While the playoffs in most European leagues are nearing their conclusion, the regular season in Italy has just finished.
The best Italian clubs, Brescia and Pro Recco, faced off in the derby of the 26th round. Pro Recco defeated its big rival 19:14, kept 1st place before the playoffs, winning all 78 points.
Before the derby, Brescia, the home team, still had a chance to climb to the top of the table, trailing by three points behind Pro Recco. The hosts needed a 3-goal victory to overtake Recco.
But Brescia took the lead only once. Ferrero scored an opening goal after just 28 seconds of play. However, Recco imposed its rhythm shortly after. It went on a 4:0 run to take a 4:1 lead. From that point on, Recco’s lead never fell below two goals. At the first break, Brescia trailed 4:6. The hosts came close to the rival twice in the second period (5:7 and 6:8), but Recco closed the first half with three straight goals to head into the third period with an 11:8 lead. In the third quarter, Recco reached a 7-goal lead (14:7), and it held an 8-goal advantage (17:9) early in the fourth quarter. In the rest of the match, Brescia cut its deficit.
Giacomo Cannella contributed six goals to Recco’s 19:14 victory. Luke Pavillard added four, and Francesco Di Fulvio three. Guerrato and Ferrero netted three each for Brescia.
Roma Vis Nova confirmed 8th place and took the last playoff ticket by beating 4th-placed Posillipo 12:8.
The club from the Italian capital emerged victorious in the other clash between the teams from Rome and Naples. Olympic Roma defeated Canottieri Naples 16:9, climbing to 9th place ahead of Canottieri. With this victory, Olympic secured itself a spot in the 2027 Italian Serie A1, while Canottieri has to play in the relegation playoffs.
Besides Pro Recco, only Trieste recorded an away win in the 24th round. It defeated Salerno 17:13, with six goals from Montenegrin Vuk Draskovic.
Draskovic scored 104 goals for Trieste this season, but it was enough only for 2nd place in the top scorers’ list. Hungarian Oliver Leinweber, who found the net once in Savona’s win over Iren Genova, kept 1st place with 107 goals. Leinweber’s fellow countryman, Balazs Erdely (De Akker), is in 3rd place, scoring 80 goals.
Third-placed Savona defeated Iren Genova Quinto 16:13. These two teams will meet again next weekend in the playoffs quarterfinals.
Ortigia beat Telimar 20:18 in the Sicilian derby to climb to 11th place and will have a home-field advantage in the first and possible 3rd game of in the clash of the same teams in the relegation playoffs semifinals.
Florentia, which will play in Serie B next season, said goodbye to the elite division with an 18:14 victory over De Akker, which kept 7th place.
Quarterfinals of the playoffs (best of three): Pro Recco – Roma Vis Noa, Brescia – De Akker, Savona – Quinto, Posillipo – Trieste.
The quarterfinals will start next weekend, while the semifinal series will begin on June 16, after the Champions League Final Four in Malta
Relegation playoffs, semifinals (best of three): Canottieri – Salerno, Ortigia – Telimar.
The winners of the relegation playoffs semifinals will keep their places in the league for the next season, and the losing teams will battle for the last available spot in the 2027 Serie A1
2026 Italian League, Round 26
Brescia – Pro Recco 14:19 (4:6, 2:5, 3:4, 5:4)
Salerno – Trieste 13:17 (4:5, 2:5, 1:2, 6:5)
Savona – Iren Genova Quinto 16:13 (4:3, 5:2, 3:4, 4:4)
Ortigia – Telimar 20:18 (5:5, 5:4, 5:3, 5:6)
Florentia – De Akker 18:14 (5:5, 3:3, 4:2, 6:4)
Roma Vis Nova – Posillipo 12:8 (5:1, 3:0, 3:3, 1:4)
Olympic Roma – Canottieri Naples 16:9 (3:2, 6:3, 4:3, 3:1)
- Pro Recco 26 – 78
- Brescia 26 – 72
- Savona 26 – 65
- Posillipo 26 – 45
- Trieste 26 – 44
- Quinto 26 – 38
- De Akker 26 – 35
- Roma Vis Nova 26 – 33
- Olympic Roma 26 – 29
- Canottieri Napoli 26 – 28
- Ortigia 26 – 24
- Telimar 26 – 23
- Salerno 26 – 18
- Florentia 26 – 14
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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
