Euro Cup Men: Jadran survive Panathinaikos scare to join BVSC, Marseille and Radnicki in semifinals

VK Jadran Split had their captain Zvonimir Butic to thank once again, as his two late goals ended Panathinaikos’ fierce resistance and secured their place in the semifinals of the men’s Euro Cup on Saturday. The Greeks were ahead for most of the thrilling second leg, but Butic’s strikes were just enough to get the Croats over the line. Elsewhere, Marseille successfully kept Sabadell at arm’s length in Spain, while BVSC roared to victory in Oradea, and last season’s runners-up Radnicki overcame some early struggles against Primorac Kotor.

2025/26 Euro Cup Men
Quarterfinals, Second-Legs
Saturday 28 March
(Aggregate scores)

CN Sabadell (ESP) 14-14 CN Marseille (FRA) (26-31)
VK Jadran Split (CRO) 19-19 Panathinaikos AC (GRE) (30-29)
CSM Oradea (ROU) 7-12 BVSC Manna ABC (HUN) (15-26)
SPD Radnicki (SRB) 17-15 VPK Primorac Kotor (MNE) (31-25)

Semifinals
(Leg 1 – 25 April, Leg 2 – 9 May)

SPD Radnicki (SRB) v CN Marseille (FRA)
VK Jadran Split (CRO) v BVSC Manna ABC (HUN)

CN Sabadell (ESP) 14-14 CN Marseille (FRA) (Agg: 26-31) (3-2, 5-5, 2-3, 4-4)

After being beaten home and away in this season’s Champions League, CN Marseille comfortably completed their revenge against CN Sabadell with a composed and disciplined away performance in Spain.

Holding a five-goal advantage from the first leg, the French side quickly tightened their grip on the tie as Michael Bodegas and Alexandre Bouet struck early to extend the aggregate lead to seven.

Faced with a daunting task, Sabadell produced a powerful four-goal response, but Marseille remained in control, never allowing the hosts to stretch their lead on the day beyond two.

Bouet halted Sabadell’s momentum early in the second quarter, rifling a low effort from the left under Eduardo Lorrio’s right arm to make it 4-3.

Jack Larsen briefly restored a two-goal cushion with a powerful 6m finish that bounced into the top left corner, but Marseille responded immediately through captain Ugo Crousillat and Vladan Spaic to draw level at 5-5.

The pattern continued through to half-time (8-7), and after the sides were locked at 8-8 midway through the third, Spaic edged Marseille back in front with a deflected backshot from the centre that looped over a stranded Lorrio.

Konstantin Averka equalised soon after, but Crousillat again stepped up, firing in from the perimeter to make it 9-10.

Rafa Vergara Real brought Sabadell level before the penultimate break, yet the hosts still trailed heavily on aggregate and required a near-perfect closing period.

Sabadell twice moved two goals clear in the fourth (13-11 and 14-12), but Crousillat’s influence proved decisive. The Marseille captain struck twice – his fourth and fifth of the game – to keep his side firmly in control of the tie.

Thomas Vernoux had the final say, rising high at the left post to slam home a well-worked move and level the scores on the night, ensuring Marseille’s aggregate advantage remained intact.

VK Jadran Split (CRO) 19-19 Panathinaikos AC (GRE) (30-29) (4-7, 6-5, 5-5, 4-2)

After scoring a dramatic late winner in the first leg in Greece, VK Jadran Split captain Zvonimir Butic was the hero once more in the return fixture, this time firing in two goals in the final two minutes to send the Croats through.

It was a sensational turnaround, as Panathinaikos had led for the majority of the game and it looked like a surprise was on the cards, especially when Nikolaos Papasifakis struck to make it 17-19 with just 2:24 remaining in the second leg.

The Greeks had taken a flying start, racing into a 0-3 lead in the opening quarter, and looked up for the fight, as whenever Jadran hit back, they were always able to move three clear again, and led by that margin on 11 further occasions (1-4, 2-5, 4-7, 5-8, 6-9, 7-10, 8-11, 11-14, 12-15, 13-16 and 14-17).

It had been a Herculean effort from the visitors, and when Dimitrios Skoumpakis and then Papasifakis were on target to put them two clear deep in the fourth (17-19), Panathinaikos’ fans were starting to dream of making the last four.

But then came the Butic show – part two. First, the home captain found space on the right of the perimeter and flashed his shot into the left corner with 1:59 on the clock to tie the aggregate scores.

Panathinaikos forced an exclusion in their next possession, but after a time-out, Papasifakis wasted the chance with his shot bouncing high and wide.

Fatovic’s shot was blocked at the other end and the tie was drifting towards a shootout, but with just 10 seconds remaining, Butic drew a foul on the right and unleashed a 6m rocket that flew past Adrian Weinberg’s right hand in the Greek goal, which must have felt like déjà vu for him – and both sets of players.

Although it only levelled the score on the night, it was a worthy tie-winning strike.

No one celebrated more at the final buzzer than three-goal hero Butic and Jerko Marinic Kragic, who top scored for Jadran with seven goals.

Meanwhile, it was sheer heartbreak for Papasifakis, who had led the Greek resistance superbly with six goals, and Skoumpakis, who hit five.

CSM Oradea (ROU) 7-12 BVSC Manna ABC (HUN) (15-26) (0-2, 2-3. 2-4, 3-3)

If Oradea had any plans to erase their six-goal deficit from the first leg, it needed to be executed immediately – instead, the Romanians failed to score in the opening period.

BVSC continued where they had left off in the previous game, placing great emphasis on defence, while an early centre goal from Benedek Batizi provided additional breathing room. Another fine action goal from left-hander Miklos Csapo doubled their lead, and they could even afford to miss three six-on-fives.

The hosts’ first goal came 27 seconds into the second quarter, when Tiberiu Negrean finally converted an extra, but the response was immediate as Matyas Meszaros netted with a fine finish after a spectacular drive.

Soon after, Levente Vancsik scored from the centre – traditionally a key element of Oradea’s offence in recent Champions League seasons, though this was their first action goal from that position in this tie.

It also proved to be their last for a long spell, as the Hungarians tightened their defence again, with Viktor Gyapjas producing key saves alongside well-timed blocks.

Zsombor Szeghalmi then added a powerful bounce shot to restore the two-goal gap, and 48 seconds before the long break BVSC moved three clear after converting a six-on-five, somewhat fortunately, through David Jansik.

Meszaros opened the third period with a long-range strike, and soon Batizi finished a well-worked action for 2-7. This was the Magyars’ sixth goal from even play, and it became increasingly difficult to see the Romanians overturning an 11-goal aggregate deficit.

Oradea enjoyed a better spell after a time-out and managed to score back-to-back goals for the first time, but the momentum was short-lived. Zsombor Ekler converted a six-on-four, and Erik Csacsovszky added a penalty to make it 4-9 before the final break.

The hosts continued to fight in the last period. With BVSC’s leading centre-forward Peter Kovacs fouled out, they applied heavy pressure.

However, the Magyars still earned key decisions and converted their penalties – an area that had troubled them in the first leg.

This halted Oradea’s final push, when they had reduced the deficit to 7-10, as the visitors soon restored a five-goal cushion on the night.

This capped BVSC’s finest day of the season as a club. Within an hour, the men joined the women in reaching the Euro Cup semifinals, both progressing with home-and-away victories.

BVSC are now the last surviving club from this season’s Euro Cup Group Stage after Panathinaikos’ fell to Jadran.

It also marks the club’s first appearance in the last four of a European competition since 2002.

SPD Radnicki (SRB) 17-15 VPK Primorac Kotor (MNE) (31-25) (3-5, 5-2, 4-4, 5-4)

Last season’s runners-up SPD Radnicki ultimately advanced to their second successive Euro Cup semifinal, but they were made to work hard by VPK Primorac Kotor, who led by three (3-6) early in the second quarter.

After arriving in Serbia with a four-goal deficit from the first leg, Primorac wasted no time at all reducing the gap, but just when they got close to levelling the aggregate score, Nikola Jaksic fired in two quick goals for the hosts and Strahinja Rasovic equalised at 6-6 with 2:35 remaining in the first half.

Nemanja Vico struck to put the visitors back in front, but Valiko Dadvani and Boris Vapenski were both on target to nudge Radnicki ahead by the long break (8-7).

In the third, Primorac kept battling and after 9-9, Balsa Vuckovic and Yusuke Inaba scored back-to-back goals to put them two clear on the night and two behind overall.

Unfortunately for the Montenegrins, that was as close as they could get, as Radnicki hit another wave, with a 3-0 surge putting them 12-11 ahead at the penultimate break.

An action-packed fourth quarter produced nine more goals, but with the Serbs hitting five of them, they were able to fully extinguish Primorac’s hopes of a late comeback.

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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics

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