube Tumblr
    Swimmer's Daily
    Home»Water Polo»LEN Champions League, Final Eight, Belgrade, 2-4 June – Preview
    Water Polo

    LEN Champions League, Final Eight, Belgrade, 2-4 June – Preview

    rokurBy rokurJune 1, 2022Updated:June 1, 2022No Comments5 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Denes Varga FTC, Djordje Lazic AN Brescia, Dusan Mandic Novi Beograd, Aleksandar Ivovic Pro Recco, Igor Kovacevic Marseille, Daniel Lopez Pinedo CNAB Press Conference LEN Men's Water Polo Champions League Final Eight 2022 Hotel Falkenstainer - Novi Beograd - Serbia 01/06/22 Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto DBM/LEN Reserved Rights Author must be mentioned when published Editorial/media use only
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    Recco goes for a double and a 10th crown 

    Recco is looking for retaining its title, which would be the first double since 2008 when also the  Italians had managed to win back-to-back editions. However, six other freshly crowned national champion teams and their fellow Italian arch-rival Brescia all line up to prevent Recco from a  record-breaking 10th victory. Belgrade is ready for another three-day show, starting this  Thursday. 

    Denes Varga FTC, Djordje Lazic AN Brescia, Dusan Mandic Novi Beograd, Aleksandar Ivovic Pro Recco, Igor Kovacevic Marseille, Daniel Lopez Pinedo CNAB Press Conference LEN Men’s Water Polo Champions League Final Eight 2022 Hotel Falkenstainer – Novi Beograd – Serbia 01/06/22 Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto DBM/LEN Reserved Rights Author must be mentioned when published Editorial/media use only

    Since the reshaped format of the Champions League has been introduced in 2014 (preliminary with two groups, a Final Six, then Eight at the end), the first six editions saw six different teams from six different countries lifting the trophy. Last season Recco halted that trend and managed to clinch the title for a second time after 2015 – of course, that was also the Italians’ record-breaking 9th victory in the competition. 

    Now Recco can raise the stakes as the favorite team may achieve a title defense for the first time since  2008. Indeed, they were the last ones to date to retain their gold medal 14 years ago. It’s not an easy feat  – it happened only 8 times in history (the competition started in the 1963-64 season), and only one team  (Mladost, CRO, then YUG) could make a treble in 1968-1970. 

    This also demonstrates that going all the way in the Champions League has been anything but easy – and even if Recco dominated the prelims, as usual, the Italian champions could take nothing for granted in Belgrade. 

    First of all, there will be seven freshly crowned champions in the field – all except one qualified team managed to win its respective domestic league, Brescia is the only exception for obvious reasons as they lost to Recco in Italy. This already adds some extra flavor to the three thrilling days – so this edition will lack the irony we had a year ago when the two sides reaching the final, Recco and Ferencvaros, had fallen short before the F8 in their countries (Recco got silver in Italy, Ferencvaros got bronze in  Hungary). 

    The quarter-finals on Thursday already offer a series of exciting clashes. Only Brescia seems to face a  bit easier task – this might be their reward for finishing atop in the group considered the toughest ever –,  still, Hannover might cause them some headaches in a single game. 

    Despite losing only one game in 14 rounds, Recco will need to pass a crucial test right on Day 1 against  Barceloneta. The Spaniards were on the rise in the spring and this match is something all water polo lovers are poised to see. It’s going to be interesting for another aspect too: both teams are led by a  Croatian head coach. Sandro Sukno is in charge of Recco, Elvis Fatovic is the boss in Barceloneta – both of them spend their first season in this job at the clubs. Add: when Croatia won the Olympic gold in 2012, Fatovic was the assistant coach of the national team where Sukno was a key player.

    When Ferencvaros won the trophy in 2019, they downed Jug in the quarters to put an end to the Croats’  big run as the Dubrovnik-based side always reached the semis in the previous four editions. This year,  the Hungarians were in trouble in early March but bounced back spectacularly and Jug also had some great matches lately – and don’t forget, the Croats are the only team having beaten Recco in the group stage. 

    Last but not least, host Novi Beograd, the only new participant compared to the 2021 field, will have a  showdown with Marseille which showed some tremendous improvement during these years. The  French first won the Euro Cup in 2019, qualified for the F8 last year, and staged an 11-game winning streak in the prelims this season. With a great mix of French and foreign players, mostly from  Montenegro and Croatia, led by a Montenegrin coach, they know the ways to put up a great fight against a Serbian team. However, Novi Beograd was put together to win this title in its home pool,  preferably right on their first try. During the season, his majesty Igor Milinovic entered the scene to take over the team as the head coach. The legendary player already proved that, as a coach, he knew how to win the title against all odds when he led Partizan to a stunning victory against top favorite Recco in  2011 in the Foro Italico in Rome. 

    All matches can be followed via a live stream on our dedicated website with on-site English commentary (though in some countries geo-blocking may occur) – and the live-scoring site shall offer all the stats and video clips of each goal scored in Belgrade. 

    Champions League, Final Eight – Schedule 

    Quarter-finals, 2 June 

    14.30 AN Brescia (ITA) v Waspo 98 Hannover (GER) 
    16.30 Pro Recco (ITA) v Zodiac Atletic Barceloneta (ESP) 
    18.30 CN Marseille (FRA) v Novi Beograd (SRB) 
    20.30 FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN) v Jug Adriatic Osiguranje Dubrovnik (CRO) 

    Semi-finals, 3 June 

    14.30 Crossover for 5-8th places 
    16.30 Crossover for 5-8th places 
    18.30 Semi-final: Brescia/Hannover v Marseille/Novi B. 
    20.30 Semi-final: Recco/Barceloneta v FTC/Jug 

    Final Round, 4 June 

    12.00 For the 7-8th place 
    14.00 For the 5-6th place 
    17.00 Bronze medal match 
    19.30 Champions League Final

    Press release courtesy of LEN, photo courtesy of Deepbluemedia/G. Scala

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    rokur
    • Website

    Production engineer and certified swim coach. Full-time IT consultant, spare-time swimming aficionado. 2 sons, 2 daughters and a wife. President of the Faroe Islands Aquatics Federation. Likes to run :-)

    Related Posts

    Water Polo Coach Teaches Underserved Students How to Swim | CBS 8 San Diego

    January 12, 2023

    2022 European Water Polo Championships, Split (CRO) | Highlights from the Opening Press Conference

    August 26, 2022

    Champions League, Final Eight, Belgrade (SRB), Day 3 – Summary

    June 7, 2022

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Sponsor
    Top Posts
    • History Of Swimming (Infographic)
      History Of Swimming (Infographic)
    • Underwater Record Gets Examined On 'Outrageous Acts Of Science'
      Underwater Record Gets Examined On 'Outrageous Acts Of Science'
    • USA Swimming announces plans for August return
      USA Swimming announces plans for August return
    • Swimming | Luca Holtzhausen Eyes Bigger Splash | eNCA
      Swimming | Luca Holtzhausen Eyes Bigger Splash | eNCA
    • Swimming with Nose Restrictions
      Swimming with Nose Restrictions
    • 6/1/6 Drill | TriDot Swim Drill Series
      6/1/6 Drill | TriDot Swim Drill Series
    • Until Fairly Recently, The YMCA Actually Required Swimmers To Be Nude
      Until Fairly Recently, The YMCA Actually Required Swimmers To Be Nude
    • Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Shares Wild Story of Saving Man Accused of Stealing Boat | KATU News
      Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Shares Wild Story of Saving Man Accused of Stealing Boat | KATU News
    • Jennifer Lawrence to star as Audrey Mestre in true freediving drama 'The Dive'
      Jennifer Lawrence to star as Audrey Mestre in true freediving drama 'The Dive'
    • Ragga Ragnars Explains Her Familial Link To 'Vikings' | Vikings
      Ragga Ragnars Explains Her Familial Link To 'Vikings' | Vikings
    Countdown to Fukuoka 2023July 14, 2023
    5 months to go.
    Categories
    Buffer Overflow
    Tweets by swimmersdaily
    • RSS - Posts
    • RSS - Comments
    Search

     Subscribe in a reader

     Subscribe to comments

    Contact Info & Hours
    Swimmer's Daily
    c/o Rókur í Jákupsstovu
    Brekkuvegur 10
    FO-650 Toftir
    Faroe Islands
    Mobile +298 219754
    [email protected]
    09:00-21:00 UTC/GMT
    Subscribe to Blog via Email

    Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 169 other subscribers
    Meta
    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.org
    Facebook Twitter YouTube Tumblr
    © 2023 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.