Euro Cup Men: Marseille and BVSC aiming to overturn first-leg deficits to reach final

After battling back from 3-1 down, VK Jadran Split secured a late three-goal lead in their semifinal first-leg clash with BVSC Manna ABC, but the Hungarians stayed within touching distance, scoring twice in the last minute to reduce the deficit to just one heading into Saturday’s crunch return fixture in Budapest. The other last-four clash is also finely poised, although SPD Radnicki will start as slight favourites to progress, as they hold a three-goal advantage over CN Marseille.

2025/26 Euro Cup Men
Semifinals, Second Legs
Saturday 9 May
(Local times shown, and first-leg scores)

18:00: CN Marseille (FRA) v SPD Radnicki (SRB) (14-17)
20:00: BVSC Manna ABC (HUN) v VK Jadran Split (CRO) (12-13)

18:00: CN Marseille (FRA) v SPD Radnicki (SRB) (First leg: 14-17)

Last season’s runners-up SPD Radnicki have arrived in France with a three-goal cushion after winning the first leg at home, but four goals from Thomas Vernoux and Ugo Crousillat helped keep CN Marseille’s dream of reaching the final very much alive.

Since that victory two weeks ago, the Serbian side have faced some troubles outside of the pool, with head coach Uros Stevanovic resigning from his role with the national side due to a much-publicised conflict with the federation’s new president, Slobodan Soro.

Several Radnicki players – Strahinja Rasovic, Sava Randjelovic, Nikola Dedovic, Viktor Rasovic, Radoslav Filipovic, Petar Jaksic and Nikola Jaksic – also showed solidarity with their coach’s decision by announcing they no longer wish to represent Serbia while Soro is at the helm.

It’s a complicated issue, but Stevanovic will be pleased with the support from key members of his squad and hope they can channel any frustrations they have into a positive performance against the French champions on Saturday.

In the pool, SPD Radnicki have experienced few problems in recent months and continue to go from strength to strength, with their last defeat in regular time coming in mid-November against Olympiacos in the Champions League.

Since then, they have proved a formidable force, winning 22 games and losing just once – after a penalty shootout – again to Olympiacos in February.

One Radnicki player particularly looking forward to Saturday’s fixture is captain Andrija Prlainovic, who enjoyed a successful spell with Marseille before moving back to Serbia last summer.

“We have a nice advantage, but we must not play this game with the intention of just defending the first-leg result, but with the desire to win this game as well,” Prlainovic told his club’s website.

“Another interesting duel awaits us, in a nice atmosphere, just like the first one. The stakes are high – a place in the final – and I believe together we can achieve our goal.”

Marseille, meanwhile, will be hoping their big guns can deliver and overturn the three-goal deficit in front of their own fans.

Victory would give the French giants the chance to lift a second Euro Cup title, seven years on from their memorable two-legged triumph over Jadran Herceg Novi in 2019.

“The score from the first leg doesn’t reflect the level of the two teams,” Marseille coach Milos Scepanovic told European Aquatics. “We had our chances, but unfortunately we didn’t convert them.

“On Saturday, in front of our home crowd, we need to confirm our level of play and qualify for the final.”

20:00: BVSC Manna ABC (HUN) v VK Jadran Split (CRO) (12-13)

BVSC Manna ABC will hope home advantage in Budapest can help them overturn a narrow one-goal deficit after losing a thrilling first-leg to VK Jadran Split in Croatia 13-12.

After his heroics in the quarterfinals, Jadran captain Zvonimir Butic inspired his side once again two weeks ago, netting four goals as his team established a three-goal advantage in the fourth quarter thanks to late strikes from Antonio Duzevic, Toni Nemet and Loren Fatovic.

But BVSC refused to throw in the towel and kept fighting until the end, with Zsombor Ekler and David Tatrai both scoring in the last minute to cut the margin to just one and keep the tie finely balanced.

Despite surrendering momentum in the closing stages, Jadran hold the advantage heading into Saturday’s decisive leg, but Daniel Varga’s men will fancy their chances of completing the comeback in front of their fans.

“I thought that we played a very good first game in Split,” Varga told European Aquatics. “I was satisfied with the result and with the performance of my players.

“OK, we made some mistakes, but we can correct those errors, so for this next game we are preparing ourselves to give our best and I’m really optimistic.

“We have a good chance to beat Jadran in our pool. I hope the stands are full and we get a lot of support.

“I’m looking forward to the game and I hope we can make history for our club by making the final.”

“What awaits us in the second half of this tie is a very demanding match against BVSC,” Jadran coach Jure Marelja told European Aquatics. “We saw in Split just what kind of team they are.

“They didn’t reach this stage of the competition by accident, and there’s a saying that when you go to Budapest, you start two goals down.

“Unfortunately, we travel there with only a one-goal advantage, which means we must go there to win.

“We cannot calculate anything. BVSC’s biggest strength is the variety of shooting options they have on the perimeter.

“With three left-handed players, they are capable of scoring goals from every position – that’s how their team is built.

“Defence is our strength, although recently we’ve been conceding more goals than usual and we haven’t reached our normal standards.

“We are working intensively on that. I won’t say we’ve fixed it until I see it in the match, but I believe this is the game where we can show improvement defensively.

“Can Jadran reach the long-awaited final? We must!”

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Andy Rollé for European Aquatics

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