Champions League Men: Highlights show and five talking points from matchday 4

1. A penalty – called just as the buzzer sounded – halted Olympiacos’ unbeaten run this season, not only in the Champions League, but across all competitions. The Greeks fell in Zagreb despite leading 7-10 deep into the third period.

On matchday 1, they beat Mladost despite missing four penalties – this time they converted three out of four, but they missed perhaps the most important one when Gergo Zalanki stepped up at 10-10.

That could have killed the Croats’ momentum as they were staging a 3-0 surge, but the Hungarian leftie couldn’t bury his attempt.

In fact, that miss led to some hotly debated scenes, as immediately at the other end came a couple of calls, a six-on-four denied by the Greeks, followed by a penalty for an alleged ill-timed re-entry.

The one awarded at 13-13, in the very last second, seemed to be the right decision, and Ivan Nagaev kept his composure to score it, just as he had at 10-10.

It was also interesting to see both teams opt for their second-choice goalkeepers in this match – Mauro Cubranic and Panagiotis Tzortzatos – even though their first-choice keepers (Ivan Marcelic and Emmanouil Zerdevas) performed well a week earlier. Cubranic, just 21 years of age, had a great evening, posting 10 saves from 23 shots for a 43.5% save percentage.

Since Radnicki managed to collect all three points in Budapest against Vasas, the remaining two rounds promise tremendous drama and excitement.

2. FTC-Telekom were the first team to secure a quarter-final berth by adding a fourth victory. It was another rout, at the expense of CSM Oradea (5-17), though the way Fradi won this match was somewhat exceptional.

In their previous three games, the Hungarians conceded double digits on each occasion – Oradea scored 11 in Budapest, Brescia netted 17, and Kotor fired in 15.

So, just week after the flood of goals in the Komjadi Pool against Primorac (41 in total, 26-15), the title-holders came up with a sharply different approach and kept Oradea to just five goals.

The first period against the Romanians couldn’t have been more contrasting to their matchday 3 performance, when they opened with a 7-6 quarter against Kotor – this time in Oradea it ended 1-1.

Fradi were so focused on getting their defence right, they paid less attention to their attack (and definitely took no risks), which almost resulted in their first scoreless period since September 2023, when Jadran Herceg Novi led 0-2 after eight minutes in Budapest (during Balazs Nyeki’s Champions League debut as head coach).

Back in Oradea, after a 4-4 first half, Fradi produced a devastating 13-0 run in the second before conceding a fifth goal 24 seconds from time. And all this came without star goalkeeper Soma Vogel in the team – a real show of strength from the greens.

3. Recco soon followed FTC into the top eight as the Italians also kept their perfect record. Novi Beograd had been Recco’s arch-rivals in the Champions League, having clashed in back-to-back finals in 2022 and 2023.

Now, the situation is a little different in Belgrade, though NBG still managed to stay close for quite a while on matchday 4. However, in the third period, Recco took the upper hand, scoring action goals and killing man-downs in succession.

It was interesting to see the hosts play a tough game, with their usual aggression, which resulted in 22 exclusions against them.

Still, Recco’s man-down defence was tremendous, limiting the Serbs to six goals from extra-man situations (they even killed two six-on-fours).

Both sides went all-out in attack, as a total of 71 shots were taken in 32 minutes (38–33), though the finishing wasn’t particularly effective, with only 22 goals scored (13-9).

4. Marseille appeared to be back on the right track after their performance on matchday 2, when they managed to beat CNAB in Barceloneta, but the French suddenly find themselves in a deep hole.

Losing at home to Sabadell was the first blow, but leaving Hannover empty-handed put their quarter-final hopes in jeopardy.

Marseille are now facing an uphill battle, as they must play Barceloneta and then travel to Sabadell – ultimately, they face the top two clubs from the country of the reigning world champions.

Bagging six points also keeps Hannover in the hunt, though their Spanish test is even tougher, with two away matches remaining at Sabadell and Barceloneta.

Full credit goes to the Germans, though, as they only earned a single point in the Group Stage last season – none at home – and have now already claimed six, which has been an unexpected feat.

Marseille, having reached the Final Four for the first time last season, are in troubled waters, as one more win might not be enough to advance to the next round.

5. Among the teams on zero points after the first three rounds, only Jadran Split managed a win on matchday 4 to keep their slim hopes of advancing alive, as both Vasas and Primorac lost for the fourth time and were eliminated.

The Croats’ situation is still not very promising, but at least they broke their bad run and brought down Jadran Herceg Novi.

What they needed most was Loren Fatovic at his best – the Olympic silver medallist had endured a series of miserable matches in the Champions League (his goals/shots were 3/9 against the Montenegrins on Day 1, 0/5 vs Novi Beograd at home, and 1/3 against Recco). This time he hit five goals from seven shots and was the engine of Jadran’s game.

Add to that the boost captain Jerko Marinic Kragic’s return gave to the team’s morale – his two goals in a crucial phase of the match were also significant. All this was reflected on the scoreboard.

The Montenegrins are still three points ahead of both NBG and Split, and they will play at home in the remaining two rounds (though one of those clashes is against Recco).

At the same time, the Croats’ path looks gruelling – a home game against Recco and a visit to Novi Beograd.

Watch Champions League action live on European Aquatics TV

For full Champions League fixtures, results, stats and tables, click here

Stay tuned to the European Aquatics Water Polo social media accounts for more news and live updates on Facebook and Instagram

Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics

The post Champions League Men: Highlights show and five talking points from matchday 4 first appeared on European Aquatics®.