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

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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 Sport Clube

Schedule

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

Phase Round 1st leg 2nd leg
Qualifying rounds Qualification round I 24–26 September 2021
Qualification round II 8–10 October 2021
Qualification round III 16 October 2021 20 October 2021
Preliminary round Round 1 26/27 October 2021
Round 2 9/10 November 2021
Round 3 19/20 November 2021
Round 4 30 November/1 December 2021
Round 5 14/15 December 2021
Round 6 21/22 December 2021
Round 7 11/12 January 2022
Round 8 25/26 January 2022
Round 9 8/9 February 2022
Round 10 22/23 February 2022
Round 11 29/30 March 2022
Round 12 8/9 April 2022
Round 13 19/20 April 2022
Round 14 10/11 May 2022
Final 8 Quarterfinals 2 June 2022
Semifinals 3 June 2022
Final 4 June 2022

Qualifying rounds

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Qualification round I

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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

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification   RNS   MON   CNT   PRI   VIT   AZS
1   RN Savona 5 4 0 1 88 41 +47 12 Round II 9–10 13–12 11–9 26–6 29–4
2   Montpellier 5 3 2 0 60 41 +19 11 11–11 17–9
3   CN Terrassa 5 3 1 1 71 38 +33 10 12–12 11–8
4   Primorac Kotor 5 2 1 2 68 43 +25 7 18–6 22–4
5   Vitória Sport Clube 5 1 0 4 38 84 −46 3 0–10DSQ 17–13
6   AZS Warsaw 5 0 0 5 26 104 −78 0 0–10DSQ 5–26
Source: LEN

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification   OSC   JST   JHN   APO   SIN   ESK   ŽAI
1   OSC Budapest 6 6 0 0 94 55 +39 18 Round II 14–9 15–8 15–12 17–11
2   Jadran Split 6 5 0 1 97 63 +34 15 14–11 18–6
3   Jadran Herceg Novi 6 4 0 2 85 55 +30 12 9–12 10–15 14–8 12–6 15–5 25–9
4   Apollon Smyrnis 6 3 0 3 78 78 0 9 11–19 18–15 21–6
5   Sintez Kazan 6 2 0 4 75 72 +3 6 12–6
6   Enka Istanbul 6 1 0 5 60 87 −27 3 11–22 9–12
7   EVK Žaibas 6 0 0 6 43 122 −79 0 6–21 7–19 9–18
Source: LEN

Qualification round II

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

Group C

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification   SZO   RNS   NCV   JHN
1   Szolnok VSC 3 2 1 0 37 34 +3 7 Round III 13–13 13–12 11–9
2   RN Savona 3 0 3 0 34 34 0 3 11–11
3   NC Vouliagmeni 3 0 2 1 33 34 −1 2 10–10
4   Jadran Herceg Novi 3 0 2 1 31 33 −2 2 11–11
Source: LEN

Group D

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification   CZB   MZG   APO   MON
1   Crvena zvezda 3 2 0 1 33 24 +9 6[a] Round III 14–8 11–7
2   Mladost Zagreb 3 2 0 1 28 25 +3 6[a] 9–8 9–10 10–7
3   Apollon Smyrnis 3 2 0 1 33 37 −4 6[a]
4   Montpellier 3 0 0 3 28 36 −8 0 14–15
Source: LEN
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c Crvena zvezda 2 Pts, +5 GD; Mladost Zagreb 2 Pts, 0 GD; Apollon Smyrnis 2 Pts, −5 GD

Group E

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification   BRE   OSC   NLS   CNT
1   AN Brescia 3 2 1 0 35 28 +7 7 Round III 10–10
2   OSC Budapest 3 2 1 0 28 24 +4 7 8–7
3   CN Noisy-le-Sec 3 1 0 2 31 32 −1 3 11–16 7–10 13–6
4   CN Terrassa 3 0 0 3 20 30 −10 0 7–9
Source: LEN

Group F

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification   JST   CNB   PRI   ORA
1   Jadran Split 3 3 0 0 42 19 +23 9 Round III 8–4 16–7
2   CN Barcelona 3 2 0 1 33 24 +9 6 14–10 15–6
3   Primorac Kotor 3 1 0 2 25 36 −11 3 8–6
4   CSM Oradea 3 0 0 3 20 41 −21 0 8–18
Source: LEN

Qualification round III

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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 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Jadran Split   21–10   Mladost Zagreb 14–7 7–3
Szolnok VSC   18–25   OSC Budapest 6–15 12–10
RN Savona   19–20   Crvena zvezda 8–9 11–11
CN Barcelona   26–33   AN Brescia 13–17 13–16

Preliminary round

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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

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification BRE FTC NBG BAR OLY RKG JST DTB
1   AN Brescia 14 9 3 2 162 133 +29 30 Final 8 8–8 13–16 14–12 8–7 12–8 6–5 16–8
2   FTC Telekom 14 8 4 2 154 138 +16 28 8–6 11–10 7–17 9–9 13–12 14–8 16–10
3   Novi Beograd[a] 14 8 3 3 188 149 +39 27[b] 11–11 11–14 11–9 9–12 16–10 14–7 19–7
4   Zodiac CNA Barceloneta 14 8 3 3 173 121 +52 27[b] 12–12 12–12 12–12 9–5 13–7 11–6 18–4
5   Olympiacos 14 6 2 6 146 131 +15 20 5–8 8–10 12–12 8–4 11–7 12–10 20–9
6   Radnički Kragujevac 14 4 1 9 139 159 −20 13 8–14 11–11 11–13 3–9 10–8 13–10 14–7
7   Jadran Split 14 3 0 11 141 173 −32 9 14–15 9–7 12–17 13–15 12–16 9–8 15–13
8   Dinamo Tbilisi 14 2 0 12 130 229 −99 6 11–19 7–14 8–17 7–20 14–13 13–17 12–11
Source: LEN
Notes:
  1. ^ Novi Beograd is already qualified as the Final 8 host.
  2. ^ a b Novi Beograd 23–21 (Agg.) Zodiac CNA Barceloneta

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification REC CNM JUG HAN OSC BER CZB STE
1   Pro Recco 14 13 0 1 200 100 +100 39 Final 8 11–8 10–0w/o 18–3 17–14 14–9 13–7 23–5
2   CN Marseille 14 11 0 3 170 119 +51 33 7–13 12–13 13–10 13–9 12–7 10–0w/o 15–10
3   Jug AO Dubrovnik 14 10 1 3 174 143 +31 31 11–8 9–14 13–7 11–12 12–9 17–11 14–7
4   Waspo 98 Hannover 14 6 3 5 150 180 −30 21 7–20 7–14 14–14 12–12 10–9 14–11 13–12
5   OSC Budapest 14 6 1 7 151 168 −17 19 8–14 9–14 10–15 12–17 0–10w/o 13–9 14–8
6   Spandau 04 14 3 1 10 133 148 −15 10 6–11 7–13 8–16 11–11 11–12 11–12 10–8
7   Crvena zvezda 14 2 1 11 133 178 −45 7 12–14 8–11 13–19 12–15 8–11 12–9 10–10
8   Steaua București 14 1 1 12 111 186 −75 4 3–14 6–14 8–10 9–10 9–15 5–16 11–8
Source: LEN

Final 8

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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 Telekom7 Third 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 coach Sandro Sukno


Awards

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Season MVP Top Scorer Finals 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

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References

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  1. ^ "LEN club competition programme season 2021–2022" (PDF). LEN.com.
  2. ^ "Champions League, Euro Cup – Qualification Round 1". LEN.com.
  3. ^ "Water Polo Champions League – Qualification Round II". LEN.com.
  4. ^ "Champions League, Qualification Round II". LEN.com.
  5. ^ "Water Polo Champions League – Qualification Round III , Draw". LEN.com.
  6. ^ "Champions League 2021-2022 Draw Main Round". LEN.com. Archived from the original on 2021-10-08. Retrieved 2021-09-05.
  7. ^ "LEN Champions League preliminary round calendar season 2021-2022" (PDF). LEN.com.
  8. ^ Curcic, Ivan (2023-06-05). "LEN Champions League "Team of the Tournament"". Total Waterpolo. Retrieved 2023-06-05.

Notes

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