2021–22 LEN Champions League

The 2021–22 LEN Champions League was the 59th edition of LEN's premier competition for men's water polo clubs.

2021–22 LEN Champions League
LeagueLEN Champions League
SportWater Polo
Duration22 September 2021–4 June 2022
Season MVPItaly Francesco Di Fulvio (Pro Recco)
Top scorerHungary Gergő Zalánki 42 goals (Pro Recco)
Final 8
ChampionsItaly Pro Recco (10th title)
  Runners-upSerbia Novi Beograd
Finals MVPItaly Giacomo Cannella (Pro Recco)
Champions League seasons

Teams

Preliminary round
Spandau 04 CN Marseille Steaua București
Waspo 98 Hannover Dinamo Tbilisi Zodiac CNA Barceloneta
Novi Beograd Olympiacos
Radnički Kragujevac FTC Telekom
Jug AO Dubrovnik Pro Recco
Qualification round II
Mladost Zagreb Szolnok VSC CN Barcelona
CN Noisy-le-Sec AN Brescia Crvena zvezda
NC Vouliagmeni CSM Oradea
Qualification round I
Jadran Herceg Novi OSC Budapest Sintez Kazan
Primorac Kotor RN Savona CN Terrassa
Jadran Split EVK Žaibas Enka Istanbul
Montpellier AZS Warsaw
Apollon Smyrnis Vitória Guimarães

Schedule

The schedule of the competition is as follows.[1]

PhaseRound1st leg2nd leg
Qualifying roundsQualification round I24–26 September 2021
Qualification round II8–10 October 2021
Qualification round III16 October 202120 October 2021
Preliminary roundRound 126/27 October 2021
Round 29/10 November 2021
Round 319/20 November 2021
Round 430 November/1 December 2021
Round 514/15 December 2021
Round 621/22 December 2021
Round 711/12 January 2022
Round 825/26 January 2022
Round 98/9 February 2022
Round 1022/23 February 2022
Round 1129/30 March 2022
Round 128/9 April 2022
Round 1319/20 April 2022
Round 1410/11 May 2022
Final 8Quarterfinals2 June 2022
Semifinals3 June 2022
Final4 June 2022

Qualifying rounds

Qualification round I

The draw took place in Šibenik during the women's LEN European Junior Water Polo Championship.[2] The top four ranked sides will advance from both groups.

Group A

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification RNS MON CNT PRI VIT AZS
1 RN Savona54018841+4712Round II9–1013–1211–926–629–4
2 Montpellier53206041+191111–1117–9
3 CN Terrassa53117138+331012–1211–8
4 Primorac Kotor52126843+25718–622–4
5 Vitória Guimarães51043884−4630–10DSQ17–13
6 AZS Warsaw500526104−7800–10DSQ5–26
Source: LEN

Group B

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification OSC JST JHN APO SIN ESK ŽAI
1 OSC Budapest66009455+3918Round II14–915–815–1217–11
2 Jadran Split65019763+341514–1118–6
3 Jadran Herceg Novi64028555+30129–1210–1514–812–615–525–9
4 Apollon Smyrnis630378780911–1918–1521–6
5 Sintez Kazan62047572+3612–6
6 Enka Istanbul61056087−27311–229–12
7 EVK Žaibas600643122−7906–217–199–18
Source: LEN

Qualification round II

The top two ranked sides from each group advance.[3][4]

Group C

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification SZO RNS NCV JHN
1 Szolnok VSC32103734+37Round III13–1313–1211–9
2 RN Savona303034340311–11
3 NC Vouliagmeni30213334−1210–10
4 Jadran Herceg Novi30213133−2211–11
Source: LEN

Group D

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification CZB MZG APO MON
1 Crvena zvezda32013324+96[a]Round III14–811–7
2 Mladost Zagreb32012825+36[a]9–89–1010–7
3 Apollon Smyrnis32013337−46[a]
4 Montpellier30032836−8014–15
Source: LEN
Notes:

Group E

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification BRE OSC NLS CNT
1 AN Brescia32103528+77Round III10–10
2 OSC Budapest32102824+478–7
3 CN Noisy-le-Sec31023132−1311–167–1013–6
4 CN Terrassa30032030−1007–9
Source: LEN

Group F

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification JST CNB PRI ORA
1 Jadran Split33004219+239Round III8–416–7
2 CN Barcelona32013324+9614–1015–6
3 Primorac Kotor31022536−1138–6
4 CSM Oradea30032041−2108–18
Source: LEN

Qualification round III

The winners in the third round will continue in the preliminary round. The losers in the third round will be transferred in the Euro Cup quarter-finals.[5]

Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Jadran Split 21–10 Mladost Zagreb14–77–3
Szolnok VSC 18–25 OSC Budapest6–1512–10
RN Savona 19–20 Crvena zvezda8–911–11
CN Barcelona 26–33 AN Brescia13–1713–16

Preliminary round

Location of teams of the 2021–22 LEN Champions League preliminary round.

The draw for the 2021–22 LEN Champions League preliminary round took place in Ostia, Italy.[6] The upcoming season is planned with the usual pre-pandemic round-robin format with 14 rounds contested on a home-and-away basis. The top three teams in group A and the top four teams in group B will advance to the Final 8. Also, Novi Beograd will participate in the Final 8 as the host of tournament. The matchdays will be from 26 October 2021 to 15 June 2022.[7]

Group A

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification BRE FTC NBG BAR OLY RKG JST DTB
1 AN Brescia14932162133+2930Final 88–813–1614–128–712–86–516–8
2 FTC Telekom14842154138+16288–611–107–179–913–1214–816–10
3 Novi Beograd[a]14833188149+3927[b]11–1111–1411–99–1216–1014–719–7
4 Zodiac CNA Barceloneta14833173121+5227[b]12–1212–1212–129–513–711–618–4
5 Olympiacos14626146131+15205–88–1012–128–411–712–1020–9
6 Radnički Kragujevac14419139159−20138–1411–1111–133–910–813–1014–7
7 Jadran Split143011141173−32914–159–712–1713–1512–169–815–13
8 Dinamo Tbilisi142012130229−99611–197–148–177–2014–1313–1712–11
Source: LEN
Notes:

Group B

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification REC CNM JUG HAN OSC BER CZB STE
1 Pro Recco141301200100+10039Final 811–810–0w/o18–317–1414–913–723–5
2 CN Marseille141103170119+51337–1312–1313–1013–912–710–0w/o15–10
3 Jug AO Dubrovnik141013174143+313111–89–1413–711–1212–917–1114–7
4 Waspo 98 Hannover14635150180−30217–207–1414–1412–1210–914–1113–12
5 OSC Budapest14617151168−17198–149–1410–1512–170–10w/o13–914–8
6 Spandau 04143110133148−15106–117–138–1611–1111–1211–1210–8
7 Crvena zvezda142111133178−45712–148–1113–1912–158–1112–910–10
8 Steaua București141112111186−7543–146–148–109–109–155–1611–8
Source: LEN

Final 8

Location of the 2021–22 LEN Champions League Final 8
 
QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal
 
          
 
2 June
 
 
AN Brescia12
 
3 June
 
Waspo 98 Hannover5
 
AN Brescia13
 
2 June
 
Novi Beograd14
 
CN Marseille10
 
4 June
 
Novi Beograd16
 
Novi Beograd16
 
2 June
 
Pro Recco (PSO)17
 
Pro Recco11
 
3 June
 
Zodiac CNAB10
 
Pro Recco10
 
2 June
 
FTC Telekom7Third place game
 
FTC Telekom14
 
4 June
 
Jug AO Dubrovnik13
 
AN Brescia12
 
 
FTC Telekom14
 
5th–8th place bracket
 
5th–8th place semifinalsFifth place game
 
      
 
3 June
 
 
Waspo 98 Hannover11
 
4 June
 
CN Marseille9
 
Waspo 98 Hannover10
 
3 June
 
Zodiac CNAB12
 
Zodiac CNAB12
 
 
Jug AO Dubrovnik9
 
Seventh place game
 
 
4 June
 
 
CN Marseille15
 
 
Jug AO Dubrovnik13
2021–22 LEN Champions League
Champions

Pro Recco
10th title

Marco Del Lungo, Francesco Di Fulvio, Luka Loncar, Gergő Zalánki, Aaron Younger, Alessandro Velotto, Nicholas Presciutti, Gonzalo Echenique, Aleksandar Ivović, Benjamin Thomas, Matteo Aicardi, Stefano Luongo, Tommaso Negri

Head coachSandro Sukno


Awards

Season MVPTop ScorerFinals MVP
Francesco Di Fulvio (Pro Recco) Gergő Zalánki 42 goals (Pro Recco) Giacomo Cannella (Pro Recco)
Total 7 of the Season
[8]LW Francesco Di Fulvio

(Pro Recco)

CF

Duško Pijetlović(Novi Beograd)

RW Gergő Zalánki

(Pro Recco)

LD Álvaro Granados (Novi Beograd)CB Aleksandar Ivović (Pro Recco)RD Dušan Mandić (Novi Beograd)
GK Marco Del Lungo (Pro Recco)

See also

References

Notes