Four teams have eyes on the ultimate prize

In Malta, the stage is set for another thrilling edition of the men’s Champions League Final Four. Hungary’s FTC Telekom Waterpolo, Serbia’s VK Novi Beograd, Spain’s Zodiac CNAB and France’s CN Marseille are ready to battle for the ultimate prize this weekend.

Champions League Men
Final Four, Semi-Finals
Friday, 30 May 2025
(Local times shown)

19:30: VK Novi Beograd (SRB) v Zodiac CNAB (ESP)
21:30: FTC Telekom Waterpolo (HUN) v CN Marseille (FRA)

Final Four, Finals
Sunday, 1 June 2025

19:30: Bronze Medal Game
21:30: Gold Medal Game

The opening press conference for the men’s Champions League Final Four was held in a unique and special place – as it would be hard to find somewhere with a more picturesque setting than the old harbour in Malta.

It’s all about history spanning across centuries – and now the four remaining teams are all about adding a great chapter to the history of their respective clubs as well.

Title-holders Ferencvaros and Novi Beograd, who finished fourth last year, already have experience of playing in Malta. Zodiac CNAB, the 2014 champions, return to the big stage after being absent last year, while for Marseille, this is going to be their first appearance in the top four.

The semi-finals on Friday promise outstanding clashes. In the first match, Novi Beograd take on Marseille. The Serbs are the only team in the field who couldn’t win their national league – Euro Cup runners-up Radnicki edged them out in the final – still, their side have some great experience on the European stage.

Indeed, this is their fourth consecutive appearance in the finals, and they made the semis in their previous three visits (just like this time) – a unique feat among the participants in Malta.

What they have been missing so far is the trophy, as they lost back-to-back finals in their home pool in 2022 and 2023, to Pro Recco.

Barceloneta are back in business after last season’s painful failure when they came unstuck in the quarter-finals.

The Spaniards are no newcomers to the grand stage, though. They have missed the finals only twice (2017 and 2022) in the last 11 seasons and missed the top four on two more occasions (in 2016 and in 2021).

Still, CNAB’s semi-final performances are less impressive, as they have played seven, but won only one, in 2014, on home soil, when they lifted the trophy at the end.

In the second semi, title-holders Ferencvaros clash with newcomers CN Marseille. The Hungarians are having another formidable season. After finishing 40-1 last year, they are 46-1 coming here.

Unlike in 2024, when they had had a straight loss (in Piraeus to Olympiacos), this spring their only defeat came in a shootout (away against Barceloneta), so they are yet to lose a match in regular time this season.

In Hungary, while staging a 3-0 rally in the league finals against Vasas, they’ve just completed a 100-match unbeaten run versus their local rivals in the domestic competitions.

In the Champions League, they posted an 11-1 win-loss ratio and nine of those victories were by seven goals or more. However, they have to recall that a year ago they could only oust NBG in a shootout in the semis and edge out Recco by a single goal in the final – so the Final Four is not the event where winners enjoy easy cruises.

Also, Fradi need to overcome the Magyar clubs’ historical curse – Hungarian teams lifted the trophy nine times in the past, but neither of them could retain their respective titles.

Marseille don’t have any similar pressure. The French team, a fine blend of local players and renowned international stars, have enjoyed their best-ever run on the European stage so far.

They reached the F8 on back-to-back occasions in 2021 and 2022, but could never pass through the quarters. Now they managed to qualify for the F4 for the first time – at the expense of Greek giants Olympiacos – and they have their eye on something much bigger than just getting here and enjoying the atmosphere.

What they really need is proof they can play at a really high level on the road, too. While they were 5-1 at home this season in the Champions League, they could win only twice in their six away matches.

Opening Press Conference Highlights

Kyriakos Giannopoulos, Vice-President, European Aquatics

“On behalf of European Aquatics, it is my pleasure to welcome you all here to our top water polo event of this year, the Champions League Final Four. We are delighted to return to Malta, this magnificent pearl of the Mediterranean, where people really love water polo.

“We have the four best clubs here who showed great performances throughout the whole season. In association with the organisers in Malta, we are also doing our best to create a great showcase of water polo and to stage another memorable edition of the Champions League Final Four.

“Let me thank the Government of Malta, the Ministry of Sport, Sport Malta and the ASA of Malta for their fantastic support and I’m convinced we will enjoy another fantastic water polo spectacle here.”

Clifton Grima, Minister for Sports in Malta

“We are very proud to host this event with the four best teams competing for the ultimate prize. It is also a pleasure to welcome all of you here, in the most beautiful harbour in the world, a perfect place to promote this great event. Our aim is to invest more and more in sport and hosting such top competitions leads us to have a true and proper legacy for our sporting community.”

Karl Izzo, President, ASA of Malta

“Not long ago, we had only a couple of coffees with the Minister and we reached the agreement to bring this event to Malta. And Mr Grima said, not only for one year but for three years. Now here we are, in the second year, and after having the press conference in a hotel a year ago, now we are here, in a fantastic location. For that, we are grateful for Mark Cutajar, CEO of Sport Malta as his team pushed for the best possible settings and I think they’ve succeeded.

“Also, with the support of the Ministry and Sport Malta, we’ve introduced a new lighting system in the pool. This will make this year’s Final Four more enjoyable and also benefits water polo for the long term here in Malta.”

Ugo Crousillat, captain, CN Marseille

“For us, this is the first time [for us to play in the finals], but I can say that we are not here by chance, we deserved this. We’ve made an amazing job, but this is a new competition here and we will give our best to win the Champions League.”

Milos Scepanovic, coach, CN Marseille

“The team is ready. We’ve been working for this not only this year but a lot more. However, the job has been done, we celebrated that in style, but it’s already behind us. This is a new event at the end of a difficult season. We are enthusiastic, we know whom we are facing in the semis but we are focused on ourselves in order to play our best water polo and to see what chances we may have.”

Elvis Fatovic, coach, Zodiac CNAB

“Everyone here has the same goal and the same approach. That is, to focus solely on the game tomorrow. No one came here just to participate, all of us want to win, however, our only task now is to concentrate on our semi-final against Novi Beograd.”

Felipe Perrone, captain, Zodiac CNAB

“I’d prefer not thinking about it (that possibly it’s going to be his last matches in his career). Now we are really happy to be here. Last year we were so jealous while watching the games from home, as I had been here for a couple of times and I do know how much Malta love water polo. As for our team, our focus is on Novi Beograd, no more than that, this is the only way.”

Balazs Nyeki, coach, FTC-Telekom

“Of course, our goal is to defend our title and I might say this is a big goal for Hungarian water polo too, to become the first team in our country to do so. Still, first we must have our minds on the semi-final and everyone is aware that it’s not going to be an easy match against Marseille. We had a joint training camp at the beginning of the season and we already saw their great potential. They were improving step by step, so it’s going to be an extremely difficult match.”

Soma Vogel, captain, FTC-Telekom

“In short, our secret for having such a great run in the last two years is hard work. This is our motto – work hard, stay on the ground, respect the sport and each other. Of course, this team has been built to win the Champions League, for us the Final Four is the most important tournament in the year. I felt a bit of tensions as we were travelling here but once we landed, and now we are here, on the seaside in the sun, in this company, I felt we kind of settled and are ready to deliver.”

Zivko Gocic, coach, Novi Beograd

“During the last match in the Serbian final, at a time-out, I told my team that now we are the best and we need to play like this here and later in the Final Four. It’s going to be difficult against Barceloneta, that’s clear, as everyone here at this table has the same goals. But we are well prepared and ready to fight and give our best. Then we’ll see if that’s going to be enough to win the game tomorrow.”

Milos Cuk, captain, Novi Beograd

“After all the transfers, at the beginning of the season reaching the Final Four was like a dream for us. Now we are happy to be here with a young team. Besides me and Angelos (Vlachopoulos), our players don’t have a lot of experience playing matches at this level. Still, tomorrow we want to give one hundred per cent. We are a good team with a good spirit and we want to take our chances to take the first step, then perhaps the second too, to win the trophy at last.”

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

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