Champions League Men: NBG and Zodiac CNAB secure victories on opening night of Quarter Final Stage

A couple of two-goal wins kicked off the Quarter Final Stage of the men’s Champions League on Tuesday night. While Barceloneta built a commanding four-goal lead by half-time and never looked back in Brescia, Novi Beograd and Olympiacos staged a real thriller in which the Serbs’ magnificent 3-0 run in the final five minutes secured them a great victory.

2025/26 Champions League Men
Quarter Final Stage, Day 1
Tuesday 3 March 2026

Group A

AN Brescia (ITA) 11-13 Zodiac CNAB (ESP)
VK Novi Beograd Tehnomanija (SRB) 12-10 Olympiacos SFP (GRE)

Group A

AN Brescia (ITA) 11-13 Zodiac CNAB (ESP)

A tremendous 0-4 run in the second period proved key to CNAB’s win, as however hard Brescia tried to come back, they were unable to cut the gap to fewer than three goals, only doing so at the very end when Barceloneta’s victory had long been secured.

After a quick exchange of goals, Stefano Guerrato blasted a huge shot from around 7m to give Brescia a 2-1 lead after three minutes. CNAB responded well, Unai Lema also striking from distance and, after killing a man-down, they forced a penalty which Vince Vigvari buried.

Soon it was repeated: Brescia missed their extra while a brilliant play doubled the Spaniards’ lead as Gergo Burian set up Alejandro Bustos, who pushed the ball in from the centre.

Before it could have turned even worse for the hosts, Filippo Ferrero converted the next extra with 37 seconds from time to make it 3-4.

Another fine centre shot opened the second period, this time Biel Gomila finishing cleanly from close range, but the Italians needed only a minute to erase their deficit. Guerrato converted a six-on-five, then CNAB missed theirs and Mario Del Basso fired one in from action for 5-5.

CNAB managed to penetrate their rivals’ defence in the centre once more, earning a penalty and Bernat Sanahuja made no mistake. The next sequence turned out to be far more important than it might have seemed in the heat of the moment.

After some fine defending, Brescia had an open chance, but Unai Aguirre came up with a huge save on Vincenzo Dolce’s close-range shot and added two more stops before Marc Valls finished off an extra from the right wing.

In the previous four minutes, the Italians had at least three shots, but soon they were four goals down. Gomila netted another from the centre after collecting a rebound, and then came a fast counter with Vigvari making it 5-9 with 13 seconds remaining.

Though Vlado Popadic buried an extra right away in the third period, and CNAB missed two man-ups in their next two possessions, the Italians were unable to capitalise on their solid defending.

Aguirre and the Spanish wall also worked well, and they did not have to rush anything with a three-goal lead still in hand. Then Burian made it 6-10; although Tommaso Baggi Necchi produced a huge save on his close-range effort, Burian swam after the ball and sent it back to stun the goalkeeper and restore the four-goal gap.

Alessandro Balzarini converted an extra for Brescia to end their five-minute silence, but Alberto Munarriz also fired one in with 2:05 on the clock for 7-11. Since the Spaniards denied the hosts’ man-up, they carried their half-time four-goal advantage into the last period as well.

Aguirre’s great stop in a man-down kicked off the last eight minutes and it felt that Brescia did not really have the tools to cause serious damage to Barceloneta. When Sanahuja’s 6m rocket ended up in the net, it was virtually over at 7-12, even with four minutes still to play.

Mario Del Basso pulled one back, but Sanahuja was on fire and struck again for 8-13.

In the remaining three minutes the Italians came closer with a series of fine shots, but their third consecutive goal arrived only 20 seconds from time, so CNAB’s opening win was never in serious doubt.

Group A

VK Novi Beograd Tehnomanija (SRB) 12-10 Olympiacos SFP (GRE)

Novi Beograd ruined Olympiacos’ party once more after last year, and it was Milan Glusac again who came up big with 12 saves – the last three were the real game-changers, keeping the Greeks at bay in the final five minutes while the Serbs turned the match around with a superb 3-0 run at the end.

Novi Beograd earned a penalty after 13 seconds and Vasilije Martinovic sent it home to set the tone. Olympiacos needed more time to settle; Gergo Zalanki’s blistering shot flew into the net, but Nikola Lukic scored in a man-up. The Greeks also forced a penalty and Zalanki equalised once more in the middle of the opening period.

The next three minutes turned into a chess match as the teams tried to find weak points, but the defences stood firm. Then, 55 seconds from time, Martinovic muscled his way to the 2m line and managed to push the ball in. The Greeks missed a man-up, and a penalty was called on the ensuing counter; Lukic buried it to double NBG’s lead in just 36 seconds.

Olympiacos were struggling up front and they missed their first six-on-five after the restart, then Evangelos Pouros ended their 6:10-minute drought with a pinpoint shot from the perimeter. The Greeks wasted another man-up before converting their third, Ioannis Alafragkis finishing easily to make it 4-4.

Though the Serbs found it even harder to outplay the Piraeus defence, after four and a half minutes, Miroslav Perkovic struck from action. A further 73 seconds later, the two European champion snipers, Martinovic and Lukic, also found the back of the net to give NBG a 7-4 lead at half-time.

Still, the Greeks came back strong. Konstantinos Genidounias netted an extra after 40 seconds, then they killed a man-down and Konstantinos Kakaris hit his trademark centre shot for 7-6.

Again, the Serbs had problems creating chances. Now they could earn six-on-fives – unlike in the previous quarter – but they were unable to convert them. They missed two, and the third was about to expire when Luka Gladovic reacted bravely, sending the ball straight back in off the rebound to make it 8-6.

Then Genidounias hit the post in a man-up and, although the Greeks forced a penalty from their second attempt, Glusac stopped Genidounias’ shot as well.

Olympiacos seemed in trouble, but a block denied NBG’s next man-up and Zalanki fired home from the perimeter 40 seconds from time. The Serbs had another six-on-five and missed again, and Zalanki beat the buzzer on the counter to bring his side level at 8-8.

NBG missed back-to-back man-ups early in the fourth quarter, then Olympiacos missed a six-on-four, but a bit later a counter ended in a penalty and Zalanki buried it for 8-9.

The Serbs did not miss their six-on-four, Lukic hitting the target. Still, Zalanki struck his sixth – his fourth in a row – also from an extra, so Olympiacos led once more at 9-10 with 4:59 remaining.

The hosts replied immediately, again from a double man-up. Aleksa Ukropina converted from the perimeter for 10-10 and, a minute later, the left-hander added another, this time from a single extra, to swing the lead back to NBG at 11-10 with 3:31 remaining.

Olympiacos made desperate efforts to level again, but the Milan Glusac magic started working once more.

The young goalkeeper stopped Nikolaos Gkillas’ shot in a six-on-four and then denied him again in a six-on-five.

The Greeks had one more promising chance, but an errant centre feed killed it, and Marko Dimitrijevic ended the contest with a cool-blooded finish at the other end.

Shutting out the Greeks in the final five minutes while staging a 3-0 run made Novi Beograd worthy winners – and they took the first, but huge, step on the road leading to Malta.

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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics

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