Champions League – Change in the order of the rounds

LEN, in agreement with its broadcasting partner EBU and after consulting with the participating clubs, has changed the playing order in the men’s water polo Champions League.

In recent years the ‘mirror-order’ was applied in the main round of the Champions League which means that the order of the respective rounds followed this pattern: 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 – so the teams facing each other in the first round, met again on the last day.

Due to the pandemic situation, LEN decided to stage the main round in three phases at one venue for each group. It means that the teams played three rounds in December, will play four in March and three in April to decide which sides qualify to the Final Eight in June. Using the original playing pattern would have meant that the four-round tournaments saw the same teams facing each other twice.

“Since the fans can only follow the action on TV, LEN and EBU reached the conclusion to change the order of the rounds in order to offer a bit more entertaining match-ups for the March editions” said LEN Operational Manager Marco Birri. So after Round 4 and 5, the fixtures in Round 6 and 7 will be the same as they were in Round 1 and 2 respectively. Also, on demand of the broadcasters, the starting times of the games have also been modified in Ostia.

“What’s remained unchanged is our offer to the water polo family to follow each game live in our free streaming where this time English commentary will also be provided” Marco Birri concluded.

Please see the updated schedule below. CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PAGE

GROUP A (Ostia, ITA)

Round 4 – 1 March

15h15 Spandau04 BERLIN vs CN MARSEILLE

17h45 CC Ortigia SIRACUSA vs VK Jug Adriatic Osiguranje DUBROVNIK

20h15 Olympiacos SF PIRAEUS vs Pro RECCO

Round 5 – 2 March

15h15 Spandau04 BERLIN vs CC Ortigia SIRACUSA

17h45 CN MARSEILLE vs Olympiacos SF PIRAEUS

20h15 Pro RECCO vs VK Jug Adriatic Osiguranje DUBROVNIK

Round 6 – 3 March

15h15 CN MARSEILLE vs Pro RECCO

17h45 VK Jug Adriatic Osiguranje DUBROVNIK vs Spandau04 BERLIN

20h15 CC Ortigia SIRACUSA vs Olympiacos SF PIRAEUS

Round 7 – 4 March

15h15 Olympiacos SF PIRAEUS vs Spandau04 BERLIN

17h45 CN MARSEILLE vs VK Jug Adriatic Osiguranje DUBROVNIK

20h15 Pro RECCO vs CC Ortigia SIRACUSA

Group B (Budapest, HUN)

Round 4 – 2 March

14h00 Waspo98 HANNOVER vs Dinamo TBILISI

16h30 FTC BUDAPEST vs Zodiac CNA BARCELONETA

19h00 Jadran HERCEG NOVI vs AN BRESCIA

Round 5 – 3 March

14h00 AN BRESCIA vs Waspo98 HANNOVER

16h30 Dinamo TBILISI vs FTC BUDAPEST

19h00 Jadran HERCEG NOVI vs Zodiac CNA BARCELONETA

Round 6 – 4 March

14h00 AN BRESCIA vs Dinamo TBILISI

16h30 FTC BUDAPEST vs Jadran HERCEG NOVI

19h00 Zodiac CNA BARCELONETA vs Waspo98 HANNOVER

Round 7 – 5 March

14h00 Dinamo TBILISI vs Zodiac CNA BARCELONETA

16h30 AN BRESCIA vs FTC BUDAPEST

19h00 Waspo98 HANNOVER vs Jadran HERCEG NOVI