Radnicki edge 33-goal thriller against Vasas on opening day of Champions League

SPD Radnicki were forced to come from behind to eventually sink a determined and spirited Vasas Plaket in Kragujevac on the opening night of the new Champions League season. Captain Andrija Prlainovic helped rescue the Serbians with six goals, while there were also wins for Olympiacos SFP (despite some more penalty woes against Croatian opposition), Jadran m:tel Herceg Novi, and CN Marseille.

2025/26 Champions League Men
Group Stage, Day 1
Tuesday 14 October 2025

Group A

SPD Radnicki (SRB) 17-16 Vasas Plaket (HUN)
Olympiacos SFP (GRE) 13-9 HAVK Mladost (CRO)

Group B

Jadran m:tel Herceg Novi (MNE) 14-11 VK Jadran Split (CRO)

Group D

CN Marseille (FRA) 20-9 Waspo 98 Hannover (GER)

Group A

SPD Radnicki (SRB) 17-16 Vasas Plaket (HUN)

A bit unexpectedly, Radnicki and Vasas produced an epic 33-goal encounter. The Magyars played a great match before the Serbian favourites turned the tide late in the third and prevailed in the fourth.

It was Vasas who set the tone, as they roared into a 1-4 lead in just four minutes, before the hosts found some rhythm and came back to 4-5 early in the second. Still, Vasas held on, and they constantly found the holes in the Serbian wall, especially from the lefties’ position where Tamas Gyarfas and Soma Lakatos hit a series of goals in the first half.

And just when Radnicki seemed to gain some footing, after Angelos Vlachopoulos and Strahinja Rasovic levelled the score in a span of 38 seconds for 7-7, their rivals responded with back-to-back man-up goals and also killed a man-down in between for 7-9.

However, the Serbian rocket-providers didn’t back off, captain Andrija Prlainovic put away an extra and Rasovic, having played for Vasas in the past two seasons, made it even once more, 39 seconds before the middle break.

The Magyars weren’t done, though, and in three minutes they regained a two-goal lead and had a ball to go up by three, but it was Vlacholpoulos who hit the next one from action. Next came a rare scenario, a double exclusion, followed by two more from the hosts and Gyarfas made no mistake in the five on three for 10-12.

Nikola Murisic pulled one back from an extra, and then the Serbs got rolling as they managed to add two more from their next two possessions. Again, Rasovic and Prlainovic offered their skills and experience to complete the 3-0 run in 85 seconds.

A block denied Vasas’ next extra, while Rasovic made it 14-12 with 0:32 on the clock and here the break just saved the Hungarians from sinking further.

Though they defended well in the first man-down early in the fourth, soon Vlachopoulos netted one from action, boosting Radnicki’s run to 5-0 after 10-12 and it looked as if the home side had taken firm control against their tiring opponents.

Bogdan Durdic converted a dying man-up for Vasas, but Prlainovic hit another one from the perimeter immediately. Peter Szalai pulled one back with 3:14 from time, then they survived a man-down, but hit the post next and Prlainovic’s sixth goal of the evening, again from action, put an end to the match at 17-14, with 1:50 to go.

The Magyar lefties managed to add two late goals, but the second arrived 25 seconds from time and the Serbs didn’t leave room for further surprises.

Group A

Olympiacos SFP (GRE) 13-9 HAVK Mladost (CRO)

Olympiacos overcame Mladost’s dream-like 0-3 start and three missed penalties to land three crucial points in a tough opener.

The Croats needed three minutes to score two from six on fives and netted a fine one from the centre to take a 0-3 lead. Olympiacos’ new coach, Elvis Fatovic, a Croat, called a time-out and it helped. The hosts’ Hungarian pair, Daniel Angyal and Gergo Zalanki hit two in 34 seconds to bring their team back in the game.

The remaining four minutes saw only missed chances before Zalanki brought the Greeks back to even from a man-up, though a minute later Alexandros Papanastasiou’s penalty was well saved by Ivan Marcelic.

Konstantinos Genidounias then converted another extra to put Olympiacos ahead for the first time, but Konstantin Kharkov buried a penalty for 4-4. This went wrong once more at the other end, as this time Zalanki hit the post from the 5m line, but Mladost failed to take advantage, missing back-to-back extras.

That proved to be a costly mistake, as Zalanki quickly erased his bad memories by blasting two in the last 37 seconds to make it 6-4 at half-time.

And in a span of 47 seconds, Olympiacos doubled the gap, Zalanki sent the ball home from a six on five, followed by Genidounias’ action goal. Since falling 0-3 behind, the Greeks staged an 8-1 rush and that did the damage.

After two more goals apiece, Genidounias missed another penalty – just a reminder: Olympiacos went 0 for 4 in penalties against Croatian side Jadran Split last April – and Mladost managed to halve the difference at 10-8.

Still, Zalanki stepped up again to boost his team’s morale with another rocket from the perimeter, his sixth of the night, with 0:03 on the clock for 11-8.

And when Angyal put away another extra soon after the restart for 12-8, the slim hopes of Mladost were dashed again. Ante Vukicevic pulled one back, but a bit later Nikolaos Gkillas reset the four-goal gap and at 13-9, with five minutes remaining, the Croats knew deep down this game was over. They were unable to add more, while the Greeks didn’t take any risk – and just took all three points at the end.

Group B

Jadran m:tel Herceg Novi (MNE) 14-11 VK Jadran Split (CRO)

Just 30 minutes after Mladost fell in Piraeus, the other Croatian side also left the pool empty-handed – though Jadran Split also faced a tough opener away from home.

The Croats also had a great start and led 1-3, but Danilo Stupar buried a six on four and while Loren Fatovic missed an extra, Srdan Janovic netted a counter for 3-3.

Another missed extra, another Montenegrin hit from a six on five, again by Stupar and the hosts were 4-3 up 11 seconds before the first break.

Jovan Vujovic added another goal two and half minutes into the second, so Herceg Novi were on a 4-0 run before Marcus Berehulak halted the Croats’ scoreless run after 7:48 minutes.

Next came a missed home man-up and an equaliser, by Dusan Matkovic, but the finish belonged to the Montenegrins again. They buried two extras while Fatovic missed one in between, so it stood at 7-5 at half-time.

A crucial scene kicked off the third, a missed man-up by the visitors and a fierce shot by Dmitrii Kholod from the perimeter to make it 8-5. One fast goal apiece followed, before defences took over in the following three minutes.

Man-ups were killed in succession, an exclusion turned into a penalty, and Strahinja Gojkovic made no mistake. so at 10-6, Herceg Novi clearly had the edge to win the game. And soon it was practically over when a block denied the Croats’ next man-up too, while Stefan Vranes hit a nice one from action for 11-6.

Though Fatovic finally netted a man-up, after five missed shots, he failed to put away their next one again and there was enough time for Stupar to finish off a counter for 12-7, with 13 seconds remaining.

Jadran Split had some desperate attempts in the fourth, but they could never come closer than three goals as the Montenegrins managed to respond at 13-10, to secure three crucial points.

Group D

CN Marseille (FRA) 20-9 Waspo 98 Hannover (GER)

Marseille did a clean job while clinching their opening win against Hannover. It took a while before Efstathios Kalogeropoulos opened the scoring for the hosts, as both sides wasted two six on fives apiece before that.

Then goals started coming in abundance, nine in the remaining four and a half minutes, as the French took the upper hand by adding two in the last minute, including a buzzer beater from Marc Larumbe for 6-3.

The Spanish world champ added one more right away after the restart and even though Denis Strelezkij pulled one back from the next possession, after four minutes of battling, a quick double from action put Marseille 9-4 up.

A bit later, Hannover lost one of their key players Zoran Bozic with a red card, and Ugo Crousillat converted the ensuing man-up to give the hosts a 10-5 lead.

And early in the third they added two more, Michael Bodegas, from a six on five, and Thomas Vernoux, from action, were on target for 13-6. There was no way back for Waspo after that, only the difference remained a question.

And the Germans could not hold off the French offence, which stopped at 20 goals in the end, with Alexandre Bouet leading the charge with five goals, from as many attempts, and Vernoux and Crousillat netting four apiece.

2025/26 Champions League Men
Group Stage, Day 1
Wednesday 15 October 2025
(Local times shown)

Group B

20:30: VK Novi Beograd (SRB) v Pro Recco (ITA)

Group C

18:30: FTC Telekom Waterpolo (HUN) v CSM Oradea (ROU)
20:30: VPK Primorac Kotor (MNE) v AN Brescia (ITA)

Group D

20:30: KEIO CN Sabadell (ESP) v Zodiac CNAB (ESP)

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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics

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