Visiting teams recorded victories in the first four games of the 2027 Champions League.
The most exciting match took place in Podgorica, where Sabadell defeated Jadran 17:16. It was an encounter between the contenders for 2nd place in Group A, so the Spaniards can be very satisfied with this win.
Olympiacos beat Waspo Hannover 17:10 in he same group.
Pro Recco secured a victory against Brescia in the Italian derby of Group B, as anticipated. However, the 11-time European champion had to work hard to earn the points. Recco trailed by three goals early in the second quarter, 2:5, and was down by two at halftime, 4:6. Nevertheless, the visitors dominated the third period and finished the match with no drama, winning 16:13.
Radnicki convincingly defeated Oradea in Romania, 14:9
2027 Champions League, Group Stage, Round 1
GROUP A
(Quarters 4:6, 5:3, 4:4, 3:4)
Jadran: Gojkovic 5, Da. Radovic 4, Merkulov 2, Stupar 2, Trtovic 1, Ukropina 1, Vranes 1.
Sabadell: F. Valera 4, Cabanas 3, Vergara 3, R. Valera 2, De Toro 1, Larsen 1.
Sabadell emerged victorious from a game with a number of twists and turns, earning the points that could prove crucial in the battle for a place in the Top 8.
The first half was a rollercoaster. Sabadell dictated the pace in the opening quarter, taking a three-goal lead on several occasions (4:1, 5:2, 6:3). Jadran woke up towards the end of the period, keeping Sabadell scoreless for almost seven minutes while going on a 4:0 run to take an 8:6 lead.
Jadran still held a two-goal advantage (9:7) with 36 seconds remaining in the first half, but Sabadell managed to find the net twice before the break. Fran Valera, who played for Jadran last season, levelled the score at 9:9 from a counterattack.
The top scored Gojkovic (B) between Vergara and F. Valera Photo by Vuk Ilic
The twists and turns continued in the second half. Three and a half minutes from the end, Jadran regained the lead for the final time when Strahinja Gojkovic found the net from distance to make it 15:14. Sabadell responded with two quick goals to move back in front.
Gojkovic scored his fifth goal of the game to halve Jadran’s deficit, but the Spaniards protected their slim advantage in the remaining 90 seconds. Then, in the very last second, Danilo Stupar had a chance to level from seven meters. His shot hit the crossbar. The ball appeared to bounce down and possibly cross the goal line, but the referees ruled that it was not a goal.
(quarters 3:5, 4:4, 1:2, 2:6)
Waspo 98:Macan 2, Schipper 2, Basic 2, Gansen 2, Vukicevic 1, Chiru 1
Olympiacos:Angyal 3, Fountoulis 3, Alafragkis 3,Genidnounias 2, Gkillas 2, Loncar 1 Spachits 1
Olympiacos collected three away points, but the Germans demonstrated that nobody should underestimate them. The visitors were missing one of their big reinforcements, Loren Fatovic (suspended after a red card in the 2026 Euro Cup final), but got off to a good start, building a 6:3 lead early in the second quarter. However, the Germans netted four straight goals in less than four minutes, going ahead – 7:6.
Photo: Waspo 98 Hannover
Olympiacos’s experienced players responded in the same way, with a 4:0 run to rebuild a 3-goal lead. In the 18th minute, Genidounias made it 10:7. The Greeks maintained a 3-goal difference until the end of the period. Two minutes into the fourth quarter, Olympiacos added two more goals. That 7:1 series, from 6:7 to 13:8, was crucial to the Greeks’ win. In the rest of the game, they stretched the margin to seven.
GROUP B
(Quarters 2:2, 4:2, 3:7, 4:5)
Brescia: Del Basso 3, Ferrero 3, Leinweber 3, Giri 2,Guerratto 1, Cutajar 1.
Pro Recco: Granados 4, Cannella 3, Zalanki 2, Iocchi Gratta 2, Condemi 2, Presciutti 1, Buric 1, Carnesecchi 1.
Pro Recco took the lead twice in the first quarter (1:0 and 2: 1), but Brescia leveled on both occasions. The hosts, powered by the support from the stands, shone in the second period. They scored three quick goals (Del Basso and Leinweber two) to earn a 5:2 advantage in the 11th minute. Midway through the period, Recco started coming back in life with Granados’s nice goal from a distance (3:5). Immediately after, Leinweber failed to convert a penalty shot at the other end of the pool. Late in the first half, Iocchi Gratta cut the gap to 4:5 on a power play, but 20 seconds later, young Maltese Jayden Cutajar closed the second period, making it 6:4.
Giacomo Cannella (Pro Recco) Photo by Slobodan Sandic
The second half was a completely different game. Recco netted three goals within the first 45 seconds of the third period (Buric and Cannella 2), overturning a 4:6 deficit to a 7:6. A little bit later, Pressciutti made it 8:6. Brescia cut its deficit to a goal twice during the third quarter (7:8 and 9:10). Still, it never fully recovered from that quick 0:4 shock. However, Iocch Gratta beat the buzzer, converting a man-up to make it 11:9 before the last break. The visitors, led by Alvaro Granados, increased their lead to three (13:10 and 14:11) in the fourth period. Brescia never give up, but Recco controlled the game.
(Quarters 1:5, 3:3, 1:2, 4:4)
Oradea: Fulea 3, Kholod 2, Belenyesi 2, Negrean 1, Gusarov 1.
Radnicki: N. Jaksic 4, Lukic 3, Dedovc 2, Prlainovic 1, Pijetlovic 1, S.Rasovic 1, Vrlic 1, Vapenski 1
Radnicki’s explosive start and a 4:0 lead in the 6th minute set the tone of game. The Serbs controlled the game. Midway through the second period, Oradea halved its deficit (3:5), just to see Radnicki reestablish a 4-goal advantage with goals from Jaksic and Dedovic (7:3). From that point, the visitors’ lead never fell below three goals .
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: total-waterpolo.com
