Champions League finals – how the players and coaches saw it

Gold medal game

Novi Beograd 11-13 FTC-Telekom

Balazs Nyeki, coach, FTC-Telekom

“We’ve hit an extremely high level early in the year, which I did not expect. What I did expect was our level to drop mid-spring, which actually happened when we lost that one game in Barcelona in the shootout. I also wanted to see the team rise gradually and again, we just did that.

“Our play was improving every game in the league finals and that continued here, on the two most important days of the season. We lost one match in the entire season, not a single one in regular time and you may say that this great team made it look easy. But you have to realise it was anything but easy.

“The two matches here were real fights, toe-to-toe battles, but this is the Final Four where you can win only this way. And believe me, it’s far from evident that we managed to retain our title with ease.

“There are countless examples when great teams failed to deliver here, when everything comes down to one plus one game. Do you remember how long Recco chased their next title after 2015? I do. They had to wait six long years, though they had the same fantastic team which finally won three in a row.

“Look at Novi – they are yet to lift the trophy. Look at Barceloneta, all the world class players of the fantastic Spanish national team in one place, and for years they have been considered the favourites, but couldn’t reach the final.

“What we excelled at was that whenever our levels dropped, we started working on correcting our mistakes and taking care of re-focusing. Whether it was a longer period or just inside one match – we could always react well.

“I’d say we could have even won that match in Barceloneta to have a perfect season, but honestly, I don’t care about winning 100% of our matches. Rather to win 100% of the trophies. We’ve achieved that, we went seven for seven across the last two years and I think this is a tremendous feat.

“Yes, it’s all about really hard work, but I won’t say we work harder than the others. In water polo, at this level, everyone puts in the hard work, you can’t work harder or more – what I’m working on with my staff is to work more systematically perhaps.

“We have a plan, we have ideas, and we all work hard to implement them in the pool, which gives us the chance to win matches and titles.”

Krisztian Manhercz, MVP of the F4, FTC-Telekom

“I joined Ferencvaros for this season, after a year when they had already been dominant and won everything. We approached this season targeting the title-defence in all competitions, plus to lift the Super Cup – and we’ve achieved it all, but it wasn’t that simple at all.

“We played two great matches here, where all the hard work done in the season paid off. And this may sound as a common-place, but it’s really about all those grey mornings and afternoons in October, November, when we trained like hell, all those league matches played on Wednesday evenings, and even if we won one like 29-3, there was always something which helped to build this team even more.

“Today’s triumph just mirrors this hard work, our dedication, commitment and humbleness, which never changed a bit during the whole season.

“That’s why we deserved this once more, though we have to give all credits to Novi Beograd. No one thought last November that they would be in the final – but they had a fantastic season, their team effort was amazing, also here in the semis against Barceloneta and they did another great job in the final.

“They managed to show something extra, which surprised us, but we also did well, especially in the second half when we further raised our level. We had blocks, Soma (Vogel) had great saves, we played with our hearts, stayed calm and this is what you need to clinch the trophy.”

Szilard Jansik, player, FTC-Telekom

“Perhaps many think that it’s easy for this great team to win matches, to lift trophies – but we pay the price with the hardest trainings imaginable. Me and my team-mates often do extra workouts as we’re all aware that we still have weaknesses we should work on to improve. This brings us forward and this enables us to play for the titles in all competitions.

“We won everything again, but not even our domestic victories came with ease and this one here was definitely another big challenge. Hats off to Novi, even if they lost several players last summer, it was stunning how they came together and got outstanding wins in a row.

“They absolutely deserved to be in the final and I can tell you they surprised us with a couple of things too. We had to keep our focus at the highest level in all four quarters to get the upper hand in the end.

“Our rotation is wider, our bench is stronger, which was decisive in the second half. Experience was also on our side – many of their youngsters were playing their first Final Four, while in our team, most of us were part of a lot more, for me, for instance, this was the sixth occasion. OK, for Mano (Krisztian Manhercz) it was the first and he hit six goals right away, but that’s why we have him here (laughing).”

Zivko Gocic, coach, NBG

“Congratulations to Ferencvaros, as they proved why they are the best team in the world – they delivered their best game when it mattered the most. At the same time, I cannot be prouder of my players who really showed their character, they played like a real team and kept up with Ferencvaros for most of the match.

“My team gave everything they had, they played with heart, with discipline, they showed some extras and I really couldn’t ask for any more than that. Our young players learnt a lot, they became better players during this weekend and we will do our best to return next year.”

Bronze medal game

Zodiac CNAB (ESP) 19-9 CN Marseille (FRA)

Elvis Fatovic, coach, Zodiac CNAB

“This game was about who recovered better physically, but mainly emotionally from the semi-final loss. Perhaps, for us, it was more painful to lose on Friday, but my players reacted well. We had a lot of respect for Marseille, as they had a great season, especially in the second half – so we gave our best, and didn’t withhold anything. From the beginning, we played faster, with more energy, and we punished almost all of their mistakes, and scored a lot of goals.

“As for the season, you know, we lost a single match in regular time in all competitions, but we still can’t be absolutely satisfied, as we came here for a better result, for the gold. Still, I think how the team performed, we had a great season, and I can be proud of my players.”

Milos Scepanovic, coach, Marseille

“As I said before the match, this game depended on who would find the rhythm, the necessary energy earlier. No doubt, it was Barceloneta, as they were faster, and we had trouble dealing with their pressing and stopping their counters. We quickly fell behind and couldn’t do much to come back.

“Still, what we’ve achieved this season makes us proud. We are here, we played a couple of great matches, and I think we reached a higher level than ever before, so we won’t feel sorry as we are going home.”

Felipe Perrone, captain, Barceloneta

“We came here for another kind of medal, but on Friday we didn’t play well enough to win. Still, I’ve been here for long enough to tell you that we must respect this bronze medal, as there were other great teams who couldn’t even qualify for the Final Four.

“I think we played well in the season, we also did really well today – and we’ll have to see what the next season may bring for the club, perhaps for me too. We may return and have another shot at the title.”

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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics

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