The Champions League will continue on Wednesday, marking the end of the race for spots in the Quarterfinal Stage. All eight matches of the sixth and last round of the Preliminary Stage will take place tomorrow at 20:00 CET.
So far, four teams have qualified for the next stage: Pro Recco, Ferencvaros, Brescia, and Barceloneta.
The most crucial and anticipated matches will involve Serbian clubs. Many players from these teams recently won European gold at the Belgrade Arena.
An encounter between Olympiacos and Radnicki in Piraeus will be vital for determining the standings of the top three teams in Group A, while Jadran Herceg Novi and Novi Beograd in Trebinje will compete for second place in Group B.
There are some open questions in Group D, but the favorites depend only on themselves.
All teams that finish in third and fourth place in their groups will play in the Euro Cup eighth-finals.
2025/26 Champions League, Round 6, February 11 Preview
GROUP A
Round 6: Mladost – Vasas, Olympiacos – Radnicki.
Standings: 1. Olympiacos 12, 2. Radnicki 9, 2. Mladost 9, 4. Vasas 0.
None of the teams in the very strong Group A have qualified for the Quarter Final Stage yet. Olympiacos is currently three points ahead of Mladost and Radnicki, but the situation can change tomorrow. However, Olympiacos is in a good position.
While it’s largely expected that Mladost will defeat Vasas at home, the outcome of the big derby in Piraeus is hard to predict. Radnicki is seeking three points to qualify and avenge its narrow 12:13 home loss to the Greek champions. If the Kragujevac-based team, featuring seven European champions and many other experienced players, achieves its goal in Piraeus, and Mladost beats Vasas, a three-way tie with various possible combinations will be created.
Only Radnicki would advance in all possible three-way tie combinations.
In the case of a three-way tie, only the results between the three teams will be considered. Currently, Olympiacos has a goal difference of +4 (39:35), Radnicki’s goal difference is 0 (41:41), and Mladost’s is -4 (51:55).
Photo by Darko Cojic
Therefore, if Radnicki wins by one goal, Olympiacos will remain at the top, and Radnicki will advance from second place. If Radnicki wins by two to seven goals, the Serbian team will take first place, pushing Olympiacos down to second. Mladost’s only chance in case of a Radnicki victory is the Serbs’ win by eight goals or more, which seems very unlikely.Consequently, the Croats are hoping that Olympiacos earns at least one point.
Nothing is impossible; Olympiacos rarely loses at home. Like Radnicki, the hosts also have several medal winners from the European Championships on their roster—eight Greeks and Hungarian Daniel Angyal. The question that remains is whether the national team members from both teams have recovered from the Europeans. However, Olympiacos, like Radnicki, has key players who didn’t participate in the Belgrade Arena and contribute significantly to the team, such as Gergo Zalanki.
A big clash is on the horizon.
If two teams have the same goal difference in a three-way tie, then their encounters will determine the rankings. Let’s see the results of the matches between the teams that can be involved:
Olympiacos – Mladost 13:9 and 13:14, Radnicki – Mladost 14:11 and 15:17, Olympiacos – Radnicki 13:12 and ?
GROUP B
Round 6: Jadran HN – Novi Beograd, Jadran Split – Pro Recco.
Standings: 1. Pro Recco 15, 2. Jadran Herceg Novi 6, 2. Novi Beograd 6, 4. Jadran Split 3
Pro Recco secured the top spot, while the battle for 2nd place is still open. Unlike Group A, there are not many combinations here. The winner of the match between Jadran Herceg Novi – Novi Beograd will claim 2nd place.
Jadran beat Novi Beograd twice in the first half of the season – 12:11 in the Champions League in Belgrade and 17:16 (penalty shootout) in the Premier VRL League.
Both teams had many players at the European Championships. It remains to be seen how well the teams can perform after such a long break and with less than two weeks of practice with all the players.
The detail from the Premier League match between Jadran and Novi Beograd. Photo by Vuk Ilic
Jadran didn’t have a good overture for the match, as it was heavily beaten by Radnicki on Friday (13:21) in the Premier League.
Anyway, neither of the sides can be considered a favorite in tomorrow’s game.
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GROUP C
Round 6: Primorac – Ferencvaros, Brescia – Oradea.
Standings: 1. Ferencvaros 13, 2. Brescia 11, 3. Primorac 3, 4. Oradea 3.
Ferencvaros and Brescia have qualified for the Top 8 .
In the 5th round of the Group Stage, Brescia surprised Ferencvaros with a penalty shootout victory in Budapest.
Still, Brescia will probably remain in 2nd place, as Ferencvaros needs only one point in the match against Primorac to keep the top spot.
GROUP D
Round 6: Barceloneta – Waspo 98 Hannover, Sabadell – Marseille.
Standings: 1. Barceloneta 12, 2. Hannover 9, 3. Marseille 6, 4. Sabadell 3.
There were many surprising results in this group during the first five rounds, but the heavy favorite, Barceloneta, has qualified for the Quarter-Final Stage, making it nearly impossible for the best Spanish club to drop to 2nd place. The only way the Spaniards could lose 1st place is if they suffer a 17-goal defeat to Waspo Hannover.
For Hannover to secure 2nd place, it needs to earn at least one point in Barcelona, which will also be a difficult task If they lose to Barceloneta in regular time, their chance of advancing to the Quarter Finals will depend on the outcome of the game between Sabadell and Marseille. Hannover will drop to 3rd place only if Marseille wins all three points against Sabadell.
Sabadell has no chance to qualify for the next stage. The hosts will be playing for pride and aiming to climb to 3rd place in the group, which would guarantee them a spot in the highest pot of the draw for the Euro Cup’s eighth-finals.
The match in Sabadell is a must-win game for Marseille, which is the favorite on paper. However, it’s worth noting that one of the surprises in this group was Sabadell’s victory over Marseille in France (12:11).
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: total-waterpolo.com
