2022–23 LEN Champions League

The 2022–23 LEN Champions League was the 60th edition of LEN's premier competition for men's water polo clubs. The champions were Pro Recco of Italy, who defeated Novi Beograd of Serbia 14–11 in the Final in Belgrade.

2022–23 LEN Champions League
LeagueLEN Champions League
SportWater Polo
Duration29 September 2022 – 3 June 2023
Season MVPHungary Gergő Zalánki (Pro Recco)
Top scorerSpain Alvaro Granados 46 goals (Novi Beograd)
Final 8
ChampionsItaly Pro Recco (11th title)
  Runners-upSerbia Novi Beograd
Finals MVPSpain Álvaro Granados (Novi Beograd)
Champions League seasons

Qualified teams

The full list of teams qualified for each stage of the 2022–23 EHF European League was announced on 12 July 2022.[1]

Group stage
Jug AO Dubrovnik CN Marseille Dinamo Tbilisi Waspo'98 Hannover
Spandau 04 Berlin Olympiacos Piraeus FTC-Telekom Budapest Pro Recco CL
Novi Beograd Radnički Kragujevac Zodiac Atlètic-Barceloneta Astrapool Sabadell
Qualification round II
Jadran Split CN Noisy-le-Sec ASC Duisburg NC Vouliagmeni
Genesys OSC-Budapest AN Brescia Šabac Barcelona
Qualification round I
Invictum Sarajevo Banja Luka HAVK Mladost Zagreb KVIK Kastrup
EN Tourcoing Panionios GSS A-Híd VasasPlaket ASA Tel Aviv
RN Savona EVK Žaibas Jadran Herceg Novi Primorac Kotor
ZPC Het Ravijn Vitória Guimarães Steaua Bucharest CSM Oradea
KVP Nováky Galatasaray Enka Istanbul

Schedule

The schedule of the competition is as follows.[2]

PhaseRound1st leg2nd leg
Qualifying roundsQualification round I29 September–2 October 2022
Qualification round II14–16 October 2022
Qualification round III29 October 20225 November 2022
Preliminary roundRound 115/16 November 2022
Round 229/30 November 2022
Round 313/14 December 2022
Round 420/21 December 2022
Round 510/11 January 2023
Round 624/25 January 2023
Round 77/8 February 2023
Round 817/18 February 2023
Round 928 February/1 March 2023
Round 1021/22 March 2023
Round 114/5 April 2023
Round 1225/26 April 2023
Round 1312/13 May 2023
Round 1423/24 May 2023
Final 8Quarterfinals31 May 2023
Semifinals1 June 2023
Final3 June 2023

Qualifying rounds

Qualification round I

The draw took place in Split.[3] The top three ranked sides will advance from both groups.

Group A

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification VAS PRI STE HET SAR
1 A-Híd VasasPlaket44007521+5412Qualification round II13–1037–2
2 Primorac Kotor43017635+41914–1136–4
3 Steaua Bucharest42025835+2363–1029–2
4 ZPC Het Ravijn41035349+436–157–1610–1531–3
5 Invictum Sarajevo400411133−1220
Source: LEN

Group B

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification ORA RNS GAL ASA
1 CSM Oradea33003418+169Qualification round II10–712–3
2 RN Savona32014124+17610–6
3 Galatasaray31022925+438–1215–3
4 ASA Tel Aviv30031451−3708–24
Source: LEN

Group C

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification MLA JHN ŽAI ESK NOV
1 HAVK Mladost Zagreb44005623+3312Qualification round II16–616–3
2 Jadran Herceg Novi43015427+2797–912–219–816–8
3 EVK Žaibas42023642−667–1514–6
4 Enka Istanbul40133459−2519–13
5 KVP Nováky40132857−29111–11
Source: LEN

Group D

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification ENT PAN VIT KAS BAN
1 EN Tourcoing440010816+9212Qualification round II10–528–529–441–2
2 Panionios GSS430110220+82921–634–2
3 Vitória Guimarães42025164−136
4 KVIK Kastrup41033582−4736–1123–8
5 Banja Luka400421135−11402–429–29
Source: LEN

Qualification round II

The top two ranked sides from each group advance.

Group A

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification JST VSC RNS ŠAB STE
1 Jadran Split44005736+2112Round III13–1114–13
2 A-Híd VasasPlaket43015138+1399–8
3 RN Savona42023835+365–1310–8
4 Šabac41034247−534–1317–10
5 Steaua Bucharest40043567−3207–1713–185–15
Source: LEN

Group B

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification CER ORA JHN CNB VIT
1 CN Noisy-le-Sec44005836+2212Round III14–1217–4
2 CSM Oradea42024831+1767–11
3 Jadran Herceg Novi42025642+1469–823–7
4 Barcelona42025446+8613–166–1213–1222–6
5 Vitória Guimarães40042283−6105–21
Source: LEN

Group C

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification OSC NCV ENT PRI
1 Genesys OSC-Budapest32013427+76Round III7–10
2 NC Vouliagmeni32013828+1069–13
3 EN Tourcoing31113331+2413–14
4 Primorac Kotor30122039−1918–142–1510–10
Source: LEN

Group D

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification BRE PAN MLA ŽAI DUI
1 AN Brescia44006523+4212Round III
2 Panionios GSS43014132+994–97–614–8
3 HAVK Mladost Zagreb42024537+869–13
4 EVK Žaibas41034070−3034–259–1610–1417–15
5 ASC Duisburg40043665−2906–187–16
Source: LEN

Qualification round III

The winners in the third round will continue in the preliminary round.

Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Genesys OSC-Budapest 29–18 Panionios GSS17–712–11
CN Noisy-le-Sec 23–26 NC Vouliagmeni11–1712–9
A-Híd VasasPlaket 18–23 AN Brescia10–128–11
Jadran Split 21–14 CSM Oradea9–312–11

Preliminary round

Location of teams of the 2022–23 LEN Champions League preliminary round.

In the regular season, teams will play against each other home and away in a round-robin format. The top four teams in group A and the top three teams in Group B will advance to the Final 8. Also, Novi Beograd will participate in the Final 8 as the host of the tournament. The matchdays will be from 15 November 2022 to 24 May 2023.

Key to colors
Advance to the Final 8Home team winTieAway team win

Group A

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification BAR REC OLY NCV JST RKG DTB HAN
1 Zodiac Atlètic-Barceloneta141301169100+6939Final 85–1110–513–68–618–913–620–5
2 Pro Recco141202192102+90368–910–914–714–721–1220–521–4
3 Olympiacos Piraeus141013175114+61317–99–714–610–713–719–1015–8
4 NC Vouliagmeni14527130156−26177–117–136–1413–129–1012–710–9
5 Jadran Split14527142141+1175–99–138–1310–1010–1021–712–8
6 Radnički Kragujevac14437140175−351510–148–1610–109–911–1311–1013–12
7 Dinamo Tbilisi142012115200−8568–143–139–219–147–1213–811–14
8 Waspo'98 Hannover141013116191−7537–168–117–1611–148–107–128–10
Source: LEN

Group B

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification BRE NBG FTC JUG SAB OSC CNM S04
1 AN Brescia141112169124+4534Final 812–98–414–107–414–615–1314–10
2 Novi Beograd[a]141022178136+423211–914–1312–1216–1117–911–413–8
3 FTC-Telekom Budapest14815148141+72510–614–129–710–1212–119–812–8
4 Jug AO Dubrovnik14446156161−5168–1311–1112–1214–1013–814–911–13
5 Astrapool Sabadell14518131147−161610–146–87–1015–129–813–119–9
6 Genesys OSC-Budapest14347143162−191314–149–1112–169–99–818–139–9
7 CN Marseille14419146162−16135–1313–1713–715–119–610–1014–7
8 Spandau 04 Berlin14329129167−381110–165–1611–1011–1210–117–1111–9
Source: LEN
Notes:

Final 8

31 May–3 June 2023, Belgrade, Serbia.

Location of the 2022–23 LEN Champions League Final 8

Qualified teams

GroupWinnersRunners-upThirdFourth
A Zodiac Atlètic-Barceloneta Pro Recco Olympiacos Piraeus NC Vouliagmeni
B AN Brescia Novi Beograd FTC-Telekom Budapest Jug AO Dubrovnik

Bracket

 
QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal
 
          
 
31 May
 
 
Zodiac CNAB11
 
1 June
 
Jug AO9
 
Zodiac CNAB10
 
31 May
 
Novi Beograd (PSO)12
 
Novi Beograd13
 
3 June
 
Olympiacos11
 
Novi Beograd11
 
31 May
 
Pro Recco14
 
AN Brescia10
 
1 June
 
NC Vouliagmeni11
 
NC Vouliagmeni8
 
31 May
 
Pro Recco12Third place game
 
Pro Recco8
 
3 June
 
FTC-Telekom4
 
Zodiac CNAB (PSO)14
 
 
NC Vouliagmeni13
 


5th–8th place bracket
 
5th–8th place semifinalsFifth place game
 
      
 
1 June
 
 
Jug AO5
 
2 June
 
Olympiacos14
 
Olympiacos9
 
1 June
 
FTC-Telekom4
 
AN Brescia8
 
 
FTC-Telekom9
 
Seventh place game
 
 
2 June
 
 
Jug AO14
 
 
AN Brescia10
2022–23 LEN Champions League
Champions

Pro Recco
11th title

Individual awards

Season MVPTop ScorerFinals MVP
Gergő Zalánki (Pro Recco) Alvaro Granados 46 goals (Novi Beograd) Alvaro Granados (Novi Beograd)
Total 7 of the Season
[4]LW Alvaro Granados

(Novi Beograd)

CF

Dimitrios Nikolaidis(Vouliagmeni)

RW

Gergő Zalánki(Pro Recco)

LD Felipe Perrone (Atlètic-Barceloneta)CB Marko Zuvela (Jug)RD Edoardo Di Soma (Brescia)
GK Marco Del Lungo (Pro Recco)

See also

References