Euro Cup Men: Vasas win Hungarian derby by three as first legs of Eight Finals get underway

The opening legs of the men’s Euro Cup Eight Finals provided plenty of drama across the continent, but just one of the teams that dropped down from the Champions League suffered a defeat, as Panathinaikos AC edged past Jadran m:tel Herceg Novi (not forgetting Jug still have to face Primorac). VK Jadran Split and SPD Radnicki both travelled home with five-goal away wins, which should be enough to see them progress safely, while CN Sabadell smashed VK Sabac Elixir at home 11-3, making them firm favourites ahead of the return legs on Saturday 7 March. Elsewhere, Vasas Plaket won the Hungarian debry by three goals against BVSC Manna ABC, but both teams will still fancy their chances of making the last eight.

2025/26 Euro Cup Men
Eight Finals, First-Legs
Wednesday 25 February

*Panathinaikos AC (GRE) 11-10 Jadran m:tel Herceg Novi (MNE)
*Played Tuesday 24 February
CSM Oradea (ROU) 14-13 CN Terrassa (ESP)
CN Sabadell (ESP) 11-3 VK Sabac Elixir (SRB)
RN Savona (ITA) 11-12 CN Marseille (FRA)
Vasas Plaket (HUN) 11-8 BVSC Manna ABC (HUN)
Szolnoki Dozsa Praktiker (HUN) 10-15 VK Jadran Split (CRO)
CN Barcelona (ESP) 10-15 SPD Radnicki (SRB)
*VPK Primorac Kotor (MNE) – VK Jug AO (CRO)
*Postponed. Scheduled for Wednesday 4 March

*Panathinaikos AC (GRE) 11-10 Jadran m:tel Herceg Novi (MNE)
*Played Tuesday 24 February

Panathinaikos AC edged a fierce battle with Jadran m:tel Herceg Novi, who were the first team to immediately taste defeat in the Euro Cup after dropping down from the Champions League.

Jadran did strike first on man-up to open the scoring, but Panathinaikos, backed by their usual passionate fans, responded swiftly through Dusan Banicevic and fought back to lead 3-2 by the end of the first quarter.

The hosts produced a few decisive bursts in the second period, establishing a 6-3 lead with just two minutes of the half remaining, and although Vasilije Radovic and Francisco Valera cut the deficit to one (6-5), Nikolaos Papasifakis and Aristeidis Chalyvopoulos still had time to score from two man-ups to restore their three-goal cushion (8-5) by the turnaround.

Jadran regrouped in the third, with Lazar Andric saving Konstantinos Gkiouvetsis’ penalty to keep them within touching distance, and they soon capitalised, with Srdan Janovic and Radovic both on target to bring them within one again (8-7).

Papasifakis converted a six-on-five to make it 9-7 with 2:43 left in the third, before Strahinja Gojkovic and Srdan Janovic both fired in to make it all square heading into the final quarter.

After six cagey minutes with chances missed at each end, Valera finally broke the deadlock with 1:34 on the clock.

At that point, it looked as if Jadran might be returning home with an advantage, but Chalyvopoulos and Papasifakis – whose rocket from the left side of the perimeter skipped past a stunned Andric – wrestled back the lead for Panathinaikos with just 24 seconds to play.

Jadran forced an exclusion right at the death, and Strahinja Gojkovic looked certain to score when the ball found him unmarked at the near post, but keeper Adrian Weinberg moved across his goal line spectacularly to block his shot and ensure Panathinaikos will start the second leg with a slender lead.

“Today was a very intense game that we lost towards the end,” said Jadran coach Vladimir Gojkovic. “We knew from the start Panathinaikos were a strong opponent, and that was evident throughout.

“Now, we are called on to win the second leg at home and secure qualification if we want to continue in this competition.”

“This was a very important European victory,” commented Panathinaikos head coach Dimitris Mazis. “But we still have four critical quarters to play at the home of a very strong European opponent.

“A one-goal lead is not significant. However, we will go there to claim the qualification.”

CSM Oradea (ROU) 14-13 CN Terrassa (ESP)

CSM Oradea survived a late CN Terrassa surge to take a narrow one-goal lead to Spain for the second leg a week on Saturday.

The first 12 minutes were closely contested, with both sides taking the lead (1-0 and 1-2), but after the Romanians went in front at the end of the first (3-2), they never trailed again.

Terrassa levelled twice (4-4 and 5-5) in the second quarter, but Oradea kept edging back in front and three goals in a row before half-time, from Petar Velkic (who ended the night with six), Levente Vancsik and Filip Gardasevic, put them 8-5 ahead at the turnaround.

The visitors got within two on three occasions in the third, but the gap was back at three (11-8) heading into the last eight minutes.

In the fourth, Terrassa kept fighting and never let the hosts establish a bigger advantage.

After 14-11, they even had the final say, converting their last two man-ups to make it 14-13 and set up what promises to be a thrilling return leg.

CN Sabadell (ESP) 11-3 VK Sabac Elixir (SRB)

CN Sabadell showed glimpses of their power in the Champions League and unfortunately for VK Sabac Elixir it was on display again during this first leg.

A 4-0 opening set the tone, with the Spaniards’ attack and defence doing an excellent job, including surviving two man-downs inside the first eight minutes.

Andrej Barac broke the deadlock for the Serbians after 10 long minutes (and 21 seconds), rifling in a shot from distance that goalkeeper Eduardo Lorrio could only watch fly past his left arm.

The Sabadell keeper had saved everything thrown at him before then, although Sabac will have been disappointed with their shot selection, as most of their efforts were fired straight at Lorrio or were off target.

Sabadell’s forwards were much more clinical and they responded to Barac’s goal by hitting the next three without reply to lead 7-1 early in the third.

More than 11 minutes passed before Sabac could strike again, which summed up their evening, and their third – and final – goal arrived almost eight minutes later, with 3:13 remaining in the fourth.

In the end, Sabadell won comfortably by eight (11-3), making them big favourites to progress.

Sabac may have won all of their home Group Stage games, but they could never win by more than four, so the odds are firmly stacked against them.

RN Savona (ITA) 11-12 CN Marseille (FRA)

Forty-seven exclusions were called in the fiery clash between RN Savona and CN Marseille, and there were also five penalties awarded, in an end-to-end battle that the French emerged from victorious, 11-12.

Pietro Figlioli may have top-scored for the hosts with six goals, but it was his 5m miss early in the fourth quarter that ultimately proved to be the difference.

Marseille went ahead through captain Ugo Crousillat midway through the first period and Savona were made to chase the game from there, and they did it fairly successfully, levelling on three occasions (1-1, 3-3 and 9-9), before finally taking the lead (10-9) at the start of the fourth.

It was Oliver Leinweber who put the hosts in front, completing his hat-trick with a shot from the left wing that was just too powerful for Petar Tesanovic to keep out.

Unfortunately for Savona, their lead lasted just 24 seconds, as Adam Nagy hammered in from the left on their next man-up to immediately equalise.

Bilal Gbadamassi put the visitors back ahead from another extra a minute later, after Figlioli had seen his penalty deflected behind by Tesanovic’s out-stretched left hand.

The veteran 41-year-old made up for that miss later, though, to make it 11-11, but Crousillat stepped up with 1:39 on the clock to hit the winner and his fifth goal of the night.

Marseille were bombarded in the final seconds, but their defence held firm, including surviving two man-downs, to hold on to their slender advantage.

Vasas Plaket (HUN) 11-8 BVSC Manna ABC (HUN)

The first period of the Hungarian deby saw an even battle with two goals apiece. BVSC took the lead twice, but Vasas managed to equalise right away from the next possessions on both occasions.

Bogdan Durdic put Vasas ahead with a big blast from the perimeter, but a penalty, then a finely played man-up finish by Peter Kovacs swung the advantage back to the Vasutas side at 3-4.

The hosts struggled a bit before Durdic fired his second from distance – it was the fourth rocket from action for Vasas.

BVSC missed their next man-up while Lorinc Gabor buried a six-on-five, 13 seconds from time, so Vasas led 5-4 at half-time.

The visitors’ goalie, Viktor Gyapjas, came up big after the restart, stopping two penalties within seconds – but this didn’t give much of a boost to his team-mates, as they missed another six-on-five, while Durdic sent the ball home at the other end from an extra and, just 26 seconds later, he blasted another from 6m to make it 7-4.

Vasas were flying; it was a 4-0 rush and BVSC were in trouble – even though their centre-forwards (both European silver medallists) delivered the exclusions, their offence was unable to outplay the home defenders.

Nika Shushiashvili then broke the ice after 10 minutes, but Gabor went for a quick put-away in the next Vasas man-up, and Erik Csacsovszky buried a penalty for 8-6. BVSC couldn’t come closer as another six-on-five was wasted before the final break.

And they paid for that as Durdic carried on in the fourth, hitting his 5th of the night, again from distance at even strength to reset the three-goal gap (9-6).

Soon, David Tatrai found the back of the net from another extra, but Bence Batori converted a penalty when it really mattered, and soon the gap grew to four when Peter Szalai added a brilliant action goal with 3:14 to go.

Marton Mizsei produced a series of great saves; his 10th came in a man-down as BVSC’s snipers started losing their confidence.

This also gave Vasas a couple of chances to go for a five-goal lead, but they couldn’t inflict more damage as Viktor Gyapjas also had some fine saves, 16 in total, though he faced 27 shots (seven more than his opposite number).

Finally, with 18 seconds to go, Zsombor Szeghalmi put away a second attempt in a man-up to preserve some hope for BVSC for the return leg, as Vasas’ final assault, a seven-on-six, couldn’t beat the buzzer (with their ‘goal’ coming too late).

Szolnoki Dozsa Praktiker (HUN) 10-15 VK Jadran Split (CRO)

Szolnoki Dozsa Praktiker managed to keep up with VK Jadran Split until 5-5 late in the second quarter, then the Croatians gradually started to pull away.

The Hungarians could never take the lead, despite equalising on four occasions (1-1, 2-2, 4-4 and 5-5), and after Marcus Berehulak flashed in a shot from the perimeter on a man-up just before the half-time buzzer, Jadran began to seize control.

Toni Nemet opened the scoring in the third, overpowering his marker in the centre with a fine turn and finish into the bottom-left corner, then Berehulak struck again, this time from the right wing on a man-up, to give Jadran a three-goal advantage (5-8).

Szolnok cut the deficit to two twice (6-8 and 7-9), but Zvonimir Butic and Jerko Marinic Kragic scored in the final minute of the period to stretch Jadran’s lead to four (7-11) ahead of the last quarter.

Midway through the fourth, the visitors were six clear (8-14) and although goals from Gergo Kovacs and Lorand Zerinvary helped reduce the gap to five (10-15), Szolnok still face a daunting task in the second leg.

CN Barcelona (ESP) 10-15 SPD Radnicki (SRB)

Last season’s Euro Cup runners-up SPD Radnicki got off to a flyer against CN Barcelona, opening up a 1-4 lead inside the first eight minutes.

This sparked a stunning response from the hosts, though, as Andrei Iosep masterminded a four-goal surge in the second period that put Barcelona 5-4 up.

It was a brutal reminder for Radnicki – who were missing Dusko Pijetlovic and Andrija Prlainovic – that they had a fight on their hands and weren’t going to have it all their own way.

Sava Randjelovic levelled at 5-5 shortly before half-time, but Barcelona continued to cause the Serbians problems throughout the third.

Despite edging back in front three times, the Spaniards equalised on each occasion to make it 8-8 heading into the fourth quarter.

Barcelona had enjoyed a brilliant 16-minute spell, but their resistance began to fade in the closing stages as Radnicki hit five without reply to move five clear (8-13).

The hosts dug deep to score two more, but so did the Serbians, who head home with a five-goal advantage.

Strahinja Rasovic led the charge for the visitors with five goals, while Randjelovic was not too far behind with three.

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Andy Rollé for European Aquatics

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