Champions League Men: Olympiacos eliminate Radnicki, while NBG end Jadran Herceg Novi hopes
While Novi Beograd came up with a great performance in Herceg Novi to down Jadran and reach the next round on Day 6 in the Group Stage of the Champions League, the top Serbian side Radnicki failed to win in Piraeus and were eliminated from the Champions League – leaving a bitter taste for many players who had gone through those triumphant moments in Belgrade at the European Championships. Olympiacos clinched the top spot, just like Recco, FTC and Barceloneta. Besides NBG and Brescia, who had already secured their berth in the next round back in December, Mladost also went through as runners-up, thanks to Olympiacos’ shootout win. Radnicki were not the only big casualty of the day, as Marseille were also dropped to the Euro Cup after Sabadell beat them with a brave performance, paving the way for Hannover to reach the Quarter Final Stage.
The draw for the next round of the Champions League will take place on Monday 16 February at 10am (CET) and streamed live via the European Aquatics YouTube channel
2025/26 Champions League Men
Group Stage, Day 6
Wednesday 11 February
Group A
Olympiacos SFP (GRE) 11-11 (5-3P) SPD Radnicki (SRB)
HAVK Mladost (CRO) 15-13 Vasas Plaket (HUN)
Standings: 1. Olympiacos 14pts, 2. Mladost 12pts 3. Radnicki 10pts, 4. Vasas 0pts
Group B
Jadran m:tel Herceg Novi (MNE) 12-15 VK Novi Beograd Tehnomanija (SRB)
VK Jadran Split (CRO) 13-15 Pro Recco (ITA)
Standings: 1. Recco 18pts, 2. Novi Beograd 9pts, 3. Jadran m:tel 6pts, 4. Jadran Split 3pts
Group C
VPK Primorac Kotor (MNE) 15-25 FTC Telekom Waterpolo (HUN)
AN Brescia (ITA) 17-13 CSM Oradea (ROU)
Standings: 1. FTC 16pts, 2. Brescia 14pts, 3. Oradea 3pts, 4. Primorac 3pts
Group D
KEIO CN Sabadell (ESP) 16-13 CN Marseille (FRA)
Zodiac CNAB (ESP) 20-12 Waspo 98 Hannover (GER)
Standings: 1. CNAB 15pts, 2. Hannover 9pts, 3. Sabadell 6pts, 4. Marseille 6pts
Group A
Standings: 1. Olympiacos 14pts, 2. Mladost 12pts 3. Radnicki 10pts, 4. Vasas 0pts
Olympiacos SFP (GRE) 11-11 (5-3P) SPD Radnicki (SRB)
Olympiacos staged the perfect start as they took a 4-0 lead in six minutes while Radnicki missed three man-ups and a penalty.
Still, the freshly crowned European champions on the other side had proved in January that the Serbs should not have been written off at any stage, and they indeed started narrowing the gap early in the second period.
After some fine defending and with a trademark dunk-like finish from Nikola Jaksic in a man-up, they came back to 5-4.
Still, the Greeks responded with a brilliant double in just 32 seconds – Dimitrios Nikolaidis put away an extra, and after killing a man-down, they forced a penalty from a counter. Ioannis Fountoulis buried it to restore the three-goal gap by half-time.
However, the Serbs came back strong and in two minutes they were back once more at 7-6, as they played their six-on-fives quite effectively again.
Konstantinos Kakaris earned a penalty in the next possession, Papanastasiou converted it for 8-6, but they missed their next extra while Jaksic scored again from the 2m line.
Kakaris was still on hand to net a truly magnificent goal from the centre, beating two defenders, and after Olympiacos managed to kill a man-down, Konstantinos Genidounias’ sneaking shot found the back of the net from action with 18 seconds remaining.
Still, it was enough for an outstanding blast from Viktor Rasovic to make it 10-8 before the last break.
The Serbs were still under pressure as they needed a regular-time win to go through.
Three minutes into the fourth, Andrija Prlainovic sent the ball home from a man-up, but again, the Greeks replied immediately, Nikolaidis finished off their six-on-five for 11-9, with 3:42 on the clock.
In 20 seconds, Dusko Pijetlovic also netted Radnicki’s man-up and Kakaris’ next finish from their extra was well saved this time.
However, Emanouil Zerdevas also managed to stop Strahinja Rasovic’s shot in a man-down. Time was ticking down when Pijetlovic finally levelled it with a great centre shot – though only 1:03 remained in the game.
Olympiacos forced a man-up and Daniel Angyal seemed to have scored a fine winner, but it was disallowed 22 seconds from time.
The last 22 seconds were replayed twice with 11-11 on the scoreboard, but Radnicki could not score from their seven on six on either occasion.
Since it ended tied, Olympiacos had already secured their top spot, while Radnicki were out, as Mladost had won the other game, leaving little excitement for the shootout.
The Greeks pulled it off to cheer up their fans, while the Serbs had to settle for Euro Cup action for the rest of the season.
HAVK Mladost (CRO) 15-13 Vasas Plaket (HUN)
Mladost completed their task with ease against Vasas, despite some sluggish defending in the fourth period.
The Croats geared up in the middle two periods, scored three connecting goals in the second to make it 7-2 and kept that gap until the end of the third when Franko Lazic netted one from action with 0:02 on the clock for 12-7.
The Croats were still 14-9 up when Vasas staged a late 0-3 surge to climb back to 14-12 with 2:49 on the clock.
Konstantin Kharkov’s finish in a dying extra restored some calm for the home side 1:43 from time – at least for this match.
After the final whistle, they had to go through some nerve-wracking moments while watching the thrilling finish in Piraeus where a late goal from Radnicki would have put Mladost out of contention.
But it never came and the Croats can now prepare for the Quarter Final Stage.
Group B
Standings: 1. Recco 18pts, 2. Novi Beograd 9pts, 3. Jadran m:tel 6pts, 4. Jadran Split 3pts
Jadran m:tel Herceg Novi (MNE) 12-15 VK Novi Beograd Tehnomanija (SRB)
Milan Glusac carried on his outstanding form from the European Championships to send Novi Beograd to the next round, as his superb saves left Jadran Herceg Novi stranded in the first half.
In this winner-takes-all match, the young Montenegrins took the lead, but the Serbs responded with three goals in a row before the hosts pulled one back.
They had a man-up to make it even, but missed it, and Vasilije Martinovic finished off the ensuing counter for 2-4.
Jadran missed two more extras in the first period, which proved to be crucial in light of the events in the following period.
NBG converted a six-on-five quickly, then denied the hosts’ man-up, and midway through the second quarter, Vuk Milojevic blasted in another from open play for 2-6.
Halting their 8:20 minute-long scoreless phase, Strahinja Gojkovic buried a penalty, but Nikola Lukic had an easy finish in a six-on-four and Martinovic added two more from extras in the last 80 seconds to make it 3-9.
Though Jadran stunned Novi in Belgrade on Day 3, this time Glusac and the Serbian defence turned everything upside down.
The hero of the Serbs at the Europeans had 11 saves on 14 shots deep into the third, when NBG went 3-11 up with two more fine man-up plays, showcasing an absolutely clinical offensive game.
The Montenegrins managed to score from back-to-back extras, but then missed two more, while Lukic also scored from open play to give his side a 5-13 lead before the final quarter.
Jadran managed to cut the gap to three by the end, but this was only possible after Glusac sat out at 6-13 with a 67% saving percentage, and his substitute had only one save on seven shots.
However, Novi’s win was never in danger.
VK Jadran Split (CRO) 13-15 Pro Recco (ITA)
Recco found it hard to find the proper motivation in Split, while the Croats wanted to end their Champions League campaign on a high.
It was a toe-to-toe battle but, once the Italians netted two goals early in the second for 4-6, they never let the lead slip from their hands.
Jadran battled hard, but never had a realistic chance to go for the equaliser.
They came back twice from three goals down to trail by one, at 9-10 and then at 12-13, but Recco scored right away from the next possession.
Then, at 13-14, with 1:14 on the clock, the Croats finally had a possession to level it, but a steal by Max Irving ended their hopes.
What’s more, the Italians forced an extra and Francesco di Fulvio buried it five seconds from time to ensure Recco’s perfect record would not be ruined in this last round.
Group C
Standings: 1. FTC 16pts, 2. Brescia 14pts, 3. Oradea 3pts, 4. Primorac 3pts
VPK Primorac Kotor (MNE) 15-25 FTC Telekom Waterpolo (HUN)
Though Primorac stormed to a 1-3 lead, a whirlwind from FTC followed – a 0-5 run that sent the match down its expected path.
Though the Montenegrins held on until 6-7, after that they were simply blown away by the title-holders.
Practically all their shots ended up in the net, even when Vendel Vigvari let a bouncer fly from his own half just seconds before the middle break, which gave Fradi a 7-14 lead by half-time, as they scored nine in the second quarter alone.
The second half turned into a shooting contest and, in the end, the sides almost reproduced the result of their Budapest game, where Fradi won 26-15.
This time it ended 15-25, with Stylianos Argyropoulos leading the charge, as usual, with five goals.
AN Brescia (ITA) 17-13 CSM Oradea (ROU)
Brescia found it a bit harder to fend off Oradea in the other game, as the Romanians fought hard for as long as their reserves lasted.
Then, after 7-6, the Italians stepped up, scored four goals in a row and seemed to have it at 11-6.
Still, their defence did not click as usual – perhaps they were still feeling the post-event fatigue after the weekend’s tough Italian Cup Final Four – and Oradea managed to climb back to 13-12 and 14-13.
But again, Brescia switched gears and scored the last three goals of the game.
Group D
Standings: 1. CNAB 15pts, 2. Hannover 9pts, 3. Sabadell 6pts, 4. Marseille 6pts
KEIO CN Sabadell (ESP) 16-13 CN Marseille (FRA)
Sabadell played with full gear, which would have required a great performance from Marseille, but the French side failed to deliver once more and this means that their Champions League quest has ended.
The Spanish played for their pride as they had no chance to go through. Still, they did not offer a free pass to their rivals and underlined it with a strong start as they stormed to a 5-2 lead.
Ugo Crousillat and Thomas Vernoux stepped up early in the second to bring Marseille back to life and midway through the period, Sabadell’s lead was cut to a single goal at 7-6.
It was an enormous fight, and the next four and a half minutes saw a single goal, from Federico Panerai, which doubled the hosts’ lead, while Marseille missed a six-on-five before the middle break.
Nace Stromajer kicked off the third with a fine man-up goal for 9-6 and in just 34 seconds came another one, from a penalty forced on a counter, and Sabadell were up by four again.
Crousillat managed to put away the next two six-on-fives for the French, but the Spaniards always found a way to do some damage to the Marseille defence and replied with two goals from back-to-back possessions in 48 seconds for 12-8.
Again, Crousillat pulled one back with a 6m rocket but, heading into the last two minutes of this quarter, Sabadell earned a penalty, buried by Panerai, and after denying the French six-on-five, Alberto Barroso added a blistering one from the perimeter with 22 seconds to go for 14-9.
When Jan Perez hit a great centre shot 50 seconds into the fourth, it practically put the game to bed as Sabadell led by six.
Crousillat and Vernoux came up with a series of late goals, the two netted 11 in total, but the French never had the chance for a comeback.
Zodiac CNAB (ESP) 20-12 Waspo 98 Hannover (GER)
Hannover could be grateful to Sabadell as they had no chance of earning any points some 50km away in Barceloneta.
CNAB, with the top spot already secured, put on a gala performance against the Germans.
They needed just two periods to secure the win as they built a massive 9-2 lead, which also led to a significant drop in their concentration levels for the remainder of the game, especially in defence.
This let the festivities begin – the third saw six goals apiece, and the fourth did not lack goals either, so the second half produced 21 in total.
Still, both sides left the pool happy as Hannover also went through, thanks to Sabadell’s great performance.
The draw for the next round of the Champions League will take place on Monday 16 February at 10am (CET) and streamed live via the European Aquatics YouTube channel
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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics
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