Champions League Final Four – facts and figures

Teams

• FTC-Telekom (HUN)

Titles: 2 (2019, 2024)
Last season: winner
F8/6/4 appearances: 5 (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
Semi-finals: 3 wins (2019, 2021, 2024), 1 loss (2022)
This season (CL): 11-1
At home: won the league and the national cup

•VK Novi Beograd (SRB)

Titles: 0
Last season: 4th in the Final Four
F8/6/4 appearances: 3 (2022, 2023, 2024)
Semi-finals: 2 wins (2022, 2023), 1 loss (2024)
This season (CL): 11-1
At home: runners-up in the league, won the national cup

• Zodiac CNAB (ESP)

Titles: 1 (2014)
Last season: 3rd in the Quarter-final Stage
F8/6/4 appearances: 8 (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023)
Semi-finals: 1 win (2014), 6 losses (2013, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023)
This season (CL): 11-1
At home: won the league and the national cup

CN Marseille (FRA)

Titles: 0
Last season: 3rd in the Quarter-final Stage
F8/6/4 appearances: 2 (2021, 2022)
Semi-finals: never reached
This season (CL): 7-5
At home: won the league and the national cup

Semi-finals – Head-to-head

• Novi Beograd v Barceloneta 2-0 (1 draw)
2022-23: semi-final – 8-8, pen: 4-2. 2021-22: 12-12, 11-9

• Ferencvaros v Marseille 3-1
CL: 2019: 13-7. 2020-21: quarter-final: 14-6. 2022-23: 9-8, 7-13
Other: 2019 Super Cup Final (in Marseille): 14-11

General

• Ferencvaros are looking to become the first Hungarian team ever to defend the Champions League title. Hungarian teams lifted the trophy nine times in the past, but were unable to retain their respective titles the following season.

• Three of the four teams have reached the gold medal match in the past and two of them have lifted the trophy. Ferencvaros advanced to the final three times (2019, 2021, 2024) and won twice (2019, 2024). Barceloneta had one shot at the title and made it (in 2014). Novi Beograd played two finals (2022 and 2023) and lost both. However, FTC are the only team which could achieve this feat away from home. Barceloneta and NBG both made the final while playing on home soil – one of them shall break that tradition on Friday. In contrast, this is Marseille’s first-ever appearance in the semis.

• Among the players, Marseille’s Andrija Prlainovic is hoping to lift the trophy for a 6th time in his illustrious career. The two-time Olympic champion Serbian ace achieved the unique feat of winning the Champions League with four different clubs, a record till date. Between 2011 and 2017, he was almost synonimous with victory in the CL: whichever team he played for, they ended up on top 5 times in 7 seasons: Partizan in 2011, Recco in 2012, Crvena Zvezda in 2013, Recco in 2015 and Szolnok in 2017. Should he win with Marseille, he would join the exclusive club of six-time winners, featuring Djordje Perisic (YUG/SRB all with Partizan) and Maurizio Felugo (ITA all with Recco) so far.

• There are two more players in Malta who had three titles with three clubs. Felipe Perrone won the CL with Recco in 2012, with Barceloneta in 2014 and with Jug in 2016. Dusan Mandic did the same, with Partizan in 2012, with Recco in 2021 and with Ferencvaros in 2024. Mandic also holds a record in the current field as besides the three victories, he played Champions League finals three more times, with Primorac Kotor in 2010, with Recco in 2018, and with NBG in 2022.

• There are three former Finals’ MVPs in Malta for this F4 – not surprisingly the three greats mentioned before: Perrone (2015, 2016), Mandic (2021, 2024) and Prlainovic (2017).

• Previous top scorers are also with us for this edition – Perrone (2013, 2017), Alvaro Granados (2023, 2024) and Angelos Vlachopoulos (2022). For this year, Fradi’s Stylianos Argyropoulos is ranked first before the finals.

• As for the coaches, it’s Hungary vs the former Yugoslavia. Ferencvaros is coached by Balazs Nyeki, while Serbia’s Zivko Gocic is in charge of Novi Beograd, Croatia’s Elvis Fatovic leads CNAB and Montenegro’s Milos Scepanovic is the boss in Marseille.

• All four teams are a great mix of outstanding local players and classy foreigners.

Besides Fradi, we have Hungarians in CNAB (Vince Vigvari and Gergo Burian) and in Marseille (Daniel Angyal).

Besides NBG, we have Serbians in Fradi (Dusan Mandic) and in Marseille (Andrija Prlainovic).

Besides CNAB, we have Spanish in Fradi (Miguel del Toro) and in Marseille (Marc Larumbe).

Further nations keeping their eyes on their players:

Italians: Edoardo di Somma (FTC), Alessandro Velotto (Marseille), Francesco de Michelis (ITA)

Greeks: Stylianos Argyropoulos (FTC), Angelos Vlachopoulos and Dimitrios Skoumpakis (NBG)

Montenegrins: Petar Tesanovic and Vladan Spaic (Marseille), Djuro Radovic and Miroslav Perkovic (NBG)

Netherlands: Bilal Gbadamassi (NBG)

Watch all the Champions League Men Final Four action live on www.euroaquaticstv.com and stay up-to-date with live results/tables and real-time updates through the European Aquatics App. Download it here: Google Play.

Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics

The post Champions League Final Four – facts and figures first appeared on European Aquatics®.