Ferencvaros won’t win its third consecutive title in the Champions League.
Barceloneta defeated the outgoing champion in the first semifinal of the Final Four in Malta after a penalty shootout – 13:11 (9:9)
No best scorer, no problem for Barceloneta. The Spaniards are without their best scorer, Vince Vigvari, who got injured ten days ago, but they managed to defeat the big rival thanks to a different approach- playing excellently in defense, especially in the first half.
After the first 16 minutes, Barceloneta led 6:3. However, Ferencvaros came back into the game. The Hungarians took the lead twice in the final minutes – 8:7 and 9:8. They were very close to a victory. But one of the heroes of Barceloneta’s win, Alessandro Velotto, scored his fourth goal with 35 seconds to go, leveling at 9:9.
Barceloneta’s players made no mistake in the penalty shootout and went to the final.
The Spanish champion will play in the final for the first time since 2014, when it played in the gold-medal match for the first time in history and won the trophy, beating Radnicki.
2026 Champions League Final Four, Semifinal 1
(quarters 3:2, 3:1, 1:3, 2:3, PSO 4:1)
Barceloneta: Velotto 4, Biel 3, Echenique 1, Tahull 1.
Ferencvaros: Manhercz 2, Fekete 2, Mandic 1, Di Somma 1, Argyropoulos 1, Vigvari 1, Jansik 1.
Penalty shootout: Manhercz 0:1, Sanahuja 1:1; Mandic hit the post, Echenique 2:1; Fekete – Aguirre saved, Biel 3:1; Vamos 3:2; Valls 4:2)
Both defenses were strong in the first quarter, indicating that the first semifinal would be a low-scoring affair. There were not many scoring opportunities, but Barceloneta managed to keep Ferencvaros away from their goal while creating slightly more chances than their opponents. Velotto put the Spaniards ahead 1:0 with a man-up goal in the 3rd minute. Ferencvaros responded only 2 minutes and 52 seconds before the end of the first quarter when Fekete equalized. Following that, Echenique and Di Somma exchanged goals. Velotto then extended the Spaniards’ lead to 3:2 with a long-distance shot just six seconds before the quarter ended.
Barceloneta kept the momentum in the second quarter. After a few nice saves by Unai Aguirre, Unai Biel scored with an extra player, doubling the Spaniards’ advantage (4:2). In the 14th minute, the same player widened the gap to three, finding the net from seven meters, 6:3. His team kept that solid advantage until the end of the first half.
Both teams had five man-up opportunities in the first 16 minutes. Barceloneta scored three goals from 6 on 5, and Ferencvaros’s conversion of powerplay shots was 0/5.
The Hungarins continued struggling with extra player shots. Still, midway through the third period, Ferencvaros managed to reduce the gap to one with goals from Mandic and Vigvari (counterattack) within 25 seconds for 5:6. In the 22nd minute, Ferencvaros scored their first 6-on-5 goal, after having missed six opportunities. Manhercz made it 6:6, bringing the Hungarians back into the game. Unai Biel responded with a powerplay goal in the 24th minute. Unai Aguirre posted another great save in the dying seconds of the third period, and Barceloneta had a 7:6 lead at the last break.
But the Spaniards lost their rhythm, missed too many chances in the second half, and Ferencvaros, which improved its powerplay conversion, started taking control. Manhercz opened the fourth period, leveling at 7:7. In the 27th minute, Argyropouls got on the scoreboard with a powerplay goal, putting Ferencvaros in front for the first time in the match – 8:7. Barceloneta forced an exclusion in its next possession. Tahull made no mistake and leveled at 8:8.
Gergo Fekete made it 9:8 in the 30th minute. A minute later, Ferencvaros had a man-up chance to double its advantage and seal a victory, but Aguirre saved Fekete’s shot (it was his 13th save in the game). The Spaniards then earned a man-up. Velotto quickly converted it to 9:9. Ferencvaros failed to retake the lead. The match entered a shootout, where only two players didn’t score – Dusan Mandic and Gergo Fekete.
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