Champions League semi-finals – how the players and coaches saw it

VK Novi Beograd (SRB) 10-10 (5-4P) Zodiac CNAB (ESP)

Zivko Gocic, coach, NBG

“Indeed, we had to win this match twice. I cannot really recall any game where the referee did a similar call in a similar situation [in the last seconds against Milos Cuk, which led to CNAB’s equaliser], but anyway – what matters is the win. Again, just like in the whole season, it was a great team effort. My players never stopped believing and fought in every moment of the match. This is the only way this team can win matches in the Champions League, and we proved our quality again.”

Angelos Vlahopoulos, player, NBG

“I’m really proud of our team, we used our chances really well and did some really great defending. Most of our young players don’t have the experience to play at this level, to play a semi-final in the Final Four. That’s why this win is even more valuable, as they all grew up to the occasion. This is a great success, to be in the final for the third time.”

Elvis Fatovic, coach, CNAB

“First of all, congratulations to Novi Beograd, they deserved this win. We haven’t played at the level we wanted, and that we are able to. We missed too many man-ups during the match, this was the key. We are disappointed, obviously, we came here for a better result, but in the Final Four you need a better performance at this level.”

Gergo Burian, player, CNAB

“We spent two weeks preparing for this match, mapping out Novi’s weak points. We did a lot of video sessions – but now we made loads of mistakes and this makes it impossible to win a match like this. We had some better moments, when we took the lead, but again we started missing man-ups when we could have led by two or more goals. We had our chances but hurried our shots perhaps. I think, all in all, our defence worked well, we lost because of our errors in offence. We had way too many, that’s why we couldn’t win this game.”

FTC Telekom Waterpolo (HUN) 14-11 CN Marseille (FRA)

Balazs Nyeki, coach, FTC

“It was a great game, a great effort from Marseille whom we really respect as they showed their quality once more. This is the Champions League Final Four, you will never have easy matches here. Even if we led by four goals, I knew it would not be over, as Marseille really have the potential. Also, we committed more mistakes than acceptable at this level, mainly in the third period and at the beginning of the fourth. But my team proved their quality once more, as we could add that extra gear to stage a great finish and win the match by three at the end. I’m proud of my players, they kept their calm and focus in the most crucial moments, just like they did in the league final, and this was the key to win another match when the stakes were really high.”

Stylianos Argyropoulos, player, FTC

“It was a great game and difficult as well, which is usual for the Final Four. The pressure was already on us before the match and once we led by four goals thanks to our great start, this pressure kind of grew as we were supposed to maintain this level. At the same time, Marseille had nothing to lose, so they could play without any pressure, while we started to make mistakes which also helped them to come back. But we are a great team, we could really add that extra gear even at the end of the match. Now we are in the final again and I’m really looking for playing for the title on Sunday.”

Milos Scepanovic, coach, Marseille

“Congratulations to Ferencvaros, they proved again why they are the best team in the world. We tried to give our best, but we didn’t start the match the way we wanted. And it’s really energy consuming when you chase a rival once you go four goals down – especially when the rival is Ferencvaros. We could equalise but we lost a couple of players with three fouls, and we didn’t have the necessary energy to keep up with them in the finish. I think we did our best today, but the reality is that Ferencvaros are the better team, and they deserved this win.”

Andrija Prlainovic, player, Marseille

“Our bad start had an impact on the rest of the match. We fought hard, we came back but we lost two players with three fouls, like [Alessandro] Velotto, who was out already in the third period. We don’t have such a rotation as Ferencvaros, so we really need every key player to keep a certain level in our game. Losing one player in a game like this already affects our play, so losing another one is too much. I’m sorry we couldn’t achieve more tonight. We showed why we are here, but we met the best team of Europe, and they also showed their quality when it really mattered.”

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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics

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