One of the best water polo players of the 21st century, Denes Varga, returned to the European stage this evening after almost two years’ absence.
The Hungarian star made his debut for the Georgian club A-Polo Sport Management in the second stage of the Conference Cup. Unfortunately for Varga, his debut was not successful. In the first round of Group C in Montpellier, Honved, coached by Varga’s former teammate Marton Szivos, defeated Sport Management after a penalty shootout, winning 20:19.
In other matches played this evening, Italian teams, Posillipo and De Akker, and Crvena Zvezda recorded wins.
Competing teams are split into four groups in this stage of the Conference Cup. The top two from each group will advance to the Quarter Final Stage.
2026 Conference Cup, Stage 2, Day 1
Group C (Montpellier)
Honved – A-Polo Sport Management 20:19 (2:3, 3:5, 4:3, 5:3, PSO 6:5)
Honved: Moskov 5, Ekler 3, Vickovic 2, Kevi 1, Bencz 1, Kiss 1, Simon 1.
A-Polo Sport Management: Vuksanovic 3, Saric 3, Varga 3, Alekseev 3, Jakhaia 1, Mudrazija 1.
Montpellier – De Akker 9:25 (0:8, 4:4, 4:7, 1:6)
Montpellier: Mustur 4, Stojanovic 4, Rousell 1.
De Akker: Campopiano 4, Erdely 4, Di Murro 4, Lucci 4, McFarland 3, Martini 2, Bardulla 1, Bragantini 1, Painter 1, Milakovic 1.
Primorje bye
Honved only took the lead once during regular time. In the 4th minute, Kiss scored to make it 2:1. Sport Management then went on an impressive 5:0 run, building a 6:2 lead. The Hungarian team began to make a comeback, but the Georgians controlled the game and maintained their lead until the middle of the fourth quarter. Montenegrin Nikola Moskov scored his fifth goal from a penalty shot, tying the game at 12:12. After this, the teams quickly exchanged goals. Each side had opportunities to score a winning goal but was unsuccessful. The game ended in a 14:14 tie, and a penalty shootout determined the winner.
The first five rounds saw no missed shots. In the sixth round, Nikola Moskov made it 20:19. At the other end of the pool, Honved’s goalkeeper, Kristof Csoma, saved a shot from Denes Varga, securing two points for the Budapest-based team.
The second game in Group C was decided by halftime. It became clear well before the end of the first half that De Akker would win three points. In the first nine minutes, the Italians scored nine goals without conceding at all, taking a commanding 9:0 lead. From that point on, only the margin of De Akker’s victory was in question.
Group D (Naples)
Posillipo – Dinamo Tbilisi 13:8 (3:1, 5:1, 1:3, 4:3)
Posillipo: Cuccovillo 3, Renzuto Iodice 2, Porzio 2, Da. Radovic 1, Matiello 1, Aiello 1, Maksimovic 1, Milicic 1, Valle 1.
Dinamo Tbilisi: Tkeshelashvili 4, Bucan 2, Magrakvelidze 1, Draskovic 1.
Crvena Zvezda – Sete 14:13 (3:2, 2:2, 3:2, 2:4, PSO 4:3)
Crvena Zvezda:Krstic 2, Radanovic 2, Radovic 2, Dankovic 1, Markovic 1, Popovic 1, Kasum 1.
Sete: Sauton 4, Radojevic 2, Tomic 1, De Bie 1, Vasin 1, Gomes da Silva 1.
Mataro bye
Posillipo opened the match against Dinamo explosively. The Georgians opened the scoring in the first minute. However, the hosts answered with a 8:0 run and earned a 8:1 lead in th 15th minute. Dinamo was a better rival in the second half, but it couldn’t come close to Posillipo and endanger the hosts’ win.
Crvena Zvezda arrived in Naples with only 10 players. Following a mass player exodus in the last three months of 2025, Crvena Zvezda managed to overcome the crisis and assemble the team for the second half of the season. But, according to the regulations, during the winter transfer window, it could add only two new players to its roster for the European cups.
Despite having four fewer players than Sete, the Belgrade-based team was very close to a win in regular time, but managed to secure two points in a shootout. The match was tightly contested, with both teams neck-and-neck until 3:3. Crvena Zvezda then established a 5:3 lead. The French team managed to cut the deficit before the middle break. The Serbs got off to an excellent start in the second half, scoring three straight goals to build an 8:4 lead. But, Crvena Zvezda lacked energy for the finish. The French leveled twice in the fourth period – at 8:8 and 9:9. Sete converted a man-up with 27 seconds remaining and went ahead – 10:9. Still, Marko Radovic leveled with just six seconds to go and prolonged the match. After six rounds of the penalty shootout, Crvena Zvezda emerged victorious.
Groups A and B
The competitions in groups with four teams (A and B) begin tomorrow.
Group A (Potsdam): Partizan – Apollon Smyrnis, OSC Potsdam – Panionios.
Group B (Split): Rapid Bucharest – Tenerife, Mornar Split – ZV De Zaan
More articles about the Conference Cup
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: total-waterpolo.com
