Strong finishes see Fradi and Barceloneta seal F4 spots
As expected, FTC-Telekom and Zodiac CNAB qualified for the Final Four on Tuesday night, however, they both had to navigate tough tests in the penultimate round of the Champions League Quarter Final Stage. Towards the end of the third, Savona and Oradea each trailed only 8-9, then the favourites stepped up late to secure the necessary wins with powerful finishes.
Champions League Men
Quarter Final Stage
Group B – Day 5 Results
Tuesday 22nd April 2025
FTC Telekom Waterpolo (HUN) 15-11 RN Savona (ITA)
CSM Oradea (ROU) 8-14 Zodiac CNAB (ESP)
Standings: 1. FTC 13pts, 2. Zodiac CNAB 11pts, 3. Savona 6pts, 4. Oradea 0pts
The title-holders started this match just like they did in the first three rounds of this stage, when they thrashed all their rivals – Savona were dismantled on Day 2 in Italy when Fradi won 17-9.
Four minutes into the first, the hosts were 3-0 up already, and once the scoreboard ticked to 4-0, veteran Valerio Rizzo finally got Savona off the mark 1:28 from the first break, but fellow Italian Edoardo di Somma reset the four-goal gap before the buzzer.
With more blasts from Marton Vamos, Adam Nagy and the season’s leading scorer Stylianos Argyropoulos, Fradi were 8-3 up late in the second and Savona were barely showing any signs of providing tougher opposition.
Then, a couple of finely played man-ups, a killed 6 on 4 and a series of great saves from Gianmarco Nicosia heated up the battle which stood 8-5 at half-time.
Another denied 6 on 5 and another great finish in a man-up from Lorenzo Bruni brought Savona back to 8-6. Nicosia came up with more saves and FTC needed four minutes to score again when Dusan Mandic sent the ball home from a man-up.
Still, Daniil Merkulov and Rizzo stunned FTC goalkeeper Daniel Szakonyi with back-to-back goals from the perimeter (Soma Vogel was watching from the bench). The Hungarians have rarely experienced anything similar in their home matches, that a rival was trailing by one shortly before the final quarter.
With some luck and fighting spirit, Szilard Jansik pushed in a rebound to give FTC a bit more breathing room at 10-8 going into the last eight minutes.
In the fourth, Fradi stepped through the gears and left no doubt who were the better team. They were more vibrant in attack, netting their first two man-ups, by Krisztian Manhercz and Argyropoulos, and even though Mario Giuidi scored in the same lucky way as Jansik had done, the hosts’ defence managed to kill the next two man-downs and that was crucial.
Argyropoulos converted a penalty with 3:58 remaining, and at 13-9, there was no way back for Savona. Two more fine goals apiece entertained the capacity crowd, which celebrated another Final Four berth for Ferencvaros.
In Romania, Oradea put up a great fight, as they delivered their best performance so far at this stage – still, they left their pool empty-handed as Barceloneta had a lot more gas left the tank in the last period – and of course, they had Alvaro Granados.
The Spanish took a flying start and jumped to a 0-2 lead, but in a span 100 seconds, Filip Gardasevic equalised. Alejandro Bustos finished off a counter for 2-3, then in the second quarter, the home crowd erupted in joy as Oradea staged a brilliant 3-0 run.
A man-up and two action goals left the visitors stranded before Bernat Sanahuja’s fierce shot halted Oradea’s march three minutes from the turnaround.
In 30 seconds, Lazar Dobozanov made a save in a man-down, then stopped Granados’ penalty, but he couldn’t deny Unai Biel in a counter, with 0:17 on the clock.
The Serbian goalie withheld the Spaniards for four more minutes before Gergely Burjan netted a 6 on 5 for 5-6. The Hungarian leftie added another one before the usual Alvaro Granados Show began.
The mastershooter buried a penalty and put away two extras and he did that under pressure as Oradea kept scoring in the third. At 8-9, with 1:24 on the clock, few would have guessed that Tommaso Insinna’s goal would be the hosts’ last one of the evening.
For five minutes, the Romanians were still battling hard, they killed two more man-downs, but their heroics also burnt a lot of energy.
Alejandro Bustos could finally beat them in a man-up and he did the same a minute later to make it 8-12. Two more action goals, including a 4th from Granados, closed down the contest – CNAB staged a 0-4 rush in the last three minutes to secure their return to the finals after missing the last edition.
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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics
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