Novi Beograd and Radnicki, the clubs are fierce rivals not only in the water, will face off in the final of the Serbian League playoffs.
They will meet in the final for the fifth time in the last six years and the third consecutive year.
While Radnicki, the 2021 and 2025 champion, cruised to two wins in the semifinals against Crvena Zvezda, Novi Beograd (the three-time champion – 2022, 2023, 2024) had to dig deep to reach the series of matches for the title.
Novi Beograd earned a hard-fought away win over Sabac, 11:10 in the third semifinal match and qualified for the final of the Serbian League for the 6th time in a row (in 2022 and 2024 it beat Radnicki, and in 2023 it won the title defeating Crvena Zvezda)
Novi Beograd opened the semifinal series with a 13:9 victory. Sabac took revenge in the game in Belgrade (19:18).
The third match was similar to the one in Belgrade, with several turns and a lot of tension. The decision came in the final minute. Luka Gladovic scored a winner for Novi Beograd with 13 seconds to go.
Sabac led 2:0 in the first quarter, and Novi Beograd got on the scoreboard just a second before the first break. The visitors added three unanswered goals in the second quarter and went ahead 4:2. Late into the second period, Sabac cut its deficit (3:4). Novi Beograd opened the second half well, quickly taking a 6:3 lead, but Sabac was able to come back and reduce the gap to only one goal before the final quarter (6:7).
Midway through the fourth period, Barac put Sabac in front – 9:8, but Novi Beograd responded with two goals, regaining the lead. The home team’s captain, Mihajlo Repanovic, equalized at 10:10 with 66 seconds left on the clock. After Gladovic’s aforementioned goal, Sabac didn’t have much time to equalize and failed. Milan Glusac saved a shot from Aljosa Macic in the dying seconds.
Vasilije Martinovic led Novi Beograd with five goals, and Gladovic and Sulc added two each. Stojanovic scored three goals for Sabac, while Korac and Kovacevic found the net twice each.
Just like in the game in Belgrade, there were a number of personal fouls (Sabac – 25, Novi Beograd – 17). Three yellow cards were shown to coaches. During the middle break, a few home-team fans from the stands approached the visiting team’s bench, but security personnel intervened to prevent an incident.
The final (a best-of-five series) will take place on May 16, 24, 27, and, if needed, on May 30 and June 3. Radnicki will be the host in the first, third, and fifth games.
Sabac will play against Crvena Zvezda for 3rd place.
2026 Serbian League, playoffs
Semifinals (best of three), 3rd game
Sabac Elixir – Novi Beograd Tehnomanija 10:11 (2:1, 1:3, 3:3, 4:4) – the score in the series 1:2
5th-place playoffs (best of three), 1st game
Partizan – Valis Vega 24:8 (7:3, 7:2, 6:1, 4:2)
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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
