Champions League Men: Pro Recco reach last eight after sinking Novi Beograd on Day 4 of Group Stage
Pro Recco became the second team to qualify for the Quarter Final Stage after a powerful third-quarter performance helped them outgun VK Novi Beograd by four goals. Elsewhere, SPD Radnicki’s seasoned pros combined to sink Vasas Plaket in Budapest, Jadran finally got off the mark with a hard-fought home victory against Herceg Novi, and Zodiac CNAB pulled away in the third period to down local rivals Sabadell.
2025/26 Champions League Men
Group Stage, Day 4
Wednesday 19 November
Group A
Vasas Plaket (HUN) 13-15 SPD Radnicki (SRB)
Group B
Pro Recco (ITA) 13-9 VK Novi Beograd (SRB)
VK Jadran Split (CRO) 15-13 Jadran m:tel Herceg Novi (MNE)
Group D
Zodiac CNAB (ESP) 13-7 KEIO CN Sabadell (ESP)
Group A
Vasas Plaket (HUN) 13-15 SPD Radnicki (SRB)
Radnicki came to Budapest to stay alive – an unexpected defeat would have definitely dropped them out of the race for the Quarter Final Stage. Vasas didn’t let them achieve their goals easily, but in the end, the Serbs won and remain on track.
In the first period, Radnicki seemed to gain control thanks to their seasoned veterans, as Andrija Prlainovic, Dusko Pijetlovic, Angelos Vlachopoulos and Boris Vapenski all netted fine goals, three from action, to take a 1-4 lead.
It could have been more, but Joao Fernandes stopped Strahinja Rasovic’s penalty, and that gave the game an unexpected twist.
Out of nowhere, Vasas hit two in the last 39 seconds of the first quarter. Bence Batori netted a penalty, then Soma Lakatos finished off a counter to make it 3-4.
Benedek Ragacs’ fierce one-timer put Vasas back level at the start of the second, and, even though Vlachopoulos halted the hosts’ run with a man-up goal, Kristof Varnai also put away one from close range to make it 5-5.
The hosts then made a couple of mistakes up front, and Radnicki’s experienced players punished them immediately.
Rasovic and Petar Jaksic scored two fast man-up goals in a span of 30 seconds. Vasas then missed a six-on-five, while Vlachopoulos’ smart shot from the perimeter expanded the gap to three goals once more at 5-8.
Dome Dala pulled one back from an extra, then Vasas also killed a man-down, but wasted their next extra without a shot, so Radnicki led 6-8 at half-time.
Still, Peter Szalai beat three blocks and the goalie in the dying seconds to cut the deficit to a single goal, and Vasas managed to stay close in the following minutes. They converted their extras, though Fernandes couldn’t do much with the Serbs’ perimeter shots either.
The next twist came at 9-11, when Vasas couldn’t convert their third six-on-five, while Vlachopoulos’ ball sailed into the net again to reset the three-goal difference. And the Greek genius ensured Radnicki kept control as he put away another extra after a fine action goal from Varnai, giving the Serbs a 10-13 lead after three periods.
Fernandes produced another penalty save early in the fourth, but unlike in the first period, this didn’t send Radnicki into a downward spiral.
Radoslav Filipovic also posted a crucial save in a man-down, and Prlainovic beat the blocks and the goalie at the other end for 10-14.
Dala pulled one back soon after, but Vasas ran out of steam to impose a real threat on their rivals.
The next five minutes left the scoreboard untouched, before Nikola Dedovic converted an extra 57 seconds from time to seal Radnicki’s important win.
Batori added two more in the remaining time, but it was only late consolation, as Vasas bowed out of the contest for the top two spots – while Radnicki still need big wins to go through.
Group B
Pro Recco (ITA) 13-9 VK Novi Beograd (SRB)
Novi Beograd put up a good fight, but Recco started dominating in the third period thanks to their physical superiority – and in the end they won their fourth match to remain the only unbeaten side besides title-holders Ferencvaros.
The young Serbs took the lead twice in the first three minutes but couldn’t add any more in the remaining five of the first period, while Giacomo Cannella and Francesco Di Fulvio hit back-to-back goals to put Recco ahead.
Andrea Mladossich netted another from action to make it 4-2 early in the second, but NBG replied immediately, as Milos Cuk converted a man-up. The pattern continued – Rino Buric put away a six-on-five, but Miroslav Perkovic delivered a great finish from the centre midway through the quarter.
Cannella also converted a man-up, then the Serbs earned back-to-back man-ups but missed both. They earned another in the dying seconds, though, and Dusan Trtovic’s buzzer-beater made it 6-5.
Recco needed only 15 seconds to open the third with a goal, Australian star Luke Pavillard putting away an extra. The Italians couldn’t score from the next one but killed two man-downs in a row. Still, Nikola Lukic hit one from action for 7-6, suggesting a tight battle.
Not for long.
Alvaro Granados finally scored from a man-up, and at the other end Vasilije Martinovic missed a penalty. This changed the course of the game, as Recco earned a penalty of their own and Granados buried it, so instead of 8-7 it stood 9-6.
Soon NBG had a six-on-four, but Recco’s defence did a tremendous job, first denying that situation and then another man-down after Novi’s time-out. Granados completed a hat-trick shortly after by converting an extra.
Again, the Serbs missed a man-up, and Pavillard answered with a brilliant action shot for 11-6 – a blow that practically floored their rivals.
Milos Cuk pulled one back two seconds from time, but a miraculous comeback in the fourth seemed far-fetched with four goals to make up.
And indeed, it never came. After a quick exchange of goals, NBG missed another six-on-four; they later scored from a single man-up, but missed their next. Matteo Iocchi Gratta sealed Recco’s fourth victory by netting a nicely played six-on-five with 1:45 remaining.
Group B
VK Jadran Split (CRO) 15-13 Jadran m:tel Herceg Novi (MNE)
Jadran Split finally grabbed their first win in the Group Stage to keep alive their slim chance of reaching the next round – it came at the expense of the Montenegrins, who were unable to keep up with the Croatian team.
A 3-0 rally in 2:15 minutes after 2-2 set the tone late in the first period as Jadran Split went 5-2 up, and although it happened early, the home side managed to protect that advantage over the following three periods.
Loren Fatovic, who had produced a couple of less impressive performances in the previous three rounds, was on fire.
He netted the last two goals of the first period and added two more in the second as the Croats took an 8-4 lead. Soon after, Ivan Zovic struck from the perimeter to make it 9-4.
Srdan Janovic pulled one back from an extra 28 seconds from time, but Jadran Split still appeared to have the match under firm control.
The big lead began to shrink, though. Janovic opened the third with a blistering shot from distance, and Dorde Lazic buried a six-on-five after some battling to make it 9-7.
It was Fatovic again who halted his team’s 5:30-minute drought, but Daniil Merkulov replied immediately. The hosts missed their next man-up, while Janovic converted the Montenegrins’ chance to cut the deficit to a single goal.
Just 24 seconds later, the hosts’ returning captain Jerko Marinic Kragic fired one in from action, and he repeated the feat in the next possession.
Vasilije Radovic netted a man-up, and Marinic Kragic – who had spent months recovering from surgery – restored the two-goal gap once more for 11-9.
His contribution was instrumental, as he denied the visitors a final possession to pursue an equaliser. Instead, Nardo Skejic finally converted an extra 45 seconds from time, and Jadran Split led 13-10 before the final quarter.
When Marin Tomasovic hit from the perimeter early in the fourth and then killed a man-down immediately after, the hosts looked to have moved out of the danger zone.
However, they missed their next two man-ups in succession, and Strahinja Gojkovic and Radovic struck twice in 33 seconds to halve the deficit to 14-12 with 3:48 remaining.
They then earned a six-on-five to come even closer, but missed it. Jadran squandered their next man-up as well, but they could afford it with a two-goal cushion.
The Montenegrins couldn’t break down the Croatian defence in their next extra either, and that miss left the Herceg Novi side with no way back.
Skejic deepened their wounds with a fine action shot, though Merkulov’s goal with 0:03 left may still prove important, as it gives the Montenegrins the edge in the head-to-head (they won 14-11 on Day 1) if they finish tied with Split at the end.
Group D
Zodiac CNAB (ESP) 13-7 KEIO CN Sabadell (ESP)
On the opening day, Sabadell caused some headaches to fellow Spanish side Barceloneta, but a 2-6 rush in the third period secured CNAB’s win. Five weeks later, the arch-rivals clashed again, and it was an even match until the third period, where Barceloneta staged a 5-1 rout to seal another victory.
Both sides scored from their first possessions, then came more than six minutes of intense battling without a goal. CNAB missed three six-on-fives, while Martin Famera put away Sabadell’s second man-up too 28 seconds from time. Just like at the beginning, here at the end the hosts’ reply came right away, as Unai Biel equalised from action at 0:11.
Sabadell also started missing their extras early in the second before Neri Panerai buried a penalty – but the hosts carried on responding quickly, as Bernat Sanahuja blasted a third action goal for 3-3.
As a slight change in the script, after denying CNAB’s extra, Sabadell hit one from action, but the home side equalised in no time once again, with Roger Tahull netting their man-up.
Defences stepped up, as three minutes ticked down without a goal, then Alessandro Velotto’s fierce shot gave CNAB the lead for the first time in the game at 5-4, 47 seconds before the middle break.
Sabadell kicked off the third with two unsuccessful shots in a man-up, and Marc Valls doubled the hosts’ lead from the ensuing counter.
Alberto Barroso kept the visitors in the game with an incredible backhander from 7m – arguably the shot of the day – but it didn’t shock their arch-rivals.
In a span of 47 seconds they hit back fiercely, as Alberto Munarriz fired one in from the perimeter, then they killed a man-down and Tahull added another from the centre for 8-5.
Sabadell called a time-out, but it didn’t help much. They missed another extra immediately, while Barceloneta managed to force a penalty during a six-on-five, and Vince Vigvari buried it. His Hungarian teammate Gergo Burian followed up with a pinpoint action shot 39 seconds later for 10-5.
This did the damage and Sabadell were unable to recover.
Home goalkeeper Unai Aguirre also enjoyed a great day, which was not good news for his crosstown rivals.
Aguirre’s 13 saves gave firm backing to CNAB, as he played a pivotal role in shutting out Sabadell for more than seven minutes. During this spell, CNAB staged a 5-0 run, with Munarriz netting another from action for 11-5 soon after the restart.
Two more goals came apiece, and that was perfect for Barceloneta, which landed three absolutely crucial points in this balanced group.
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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics
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