Radnicki, Marseille, BVSC and Jadran Split advanced to the semifinals of the Euro Cup.
The match between Jadran and Panathinaikos was the most thrilling encounter in today’s second leg of the quarterfinals. Jadran, which had narrowly defeated Panathinaikos in Greece 11:10, never managed to take the lead in front of its home fans. The Croats trailed for most of today’s high-scoring game but managed to secure a 19:19 draw in the dying seconds.
There were many goals in the match in Kragujevac, where Radnicki defeated Primorac 17:15. The crucial difference in this duel was made in the game in Kotor, where the Serbian team recorded a 4-goal win.
The return match between Sabadell and Marseille ended in a 14:14 draw. However, the French went through because of a 17:12 win in their pool.
BVSC beat Oradea convincingly in both matches. After a 14:8 win in Budapest, the Hungarians recorded a 12:7 victory today.
The pairs of the semifinals (April 29 and May 5): Radnicki – Marseille and Jadran – BVSC
2026 Euro Cup, Quarterfinals, Leg 2
Jadran Split – Panathinaikos 19:19 (4:7, 6:5, 5:5, 4:2) – 1st match 10:11
Jadran Split: Marinic Kragic 7, Butic 3 Matkovic 3, Berehulak 3, Fatovic 3.
Panathinaikos: Papasifakis 6, Skoumpakis 5, Gkiouvetsis 3, Papanikolaou 2, Kourovanis 1, Kopelaidis 1, Banicevic 1.
In their first match in Athens, the rivals were evenly matched, with no more than a two-goal difference. However, the game in Split presented a different scenario. Panathinaikos quickly erased the deficit from the first leg and took the lead in the aggregate score. The Greeks shocked Jadran by racing to a 3:0 lead within the first 2 minutes and 40 seconds.
Jadan started recovering quickly. In the 6th minute, the hosts reduced the gap to 4:5. But, the visitors reestablished a 3-goal lead by the end of the first quarter (7:4) and maintained the difference until the middle of the second quarter and the score 11:8. Then Jadran netted two goals in a row, cutting its deficit to 10:11. But, after Jadran’s 10th goal, Dimitrios Skoumpakis converted a man-up. Panathinaikos entered the second half leading 12:10.
Jerko Marinic Kragic, the best scorer of the game, scored from a penalty in the 17th minute, making it 11:12. Panathinaikos quickly went to “+3” again (14:11). Until the end of the third period, the teams traded goals, and the Athens-based side had a 17:15 advantage before the final quarter.
Both teams tightened their defenses after the last break. There were saves and misses at both ends of the pool, but no goals for a few minutes. In the 28th minute, Loren Fatovic scored with an extra player (16:17). Just 33 seconds later, after Jadran’s goalkeeper Marko Bijac saved a shot from Skoumpakis, Fatovic added a goal from a counterattack. The hosts leveled for the first time in the game – 17:17. Skoumpakis and Papasifakis quickly responded with two goals within just 46 seconds, giving Panathinaikos a lead that would secure their spot in the semifinals at 19:17. However, Jadran’s captain, Zvonimir Butic, had the final say. With two minutes remaining, he scored to bring the score to 18:19. Then, just ten seconds before the final buzzer, Butic managed to equalize at 19:19. In the rest of the match, Panathinaikos tried to secure a penalty shootout playing with seven field players in the last 10 seconds, but failed.
Zvonimir Butic (Jadran Split) Photo: VK Jadran Split
The match ended similarly to the first game in Athens. In the first match, Butic was the one who scored a winning goal for Jadran in the very last second.
Radnicki – Primorac 17:15 (3:5, 5:2, 4:4, 5:4) – first game 10:14
Radnicki: N.Jaksic 4, Pijetlovic 3, S.Rasovic 2, Vapenski 2, Randjelovic 1, P.Jaksic 1, Prlainovic 1, Murisic 1, V. Rasovic 1,Dadvani 1.
Primorac: Inaba 4, Vuckovic 4, Vico 2, D.Brguljan 1, S.Cetkovic 1, Vidovic 1, P.Cetkovic 1, Stanojevic 1.
Radnicki secured the victory in the final quarter, and its main weapon was power-play goals. The hosts scored ten goals (including one from a penalty shot) from 11 man-up possessions. Primorac’s conversion was 4 out of 8 man-up shots, and first time it scored two goals from the 5m line.
The Kragujevac-based team took a 3:2 lead in the fourth minute, but Primorac responded strongly – with a 4:0 run and built a 6:3 advantage in the 10th minute. The hosts’ captain, Nikola Jaksic, ended the visitors’ streak with an action goal. Deep into the second period, Radnicki leveled at 6:6. At halftime, the Serbs had an 8:7 lead as Vapenski converted a penalty shot 55 seconds before the end of the third period.
Primorac refound its rhythm after the midway break and gained a two-goal lead in the 20th minute when Yusuke Inaba scored during a 6-on-5 situation. Strahinja Rasovic and Sava Randjelovic quickly leveled the score at 11:11. Viktor Rasovic then put the hosts ahead with a goal during an extra player advantage, making the score 12:11.
Dusko Pijetlovic scored three goals Photo: KVK Radnicki
In the fourth quarter, Radnicki built a 2-goal lead for the first time (14:12 and 15:13). Primorac halved its deficit from a penalty shot on both occasions and leveled at 15:15 when Radnicki was without a goalkeeper (the hosts’ goalkeeper Todorovski committed a personal foul). The most experienced players on the home team, Andrija Prlainovic and Dusko Pijetlovic, scored in the final 50 seconds.
Sabadell – Marseille 14:14 (3:2, 5:5, 2:3, 4:4) – 1st match 12:17
Sabadell: Famea 2, Panerai 2, Barroso 2, Averka 2, Saboya 2, Larsen 2, Cabanas 1,Asensio 1.
Marseille:Crousillat 5, Spaic 2, Drasovic 2, Bouet 2, Vernoux 1, Bodegas 1, Gbadamassi 1.
Sabadell was never close to overcoming a 5-goal deficit from the first match. The hosts’ lead was never bigger than two goals.
Marseille began the match with a 2:0 lead, but Sabadell quickly answered with a 4:0 run, taking a 4:2 lead. In the third quarter, Marseille regained the advantage, going ahead 9:8 and later 10:9. However, late in this period, Sabadell retook control of the game.
Midway through the final period, Cabanas made it 13:11 to revive the Spaniards’ hopes. However, those hopes didn’t last long. Shortly after, Kanstantin Averka was excluded for a violent foul in front of Marseille’s goal, while returning to defense. It happened 04:10 minutes before the final buzzer. Therefore, the hosts played with one fewer man until the end. Ugo Crousillat, the best scorer of the game, converted a penalty shot awarded due to the red card. Immediately after, Famera responded (14:12). But Sabadell didn’t go further. Marseille scored the last two goals in the game, booked its ticket for the semifinals and took revenge for two defeats to Sabadell in the Champions League this season.
Oradea – BVSC 7:12 (0:2, 2:3, 2;4, 3:3) – 1st match 8:14
Oradea: Velkic 3, Negrean 1, Gusarov 1, Vancsik 1, Insinna 1.
BVSC: D. Jansik 2, M.Meszaros 2, Batizi 2, Csapo 1, Shushiashvili 1, Csacsovszky 1, Ekler 1, Szeghalmi 1, Benedek 1.
After bringing a 6-goal advantage from the game in Budapest, BVSC earned a 2:0 lead in the first quarter of the return match in Oradea, and never let the Romanians level the score. Early in the third period, BVSC stretched the margin to five (7:2), killing Oradea’s last hope of a comeback.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: total-waterpolo.com
