While the top spot and all four Final Eight places are set to be confirmed after Day 11 in Group A, in the other group more excitements are in sight. The big game between the first two seeded sides (Jug v BPM) is the highlight of the round and the desperate race for the last available berth between Olympiacos and Szolnok, winners of the last two editions, will also resume.

Recco is expected to make it 11/11 in this round and that would secure their top spot in Group A, regardless of the outcome of the other games and the results of the remaining three rounds.

It’s also almost sure that the next three ranked teams will qualify for the F8 as well though their race for second position is wide open after Brescia’s shocking loss in Moscow on Day 10 (Dynamo reserved a mathematical chance to catch up with the top guys but it seems that this is just a late surge from the Russians).

The biggest clash of the day will take place in Barcelona where the Spaniards will try to recover from their bad run in Italy (lost in Brescia then to Recco) but it’s going to be a demanding task against Ferencvaros. In the autumn the two met just days after the Hungarians’ Super Cup triumph and Barceloneta managed to earn a fine win. Now the Spaniards would need some boost again, while Ferencvaros arrives from a less vitalising experience as their unbeaten run in the domestic league came to an end against Euro Cup semi-finalist OSC.

Brescia also looks for some fast treatment after they fell in Moscow. Eger seems to be an ideal partner for this as the other Hungarian club in this group seems to put the focus on their home tasks and gently let their Champions League campaign go.

In Group B the battle is just heating up as more showdowns between the top four teams are scheduled. In this round group-leader Jug and second seeded BPM will face off in Busto. Though Jug enjoys a 6-point lead but this can be halved on Wednesday and the Croats still have a tough visit to Szolnok so they cannot give away points for free. At the same time Busto seems to be in safe distance from Szolnok, but the Italians face the toughest schedule, now they take on Jug and they have appointments in Szolnok and in Piraeus on the last two days.

After edging out arch-rival Szolnok in a thrilling match in the last round, Olympiacos has another mountain to climb in its way. They travel to Zagreb where Mladost is eager to halt its losing streak which has got embarrassingly long (counts five matches now). The title-holder Greeks cannot afford losing the momentum they gained by beating Szolnok. The Hungarians try to hang on till the last moment, they now have a relatively easier task, though they drew with Spandau in Berlin on Day 4 – one of the draws from the earlier rounds which might cost them the F8 spot this season.

Final Eight-host Hannover tries to improve its not too impressive score-line against Jadran but the Croats had a better spell recently, winning two of their last three matches.

Group A
19.15 Atletic Barceloneta (ESP) v FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN)
20.30 Steaua Bucharest B. A. (ROU) v Pro Recco (ITA)
20.30 AN Brescia (ITA) v ZF Eger (HUN)
20.30 Crvena Zvezda (SRB) v Dynamo Moscow (RUS)

Standings:
1. Recco 30, 2. Brescia 20, 3. Barceloneta 19, 4. Ferencvaros 19, 5. Eger 12, 6. Dynamo 12, 7. Steaua 6, 8. Zvezda 0

Group B
18.30 Szolnoki Dozsa (HUN) v Spandau 04 (GER)
18.30 Waspo 98 Hannover (GER) v Jadran Split (CRO)
19.00 BPM Sport Management Busto (ITA) v Jug CO Dubrovnik (CRO)
20.30 Mladost Zagreb (CRO) v Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE)

Standings:
1. Jug 28, 2. BPM Busto 22, 3. Olympiacos 18, 4. Szolnok 15, 5. Jadran 9, 6. Mladost 8, 7. Spandau 7, 8. Hannover 6

Please also see the other file attached featuring quotes from the coaches and players of the respective teams.

For free live streaming of each game, live scoring, stats and play-by-play action visit www.len.eu or download the Champions League App or our brand new Champions League Virtual Lounge!

Group A

19.15 Atletic Barceloneta (ESP) v FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN)
Recent form:
FTC: WDLWW
Barceloneta: DWWLL
Last match:
Barceloneta: 3-8 v Recco (away)
FTC: 12-9 v Eger (away)
Day 4:
FTC v Barceloneta 8-9

Chus Martin, head coach, Barceloneta:
“For me Ferencvaros is one of the favourites to win the Champions League. They’ve got some top quality players and we’ll have to be really on the ball if we want to win this game. We’re on level with them on points in the classification and both teams still need some extra points in order to get direct classification for the Final 8. We’re looking to play a good match at home in front of our supporters and to come away with the three points.”

Dani Lopez, goalie, Barceloneta:
“A very important game for us against one of the best teams in Europe. If we win, we’d be closer to our number one objective of the season, which is to play in the Final 8 again. This is the first of our three remaining home games which we need to use to secure a place in the finals.”

Zsolt Varga, head coach, FTC-Telekom:
“Barceloneta is one of the most tactical team in the Champions League. We lost three points at home against them, we want to regain these three points now.”

Slobodan Nikic, player, FTC-Telekom:
“Coming off a bad game against OSC we are really looking for improving our performance as a team. Barceloneta is a great team, especially at home, therefore we have a tough challenge ahead of us. Although it’ll be a great challenge we are focusing on our game and will give our best effort to win the match against a tough home crowd.”

20.30 Steaua Bucharest B. A. (ROU) v Pro Recco (ITA)
Recent from:
Steaua: LLLLW
Recco: WWWWW
Last match:
Steaua: 9-7 v Zvezda (away)
Recco: 8-3 v Barceloneta (home)
Day 4:
Recco v Steaua 19-7

Iosep Andrei, coach, Steaua:
“We are very excited to receive the most prestigious team and coach in the history of our sport in our pool. It is a great opportunity for our juniors, supporters and all who love water polo to see the best players in the world in person. We hope to have a good day and play at our highest level so the public can enjoy a great water polo spectacle.”

Mihnea Gheorghe, player, Steaua:
“We are aware that Pro Recco is one of the best teams in the League but we want to show once more that we have quality, we have character and we deserve to be in this competition. We will fight until the last second of the game and we will force them to give their best if they want to win in our home.”

Ratko Rudic, coach, Pro Recco:
“By winning this game we would secure our first place mathematically, but beyond this, for us it will be a game like the others in which we want to play well to improve in the wake of the most important matches ahead of us. Our attention against Steaua will be focused on the defensive part; we made some mistakes in the last league game and we can’t afford those happening again.”

20.30 AN Brescia (ITA) v ZF Eger (HUN)
Recent form:
Brescia: DDWWL
Eger: LWWLL
Last match:
Brescia: 6-10 v Dynamo (away)
Eger: 9-12 v FTC (home)
Day 4:
Eger v Brescia 8-11

Alessandro Bovo, head coach:
“We expect a very hard challenge since Eger has a very good trainer and is a well-organised team with high level players. In Eger, the game was a balanced one and our goalkeeper’s performance made the difference. Now we’re more and more nearing the end of preliminary round and Wednesday’s match is very important: we have to give our best and gain three points.”

Norbert Dabrowski, head coach, Eger:
“We know that they are a really strong team. At home, they can beat anyone. Their defeat in Moscow does not mean anything.”

Angelos Vlachopoulos, player, Eger:
“It will be a very difficult game for us against Brescia. They play tough in defence in their home and we have to take care of their counter attacks too. If we don’t receive easy goals we can stay in the game!”

Gergely Csurka
LEN Media Manager

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