FTC to retain Champions League title – or third-time lucky for NBG?

FTC-Telekom Waterpolo have reached their fourth final in the last six editions, while this is going to be VK Novi Beograd’s third final in four years. Still, however frequently these two greats have made the gold medal match, Sunday will be their first title bout. Elsewhere, the bronze will either go to Zodiac CNAB or CN Marseille.

Champions League Men
Final Four, Finals
Sunday, 1 June 2025
(Local times shown)

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

Sunday’s final match in Malta between the Hungarian and Serbian giants is not only about the coronation of their respective seasons, as both teams are looking to achieve historical feats.

Ferencvaros are aiming to become the first Hungarian team to retain the Champions League crown – Magyar clubs have clinched the most prestigious trophy nine times in the past, but no side has managed to repeat the victory the following year.

At the same time, Novi Beograd are hoping for a case of third-time lucky, as they lost their previous two gold medal matches. Recco’s mighty team beat them on both occasions, in NBG’s pool in Belgrade. The Serbs were close in the first, then lost in the shootout in 2022, while Recco blew them away a year later.

Still, the challenge ahead of Zivko Gocic’s team is no smaller, as once more, just like in 2022 and 2023, they have to face the title-holders and this time they play away from home.

Last season, NBG also clashed with Fradi here, in the semis, and they could gain some confidence from that match as they managed to force a shootout against the Hungarians, while surviving a four-minute man-down due to Filip Filipovic’s ejection in the second half.

It is interesting to see how Novi fought themselves back to the ultimate match of the season, despite losing many of their key players last summer. Some called it a day, some joined arch-rivals Radnicki, still, NBG’s young aces grew up quickly and only lost one single Champions League match in the entire season.

In the Champions League, they posted the same win-loss ratio as Ferencvaros, 12-1, which really shows the strong character of the team.

However, few would say Fradi are not the overwhelming favourites to win the final. They remained steady in the entire season – while NBG had some ups and downs, and fell in the league final to Radnicki, while Fradi never lost a high-stakes match.

Their only defeat came in Barcelona on Day 4 in the Champions League Quarter Final Stage, in a shootout, and their mind-blowing overall win/loss tally stands at 47-1. This means that in 48 matches they didn’t lose in regular time, so the Serbs will need to be on the very top of their game to spoil that run.

Some may call Novi Beograd’s shootout win over Barceloneta an upset, but at the end of the day, the two Quarter Final Stage group-winners reached the final, just like last season.

The runners-up, CNAB and Marseille, have had to settle for playing the bronze medal. Indeed, this is nothing new to the Spaniards, as it appears they suffer from some kind of semi-final curse.

They have reached the top-four eight times since 2013, but lost seven of their semis. Consequently, this is going to be their seventh consolation game, and their record stands at 4-2 in their previous six.

For Marseille, a bronze would mean the world perhaps, as this is their first appearance in the Final Four and a medal would definitely be the cherry on top of their cake – a great finish to cap their historical run. However, it’s going to be a huge challenge, as the Spaniards upended them twice in the Group Stage.

Head-to-heads

Final

Novi Beograd (SRB) v FTC-Telekom (HUN) 1-4

2023-24 (semi-final): 13-13, pen: 4-5. 2022-23: 12-14, 14-13. 2021-22: 10-11, 11-14

Bronze medal match

Zodiac CNAB (ESP) v CN Marseille (FRA) 5-1

Group Stage: 12-9, 19-14. 2022-23: 9-7, 13-12. 2012-13: 15-4, 10-11

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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