All six Group Stage tickets confirmed after dramatic second day of Champions League qualifiers

All six spots in the main Group Stage were booked on day two of the men’s Champions League Qualification Round. KEIO CN Sabadell, Vasas Plaket, HAVK Mladost, AN Brescia, VK Novi Beograd and VPK Primorac Kotor all landed expected wins to confirm their places at the top table. However, there is still plenty to play for in the three preliminary groups, as the top spots will all be decided on Sunday.

2025/26 Champions League Men
Qualification Round
Day 2, Saturday 20 September

Group A (Belgrade)

VK Novi Beograd (SRB) 20-6 CSA Steaua Bucharest (ROU)
VPK Primorac Kotor (MNE) 17-8 Pays D’Aix Natation (FRA)

Standings: 1. NBG 6pts, 1. Primorac 6pts, 3. Steaua Bucharest 0pts, 3. Pays d’Aix Natation 0pts

Group B (Sabadell)

KEIO CN Sabadell (ESP) 12-11 Spandau 04 Berlin (GER)

Standings: 1. Vasas 3pts, 1. Sabadell 3pts, 3. Spandau 0pts

Group C (Zagreb)

HAVK Mladost (CRO) 16-4 Vouliagmeni NC (GRE)

Standings: 1. Mladost 3pts, 1. Brescia 3pts, 3. Vouliagmeni 0pts

Group A, Belgrade

VPK Primorac Kotor (MNE) 17-8 Pays D’Aix Natation (FRA)

Once again, the two favourites – Primorac and NBG – did a clean job on the second day of the Qualification Round. Primorac stormed into a 7-2 lead against Pays d’Aix Natation in one and half periods and never looked back.

The Montenegrins outclassed their rivals from the start, but the French were able to force a more balanced game in the third quarter, which saw three goals apiece.

However, Primorac were leading by five goals at that point (11-6) and were firmly in control. They even started rolling in the fourth again, hitting six more goals to extend their lead to nine and comfortably secure a spot in the Group Stage again.

VK Novi Beograd (SRB) 20-6 CSA Steaua Bucharest (ROU)

On Sunday, Primorac will clash with hosts Novi Beograd for the top spot in this group, as both teams remain unbeaten and on maximum points.

In NBG’s second game, against Steaua Bucharest, the Serbs started in a dominant fashion and were soon cruising along on their desired path.

After just 80 seconds, they were up by two and the score was 7-0 at the first break. The Romanians finally managed to open their account after 10:09 minutes, but at that stage, NBG held a 9-0 advantage.

Not surprisingly, NBG switched to power-saving mode, but they still kept their composure and concentration levels high enough to score 20 goals in total, after netting 23 on day one.

Group B, Sabadell

KEIO CN Sabadell (ESP) 12-11 Spandau 04 Berlin (GER)

Spandau forced another tight clash, this time against the hosts, Sabadell, but again agonisingly fell short by a single goal (after losing to Vasas 16-17 on day one), and this second defeat ultimately ended their qualification hopes.

Sabadell’s win also secured a ticket to the main Group Stage for Vasas, whose players enjoyed a rest day after edging out the Germans on Friday.

Just like the Hungarians, the Spaniards also found it extremely difficult to down the Berliners, who took the lead three times in the first quarter, before the home side buried two six on fives in the last minute to take a 4-3 lead.

Federico Panerai’s fine centre shot doubled Sabadell’s lead early in the second, then came four and a half minutes of tough battling, before Marton Nagy hit a great one from action.

However, Sergi Cabanas, one of Spain’s freshly-crowned world champions, put away an extra with 0:02 on the clock to make it 6-4 at half-time.

When Sabadell added two more 90 seconds into the third, while killing a man-down in between, they seemed to have taken the upper hand at 8-4.

The Germans were far from done, though, and hit back with three action goals in a row, two more from Nagy, and another nice shot from veteran captain Marko Stamm and they were back in it at 8-7.

A Sabadell time-out call came immediately and that helped settle the hosts. The Spaniards forced a penalty, Panerai buried it, and in 27 seconds, Alberto Barroso finished off a counter for 10-7. Spandau still kept some hope for the final quarter as Matej Caraj sent the ball home from a man-up.

However, it was Sabadell who scored first in the fourth, after just 47 seconds, and even though Stamm managed to pull one back, Jan Perez also buried an extra with 4:56 on the clock for 12-9.

Stamm was on fire, though, and fired one in from 6m right away, and Spandau had 4:36 minutes to earn something from this entertaining encounter (and keep their qualification dreams alive).

In the end, Sabadell’s defence held firm, as when Stamm hit his fourth of the afternoon, from a six on five, only 38 seconds remained. And they never had the chance to force at least a shootout, as the hosts forced a man-up 18 seconds from time and kept the ball until the end.

Group C, Zagreb

HAVK Mladost (CRO) 16-4 Vouliagmeni NC (GRE)

Hosts Mladost took to the stage for the first time, and they kicked off their Champions League campaign with a real show of power. Vouliagmeni were totally blown away and an upset against the star-studded Croatian line-up never looked on the cards.

Mladost established a 3-1 lead in the first period, and hit three more at the start of the second for 6-1, which practically broke the Greeks.

The Croats were clinical in front of the goal, firing in great shots from action and also converting man-ups with a fine percentage – with two six on fives before the middle break giving them a 9-3 advantage, so the result was all but decided by half-time.

Vouliagmeni’s Nikolaos Giannatos pulled one back 55 seconds into the third, but that turned out to be his team’s final goal, as the second half turned into an even more one-sided affair.

In the last 13 minutes, Mladost handed out a 7-0 thrashing, which was enough to secure their place in the main Group Stage, along with Brescia, who they will face on Sunday for the top spot in Group C.

For the full fixtures/schedule/tables from the Champions League Qualification Round, click here
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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics

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