2024–25 LEN Champions League

For the equivalent women's tournament, see 2024–25 LEN Women's Champions League.

LEN Champions League

2024–25
The National Pool Complex in Valletta will host the final four.
Tournament information
Sport	Water polo
Dates	Qualification round: 12–15 September 2024 Main Round: 8 October – 4 December 2024 Quarter-finals round: 4 February – 14 May 2025 Final four: 30 May 2025–1 June 2025
Teams	Competition proper: 16 Total: 30 (from 13 countries)
Website	Official website
Tournament statistics
Matches played	108

The 2024–25 LEN Champions League is the 62nd edition of the newly renamed European Aquatics's premier competition for men's water polo clubs. FTC-Telekom are the defending champions.

Format

After one qualification round, sixteen teams will qualify for the group stage. Four groups of four will be played., with the top two in each group will make the quarter-finals round (also a group stage). The team that finish third and fourth will compete in the 2024–25 LEN Euro Cup knockout stage. The remaining eight teams in the quarter-finals round will play a further six matches, with the top two in each group making the final four.[1][2]

Rankings

The top 11 best ranked countries in the new rankings are allowed to have their national champion go directly into the main round, as long as they meet requirements.[3]

Rank[3] Association Points Teams 1 Italy 110,260 3 2 Hungary 84,492.5 3 Spain 71,732.5 4 Serbia 69,815 5 Greece 68,857.5 6 Croatia 57,210 7 France 45,620 2 8 Germany 33,042.5 9 Romania 17,087.5 3 10 Montenegro 14,977.5 2 11 Georgia 12,407.5 1 12 Turkey 7,245 13 Russia 5,162.5 0 14 Switzerland 3,685 15 Netherlands 3,280

Rank Association Points Teams 16 Slovakia 3,180 0 17 Portugal 2,972.5 18 Slovenia 2,960 19 Lithuania 1,877.5 20 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1,790 1 21 Great Britain 1,720 0 22 Belgium 1,310 23 Malta 1,310 24 Israel 860 25 Denmark 560 26 Finland 560 27 Bulgaria 370 28 Cyprus 370 29 Poland 317.5

Teams

Alongside the 11 domestic champions, the defending champions also get a spot in the main round. In the event that the Champions League defending champions won their national league, the runners-up of the national league will take the vacant spot. In this season, as FTC-Telekom are the reigning champions, Hungary's spot was given to the Hungarian runners-up, A-Híd Vasas Plaket. After the abrupt withdrawal of the Italian champions, Pro Recco, due to financial reasons,[4][5] RN Savona, who placed second, takes their place in the Main round.[6] Also, despite finishing fourth, CC Ortigia took Italy's third spot in the tournament.[7] Croatia also saw a team withdrawing with Primorje EB Rijeka, who placed third, giving up their spot. The replacement was HAVK Mladost Zagreb, who finished fourth.[8]

Main round

Jadran Split (1st)	CN Marseille (1st)	Dinamo Tbilisi (1st)	Waspo'98 Hannover (1st)
Olympiacos Piraeus (1st)	FTC-Telekom ^CL (1st)	A-Híd Vasas Plaket (2nd)	RN Savona (2nd)
Primorac Kotor (1st)	Steaua București (1st)	Novi Beograd (1st)	Zodiac Atlètic-Barceloneta (1st)

Qualification round

VK Banja Luka (1st)	Jug AO Dubrovnik (2nd)	HAVK Mladost Zagreb (4th)	Pays d'Aix Natation (3rd)
Spandau 04 (2nd)	NC Vouliagmeni (2nd)	AC PAOK (3rd)	BVSC-Zugló (3rd)
AN Brescia (3rd)	CC Ortigia (4th)	Jadran Herceg Novi (2nd)	CSM Oradea (2nd)
Dinamo București (3rd)	Radnički Kragujevac (2nd)	VK Šabac (3rd)	Astrapool Sabadell (2nd)
CN Barcelona (3rd)	Enka Istanbul (1st)

Round and draw dates

Schedule

Phase	Round	Round date
Qualification round		12–15 September 2024
Main round	Matchday 1	8–9 October 2024
	Matchday 2	15–16 October 2024
	Matchday 3	29–30 October 2024
	Matchday 4	12–13 November 2024
	Matchday 5	19–20 November 2024
	Matchday 6	3–4 December 2024
Quarter-finals round	Matchday 1	4–5 February 2025
	Matchday 2	25–26 February 2025
	Matchday 3	18–19 March 2025
	Matchday 4	1–2 April 2025
	Matchday 5	22–23 April 2025
	Matchday 6	13–14 May 2025
Final Four	Semifinals	30 May 2025
	Final	1 June 2025

Qualification round

Main article: 2024–25 LEN Champions League qualification round

The group winners qualify for the main round, while everyone else drops down to the Euro Cup qualifiers.

Draw

The draw was on 13 August 2024 in Zagreb, Croatia.[9] H indicates which clubs is hosting a group. Teams in bold advanced to the main round.

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
AN Brescia Jug AO Dubrovnik (H) NC Vouliagmeni Astrapool Sabadell (H)	Spandau 04 CC Ortigia CN Barcelona Radnički Kragujevac (H)	VK Šabac Jadran Herceg Novi CSM Oradea (H) HAVK Mladost Zagreb BVSC-Zugló	Enka Istanbul Pays d'Aix Natation VK Banja Luka Dinamo București AC PAOK

Group A

12–15 September 2024, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		JAD	JUG	BAR	DIN	BAN
1	Jadran Herceg Novi	4	4	0	0	0	78	33	+45	12	Main round		—	—	14–10	15–8	35–3
2	Jug AO Dubrovnik (H)	4	3	0	0	1	65	32	+33	9			12–14	—	14–9	15–8	24–1
3	CN Barcelona	4	2	0	0	2	70	44	+26	6			—	—	—	18–12	33–4
4	Dinamo București	4	1	0	0	3	58	55	+3	3			—	—	—	—	—
5	VK Banja Luka	4	0	0	0	4	15	122	−107	0			—	—	—	7–30	—

Source: European Aquatics
(H) Host

Group B

13–15 September 2024, Kragujevac, Serbia

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		RAD	ZUG	MLA	VOU
1	Radnički Kragujevac (H)	3	3	0	0	0	33	30	+3	9	Main round		—	10–9	9–8	14–13
2	BVSC-Zugló	3	2	0	0	1	40	32	+8	6			—	—	—	17–9
3	HAVK Mladost Zagreb	3	1	0	0	2	32	29	+3	3			—	13–14	—	—
4	NC Vouliagmeni	3	0	0	0	3	28	42	−14	0			—	—	6–11	—

Source: European Aquatics
(H) Host

Group C

12–15 September 2024, Oradea, Romania

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ORA	SPA	BRE	PAOK	ENK
1	CSM Oradea (H)	4	3	1	0	0	53	36	+17	11	Main round		—	8–7	14–13[a]	—	—
2	Spandau 04	4	3	0	0	1	43	36	+7	9			—	—	—	12–10	15–11
3	AN Brescia	4	2	0	1	1	51	36	+15	7			—	7–9	—	15–4	—
4	AC PAOK	4	1	0	0	3	33	48	−15	3			8–11	—	—	—	11–10
5	Enka Istanbul	4	0	0	0	4	38	62	−24	0			8–20	—	9–16	—	—

Source: European Aquatics
(H) Host

1. Match ended 7–7, CSM Oradea won 7–6 on penalties.

Group D

13–15 September 2024, Sabadell, Spain

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		AST	SAB	ORT	PAY
1	Astrapool Sabadell (H)	3	3	0	0	0	48	25	+23	9	Main round		—	14–9	17–11	17–5
2	VK Šabac	3	2	0	0	1	39	35	+4	6			—	—	14–13	—
3	CC Ortigia	3	1	0	0	2	39	43	−4	3			—	—	—	15–12
4	Pays d'Aix Natation	3	0	0	0	3	25	48	−23	0			—	8–16	—	—

Source: European Aquatics
(H) Host

Main round

Main article: 2024–25 LEN Champions League main round

Jadran Split

Marseille

Dinamo Tbilisi

Waspo'98 Hannover

Olympiacos

Budapest

Savona

Kotor

Jadran HN

Steaua

Oradea

Novi Beograd

Radnički

Barceloneta

Sabadell

Budapest teams
FTC-Telekom
Vasas

class=notpageimage|

Location of teams of the 2024–25 LEN Champions League group stage.
Red: Group A; Blue: Group B; Yellow: Group C; Green: Group D

The top two from each group make the quarter-finals round. The bottom two from each group drops down to the Euro Cup eighth-finals.

Teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 2 points for a penalty shootout win, 1 point for a penalty shootout loss, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings:

• Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
• Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
• Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
• Goal difference in all group matches;
• Goals scored in all group matches.

This season, 11 of the 16 clubs from last season are present. RN Savona return to the Champions League for the first time in 18 years. For the first time since 2010–11, Primorac Kotor will participate. After 13 years away, A-Híd Vasas Plaket qualified. Waspo'98 Hannover comes back after a one season absence. Of the teams who progressed from qualification, Radnički Kragujevac and CSM Oradea return after being absent for three and eleven years respectively.

For the first time ever, Romania will be represented by two clubs in the group stage, while Montenegro will boast two clubs in the group stage for the first time since 2011–12. Overall, a total of 11 countries are present in the group stage.

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		NOV	ORA	STE	HAN
1	Novi Beograd	6	6	0	0	0	75	51	+24	18	Advance to Quarter-finals		—	12–10	11–7	10–8
2	CSM Oradea	6	2	2	0	2	79	83	−4	10			9–15	—	19–18[a]	10–9
3	Steaua București	6	1	1	2	2	77	86	−9	7	Transfer to Euro Cup		8–15	19–20[b]	—	13–12[c]
4	Waspo'98 Hannover	6	0	0	1	5	57	68	−11	1			9–12	10–11	9–12	—

Source: European Aquatics

1. Match ended 11–11, CSM Oradea won 8–7 on penalties
2. Match ended 13–13, CSM Oradea won 7–6 on penalties
3. Match ended 8–8, Steaua București won 5–4 on penalties

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		FTC	JAD	RAD	DIN
1	FTC-Telekom	6	6	0	0	0	92	42	+50	18	Advance to Quarter-finals		—	18–9	16–4	16–7
2	Jadran Split	6	3	1	0	2	76	69	+7	11			10–12	—	15–13[a]	12–5
3	Radnički Kragujevac	6	2	0	1	3	51	72	−21	7	Transfer to Euro Cup		5–12	11–14	—	8–6
4	Dinamo Tbilisi	6	0	0	0	6	44	80	−36	0			7–18	10–16	9–10	—

Source: European Aquatics

1. Match ended 10–10, Jadran Split won 5–3 on penalties

Group C

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BAR	MAR	JAD	VAS
1	Zodiac Atlètic-Barceloneta	6	6	0	0	0	100	56	+44	18	Advance to Quarter-finals		—	19–14	18–7	18–7
2	CN Marseille	6	3	0	0	3	69	67	+2	9			9–12	—	13–11	13–9
3	Jadran Herceg Novi	6	2	0	0	4	61	73	−12	6	Transfer to Euro Cup		8–16	3–9	—	17–9
4	A-Híd Vasas Plaket	6	1	0	0	5	54	88	−34	3			10–15	13–11	6–14	—

Source: European Aquatics

Group D

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		OLY	SAV	AST	KOT
1	Olympiacos Piraeus	6	3	2	0	1	91	68	+23	13	Advance to Quarter-finals		—	9–10	15–11	20–19[a]
2	RN Savona	6	3	1	1	1	74	69	+5	12			11–14[b]	—	10–12	11–9
3	Astrapool Sabadell	6	1	1	1	3	75	84	−9	6	Transfer to Euro Cup		8–15	13–14[c]	—	15–16
4	Primorac Kotor	6	1	0	2	3	79	98	−19	5			9–18	12–18	14–16[d]	—

Source: European Aquatics

1. Match ended 12–12, Olympiacos Piraeus won 8–7 on penalties
2. Match ended 11–11, Olympiacos Piraeus won 3–0 on penalties
3. Match ended 11–11, RN Savona won 3–2 on penalties
4. Match ended 11–11, Astrapool Sabadell won 5–3 on penalties

Quarter-finals round

Main article: 2024–25 LEN Champions League Quarter-finals round

The four group winners and four group runners-up were drawn into two groups, with each one containing two group winners and two group runners-up. The top two teams in each group advanced to the Final Four.

Draw

The draw took place in Zagreb on 11 December. The seeded and unseeded clubs consist of the teams that finished first and second in the previous round respectively. The only restriction was that clubs from the same group in the Main round could not be drawn against each other.[10]

Seeded	Unseeded
Novi Beograd FTC-Telekom Zodiac Atlètic-Barceloneta Olympiacos Piraeus	CSM Oradea Jadran Split CN Marseille RN Savona

Teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 2 points for a penalty shootout win, 1 point for a penalty shootout loss, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings:

• Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
• Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
• Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
• Goal difference in all group matches;
• Goals scored in all group matches.

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		NOV	OLY	JAD	MAR
1	Novi Beograd	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Final four		—	–	–	–
2	Olympiacos Piraeus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			–	—	–	–
3	Jadran Split	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			–	–	—	–
4	CN Marseille	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			–	–	–	—

Source: European Aquatics

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BAR	FTC	ORA	SAV
1	Zodiac Atlètic-Barceloneta	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Final four		—	–	–	–
2	FTC-Telekom	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			–	—	–	–
3	CSM Oradea	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			–	–	—	–
4	RN Savona	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			–	–	–	—

Source: European Aquatics

Final Four

The National Pool Complex in Valletta will host the final four.

Main article: 2024–25 LEN Champions League Final four

On 18 January 2024, the final four was held in the capital of Malta, Valletta, at the National Pool Complex.[11][12][13]

Awards

Total 7 of the Season
	LW	Loren Fatović (Jadran Split)	CF	Kostas Kakaris (Olympiacos Piraeus)	RW	Dušan Mandić (FTC-Telekom)
	LD	Álvaro Granados (Zodiac Atlètic-Barceloneta)	CB	Andro Bušlje (Olympiacos Piraeus)	RD	Gergő Zalánki (Olympiacos Piraeus)
	GK	Marko Bijač (Jadran Split)
		Soma Vogel (FTC-Telekom)

See also

• 2024–25 LEN Euro Cup
• 2024–25 LEN Challenger Cup
• 2024 LEN Super Cup
• 2024–25 LEN Women's Champions League
• 2024–25 LEN Women's Euro Cup
• 2024–25 LEN Women's Challenger Cup
• 2024 LEN Women's Super Cup

References

1. Spencer-Boyce, James (June 2, 2023). "Changes to European competitions reinforced in Belgrade".
2. https://www.len.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/REGULATIONS-EUROPEAN-AQUATICS-WATER-POLO-CLUB-COMPETITIONS-1.pdf
3. "Men Clubs Country Ranking - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. August 18, 2024.
4. "Pro Recco, giocatori liberi e addio Champions: l'obiettivo è la salvezza". July 17, 2024.
5. "Il futuro incerto della squadra di pallanuoto più vincente d'Europa". Il Post. July 17, 2024.
6. Sicco, Laura (August 8, 2024). "Pallanuoto: La BPER Rari Nantes Savona ottiene la Wild Card e accederà direttamente ai Gironi di Champions League".
7. "L'Ortigia parteciperà alla Champions League 2024/25: sorteggio domani alle ore 14.00". Circolo Canottieri Ortigia 1928. August 12, 2024.
8. "Žapci u kvalifikacije za Ligu prvaka u Kragujevac". havk-mladost.hr.
9. "Champions League draw – excitements guaranteed - European Aquatics®". www.len.eu. August 13, 2024.
10. https://www.len.eu/champions-league-and-euro-cup-draws-set-up-thrillers/
11. "Malta will host European Aquatics Men's Champions League Final Four the next three years - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. January 18, 2024.
12. Spencer-Boyce, James (January 18, 2024). "Malta to host the next three Champions League finales".
13. https://tvmnews.mt/sport/sliema-se-jikkompetu-fic-challenger-cup-tal-irgiel-u-tan-nisa-sirens-jikkompetu-ftan-nisa-biss/

External links

• Official website
• 2023–24 Croatian League Table
• 2023–24 German League Table
• 2023–24 Hungarian League Table
• 2023–24 Montenegrin League Table
• 2023–24 Serbian League Table