Champions League Men: Olympiacos take one step closer to Final 4, while CNAB book ticket to Malta

Barceloneta became the first team to secure their spot in the Final 4 as they demolished Brescia to keep their perfect record in the Champions League Quarter Final Stage. Earlier, Olympiacos took a huge step towards Malta as they downed Novi Beograd in a tremendous 31-goal battle.

2025/26 Champions League Men
Quarterfinals Stage, Day 4
Wednesday 22 April

Group A

Olympiacos SFP (GRE) 16-15 VK Novi Beograd Tehnomanija (SRB)
Zodiac CNAB (ESP) 17-6 AN Brescia (ITA)

Standings: 1. CNAB 12pts, 2. Olympiacos 6pts, 3. Brescia 3pts, 3. NBG 3pts

Olympiacos SFP (GRE) 16-15 VK Novi Beograd Tehnomanija (SRB) (6-3, 3-4, 4-5, 3-3)

Olympiacos won a thriller despite some heroic efforts from Novi Beograd.

An early surge gave the Greeks a three-goal lead (5-2), forcing the Serbs into a chasing game, and they managed to maintain the distance in the following periods – the Serbs’ only chance to tie the match came in their very last possession, but the post denied them and the hosts secured three very crucial points.

Though Novi scored first, the Greeks equalised right away and then denied the Serbs in back-to-back man-ups.

A bit later Ioannis Fountoulis netted another extra, but a fine drive from Nikola Lukic was good enough to make it 2-2.

Olympiacos kept pushing and they not only earned the exclusions, mostly – and not surprisingly – in the centre position, but also converted them with astonishing precision.

They were 5-for-5 in six-on-five in the first period, plus buried a penalty, while only Lukic could add another one at the other end, so the hosts led 6-3 after eight minutes.

Lukic hit his third right away in the second period to kick off NBG’s chasing game and even though they missed their extra, Stefan Pjesivac hit a great one from the centre for 6-5.

Something similar happened at the other end – a missed extra, followed by a brilliant centre shot by Dimitrios Nikolaidis.

Olympiacos then missed a six-on-five, while the Serbs forced a penalty during their man-up and Vasilje Martinovic buried it.

A fine feed to the 2m and an easy put-away from Ioannis Alafragkis restored the two-goal gap and they maintained it till half-time, as Aleksa Ukropina converted an extra, but at the other end captain Konstantinos Genidounias buried a penalty for 9-7, 47 seconds from time.

The trend continued in the third. Again, the Serbs drew first blood, Martinovic hammered in their first extra, but the Greeks replied quickly, with Konstantinos Kakaris hitting another one from the centre.

The pattern never changed – Olympiacos couldn’t go up by three, but NBG were unable to equalise either, as it was an absolutely balanced contest in this period.

Either the offences performed really well, as in the first four minutes, or the defences did a tremendous job during a 2:15 scoreless stretch.

Then, with 1:53 to go, Vasilje Martinovic’s one-timer halved the gap once more, then the visitors killed an extra but a missed shot at the other end gave room for a counter and Daniel Angyal completed a hat-trick – after putting away two extras from the post, he finished off the action to make it 13-11, 45 seconds from time.

Still, it was enough time for NBG to cut the deficit back to a single goal as they could also set up Pjesivac in front of goal.

They had another six-on-five early in the fourth, but Panagiotis Tzortzatos came up with a save while Ioannis Fountoulis doubled the lead in the Greeks’ next possession by firing in an extra from the back.

The next six-on-fives also ended in goals at both ends, then Luka Gladovic scored an outstanding action goal from the right wing as he outplayed his defender for 15-14.

Nikolaidis’ centre shot would have been a worthy reply, but the frame of the goal denied him, and the following actions were also well handled by the defences.

Three minutes went scoreless then the hosts forced an extra and Gergo Zalanki’s lethal left arm did the damage, just like in the previous one.

NBG responded immediately, Martinovic hit his fourth, also from a man-up, to make it 16-15 with 1:36 remaining.

The Greeks had a match ball, a six-on-five after a time-out, but the Serbs defended really well, made a steal and with 41 seconds on the clock, they also earned an exclusion.

Still, the time-out didn’t help as they were unable to outplay the home defenders – they managed a shot, but definitely not from the best angle, and it was no wonder Milos Cuk’s effort hit the post and the Greeks ran down the remaining time to take an enormous step towards the Final 4.

Zodiac CNAB (ESP) 17-6 AN Brescia (ITA) (5-2, 3-0, 4-2, 5-2)

Brescia may have opened the scoring inside 36 seconds, but next came CNAB with three goals in a row to set the tone for this clash.

Vincenzo Dolce pulled one back from an extra, but Vince Vigvari also converted a six-on-five and, despite missing the next two, a magnificent lob from Gonzalo Echenique expanded the gap to three goals, 55 seconds from time.

Vigvari’s 6m blast kicked off the second quarter while Brescia, already down by four, were unable to create clean chances, not even in their six-on-fives.

The home defence’s intensity was simply astonishing, Unai Aguirre had comfortable saves as the shots came under tremendous pressure.

Midway through the period, Bernat Sanahuja converted an extra and with 1:41 on the clock, Vigvari buried a penalty for 8-2. The Italians missed a third six-on-five, so they were shut out for the entire period.

Their next goal came early in the third to halt their scoreless run after 13:19 minutes – but it was obvious that CNAB’s 5-0 run in that phase had already decided the outcome.

Mateo Giri added another one 52 seconds later for 8-4, but the hosts didn’t let the Italians gain more ground.

Their response was immediate and emphatic, back-to-back man-up goals from Alberto Munarriz and Unai Biel in a span of 51 seconds, which was quick enough to kill Brescia’s brief momentum.

Vigvari and Munarriz blasted one more apiece from action to make it 12-4 before the fourth, and the fiesta continued in the final period as CNAB added five more to seal a devastating, 11-goal victory.

In fact, they were in a relentless mood, taking 36 shots in 32 minutes, and the shots on goal – 23-16 – clearly showed the pressure applied on their rivals’ cage.

This impressive win sent the Spaniards to the Final 4 and their top spot has also been secured, at least in practical terms.

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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics

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