Champions League Men: Olympiacos and Sabadell secure crucial away victories

KEIO CN Sabadell edged a tight contest in southern France, stunning CN Marseille to claim all three crucial points, while Olympiacos secured a narrow away win over SPD Radnicki on Day 3 of the men’s Champions League Group Stage. Elsewhere, FTC Telekom Waterpolo cruised past VPK Primorac Kotor in Budapest, and Zodiac CNAB hammered Waspo 98 in Hannover.

2025/26 Champions League Men
Group Stage, Day 3
Wednesday 12 November

Group A

SPD Radnicki (SRB) 12-13 Olympiacos SFP (GRE)

Group C

FTC Telekom Waterpolo (HUN) 26-15 VPK Primorac Kotor (MNE)

Group D

CN Marseille (FRA) 11-12 KEIO CN Sabadell (ESP)
Waspo 98 Hannover (GER) 11-27 Zodiac CNAB (ESP)

Group A

SPD Radnicki (SRB) 12-13 Olympiacos SFP (GRE)

Olympiacos needed just four minutes to stun the hosts, netting back-to-back man-up goals. Radnicki required 6:35 to open their account, with Strahinja Rasovic converting a dying man-up, but Gergo Zalanki fired in a perimeter shot just 18 seconds later.

Angelos Vlachopoulos struck early in the second quarter, disappointing his fellow Greeks, but Daniel Angyal quickly replied from the 2m line on Olympiacos’ next extra. The visitors missed another chance that could have given them a three-goal lead, instead, Dusko Pijetlovic finished a close-range man-up for 3-4 after a time-out.

The time-out also worked in Olympiacos’ favour. Ioannis Alafragkis scored, and they successfully killed a man-down. The final moments before half-time were extraordinary – Andrija Prlainovic buried a penalty with 13 seconds left, only for Zalanki’s rocket to reset the two-goal gap at 4-6 with 0:01 on the clock.

Sixteen seconds into the third, Olympiacos extended their lead to three as Dimitrios Nikolaidis converted a quick man-up. The Greeks denied Radnicki’s six-on-five, seeming to take control, but the Serbian stars needed just a minute to cut the deficit to one, with Nikola Dedovic and Boris Vapenski scoring back-to-back extras.

Konstantinos Kakaris replied brilliantly with a centre shot, but the home side’s veterans didn’t panic. Dedovic scored another six-on-five, and Strahinja Rasovic netted a classic counter to level at 8-8.

The Serbs surged, the Greeks looked briefly bewildered, missed an extra, and Vlachopoulos scored on a counter in a 78-second whirlwind that put Radnicki ahead for the first time in the game.

It didn’t last long. Konstantinos Genidounias stayed calm to convert an extra, but Vapenski’s magnificent one-timer made it 10-9 with 1:41 to go.

The Serbs killed the next man-down, thrilling the crowd, but Zalanki had the final say in the period, equalising with 0:09 left.

The break shifted momentum, and Olympiacos struck early afterwards. Zalanki buried a penalty after 24 seconds, and a successful six-on-five led Nikolaos Gkillas to double their lead with 5:40 remaining.

The Serbs forced a penalty in their next six-on-five, Prlainovic converted it, and just 40 seconds later Nikola Murisic’ backhander brought Radnicki back to 12-12.

Thirty seconds later, the hosts had a rare five-on-four chance but missed. Tensions ran high as the Greeks failed on a six-on-four, and the Serbs earned a penalty with 2:04 remaining. Vlachopoulos hit the post, a miss that would prove costly.

With 50 seconds left, Zalanki blasted in another 6m shot – his fifth goal of the night – to secure the win for Olympiacos. Emanouil Zerdevas then made a decisive save on Vlachopoulos’ final six-on-five attempt.

This crucial away victory could be key for Olympiacos’ quarterfinal chances, while Radnicki find themselves in trouble, having lost two of their first three matches.

Group C

FTC Telekom Waterpolo (HUN) 26-15 VPK Primorac Kotor (MNE)

Fradi offered another spectacle for their loyal fans, with 41 goals lighting up the evening – pure entertainment, though the number of goals conceded was embarrassingly high once again, just as it had been in Brescia.

Credit goes to Primorac, who tried to keep pace as long as possible, made the most of the chances they created, and trailed by just four deep into the third period before running out of steam.

The first period saw little – if any – defending. Fradi built a three-goal lead in six minutes, but Primorac struck back with three goals in the final 80 seconds to pull it back to 7-6.

It was then time for Soma Vogel to take over, as starting goalie Marton Levai had made no stops in eight minutes.

Vogel’s impact was immediate, apart from a blast from Savo Cvetkovic, he got a hand to a series of shots, including Yusuke Inaba’s penalty attempt.

At the other end, Fradi’s scoring machine didn’t slow down – the title-holders produced brilliant goals, most from structured action.

With Vogel’s backing, they staged a 6-0 run to move 14-7 ahead, effectively deciding the match by half-time, though two fine steals set up Marko Mrsic to briefly break Vogel’s spell.

FTC eased off slightly after the long break, with incoming Primorac goalie Marko Pejovic performing far better than Dimitrije Ristisevic, who sat out after making just a single save from 15 shots.

Deep into the third, Mrsic brought his side even closer at 15-11 – he would finish the match with seven goals – but Stylianos Argyropoulos – with a slice of luck – halted the comeback with a six-on-five goal, then later his counterattack goal put the hosts 18-12 ahead before the final break.

The Montenegrins faded completely in the fourth, while Fradi picked up the pace, adding eight more goals to finish at 26 – just one shy of CNAB’s single-game scoring record set in Hannover two hours earlier.

Group D

CN Marseille (FRA) 11-12 KEIO CN Sabadell (ESP)

Sabadell clawed back the three points they dropped in Hannover with a stunning win in Marseille. The French, who shocked CNAB in Barceloneta on Day 2, struggled to impose their usual pressure on the Spaniards, and once they fell behind early, they were unable to chase them down.

Thomas Vernoux opened the scoring with a blast, but the Spaniards replied with two from action. Vernoux struck again, and a late exchange of goals settled the score at 3-3 after eight minutes.

Sabadell took the lead three times in the first four minutes of the second quarter before surviving a French possession and forcing a man-up penalty, which Alberto Barroso converted to make it 5-7.

Vernoux pulled one back with an easy man-up finish, but Kanstantin Averka also converted Sabadell’s six-on-five, and Vladan Spaic was on target as well, closing an 87-second thriller in which all four possessions ended in an exclusion and a goal.

Sabadell led 7-8 at half-time, but the game then took a different path. Federico Panerai missed a penalty 45 seconds into the quarter, and his side’s man-up failed to click. Marseille also wasted two six-on-five chances in the following minutes.

Finally, Adam Nagy broke the deadlock with 2:31 remaining to make it 8-8. Barroso immediately ended Sabadell’s scoreless run, then Marseille missed a crucial extra, and Averka sent the ball home in a Spanish six-on-five for 8-10, 56 seconds from the last break.

Alexandre Bouet opened the fourth with a man-up goal, but Averka continued his hot streak, scoring again. Both teams maintained composure in subsequent six-on-fives, and Sabadell still led 10-12 with five minutes remaining.

A fifth man-up goal followed, Nagy netted his third to make it 11-12, and plenty of time remained. However, the score didn’t change in the final 4:28 as the Spanish defence held strong, killed a man-down, and secured the three points they had left behind in Hannover.

Group D

Waspo 98 Hannover (GER) 11-27 Zodiac CNAB (ESP)

The Spaniards were determined not to repeat the same mistakes Sabadell made two weeks earlier, when they failed to withstand Hannover’s late surge and allowed the Germans to snatch victory with a brilliant 3-0 finish.

As the final score shows, CNAB’s plan worked to perfection. They never let the hosts believe they had even the slightest chance of taking something from the game – let alone forcing a close contest.

Alberto Munarriz and Vince Vigvari led the charge as Barceloneta blasted out to a 0-4 lead within four minutes and never looked back. Waspo had no answer to CNAB’s relentless attack, as the Spaniards dictated the rhythm and outplayed them with ease.

Two out of every three possessions ended in a high-quality scoring chance – and they rarely missed.

It was a masterclass in offensive precision – clever movement, sharp decision-making, and perfect balance between shooting and feeding the centre.

Most of CNAB’s goals came from structured positional play rather than their trademark counterattacks.

For a while, the Germans managed to keep pace, finding the net from distance to make it a ‘modest’ 7-13 at half-time.

Then came the massacre – six goals in just over four minutes. CNAB, now ruthless on the counter as well, punished Waspo from almost every possession. Even a missed penalty couldn’t slow them down as they fired in nine goals during this spell, hitting the 20-goal mark six minutes into the third.

They eased off slightly in the fourth, adding five more to finish at 27 – a single-game scoring record for this season and the highest ever in the Champions League Group Stages.

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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics

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