2023–24 LEN Champions League

The 2023–24 LEN Champions League is the 61st edition of LEN's premier competition for men's water polo clubs. Because of the congested schedule, there's a new format this year.[1] Pro Recco are the three time defending champions.

For the equivalent women's tournament, see 2023–24 LEN Women's Champions League.
2023–24 LEN Champions League
LeagueLEN Champions League
SportWater polo
Duration7 September 2023 – 8 June 2024

Format

This season, the format has undergone some changes. After one qualification round (instead of three), sixteen teams will qualify for the group stage. Because of the congested schedule, four groups of four will be played instead of two groups of eight. 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 2023–24 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, which makes a return.[2]

Rankings

Starting this season, LEN also started a club 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.[1][3]

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. Although, the Italian runners-up, AN Brescia, declined the spot because they didn't want to pay the wildcard fee (which was 25,000 Euros), their spot went to the Spanish runners-up, Astrapool Sabadell).

Main round
Croatia Jadran Split (1st) France CN Marseille (1st) Georgia (country) Dinamo Tbilisi (1st) Germany Spandau 04 Berlin (1st)
Greece Olympiacos Piraeus (1st) Hungary FTC-Telekom (1st) Italy Pro Recco CL (1st) Montenegro Jadran Herceg Novi (1st)
Romania Steaua București (1st) Serbia Novi Beograd (1st) Spain Zodiac Atlètic-Barceloneta (1st) Spain Astrapool Sabadell (2nd)
Qualification round
Croatia Jug AO Dubrovnik (2nd) Croatia Primorje Erste Bank Rijeka (3rd) France CN Noisy-le-Sec (2nd) France EN Tourcoing (3rd)
Germany Waspo'98 Hannover (2nd) Germany ASC Duisburg (3rd) Greece NC Vouliagmeni (2nd) Greece GS Apollon Smyrnis (3rd)
Hungary OSC Budapest (2nd) Hungary Endo Plus Service Honvéd (3rd) Italy AN Brescia (2nd) Italy CC Ortigia (3rd)
Montenegro Primorac Kotor (2nd) Romania CSM Oradea (2nd) Romania Dinamo București (3rd) Serbia Crvena zvezda (2nd)
Serbia Radnički Kragujevac (3rd) Spain CN Barcelona (3rd)

Round and draw dates

Schedule

PhaseRoundRound date[4]
Qualification round7–10 September 2023
Main roundMatchday 126–27 September 2023
Matchday 26–7 October 2023
Matchday 317–18 October 2023
Matchday 431 October/1 November 2023
Matchday 521–22 November 2023
Matchday 65–6 December 2023
Quarter-finals roundMatchday 18–9 March 2024
Matchday 219–20 March 2024
Matchday 32–3 April 2024
Matchday 423–24 April 2024
Matchday 53–4 May 2024
Matchday 614–15 May 2024
Final fourSemifinals6 June 2024
Final8 June 2024

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 10 August 2023.[5] The seeding was decided by the new LEN club rankings.[6] H indicates which club is hosting the groups. Teams in bold advanced to the Main round.

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4

Italy AN Brescia
Croatia Jug AO Dubrovnik (H)
Germany Waspo'98 Hannover (H)
Greece NC Vouliagmeni

Hungary OSC Budapest
Italy CC Ortigia
Serbia Radnički Kragujevac (H)
Spain CN Barcelona

Serbia Crvena zvezda
Montenegro Primorac Kotor
France EN Tourcoing
Romania CSM Oradea (H)

France CN Noisy-le-Sec
Greece GS Apollon Smyrnis
Hungary Endo Plus Service Honvéd
Germany ASC Duisburg
Croatia Primorje Erste Bank Rijeka
Romania Dinamo București

Group A

7–10 September 2023, Hannover, Germany

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Serbia CRV Spain BAR Germany HAN Greece APO Hungary HON
1 Serbia Crvena zvezda 4 4 0 0 0 50 32 +18 12 Main round — — — 12–10 —
2 Spain CN Barcelona 4 3 0 0 1 41 42 −1 9 9–14 — — 12–11 9–8
3 Germany Waspo'98 Hannover (H) 4 2 0 0 2 39 47 −8 6 6–14 9–11 — 11–10 13–12
4 Greece GS Apollon Smyrnis 4 1 0 0 3 42 45 −3 3 — — — — 11–10
5 Hungary Endo Plus Service Honvéd 4 0 0 0 4 37 43 −6 0 7–10 — — — —
Source: LEN
(H) Host

Group B

7–10 September 2023, Kragujevac, Serbia

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Italy BRE Serbia RAD France NOI Montenegro KOT Germany DUI
1 Italy AN Brescia 4 4 0 0 0 47 24 +23 12 Main round — — — 11–3 11–4
2 Serbia Radnički Kragujevac (H) 4 2 1 0 1 46 45 +1 8 8–15 — 13–10 17–16[lower-alpha 1] —
3 France CN Noisy-le-Sec 4 2 0 0 2 52 41 +11 6 9–10 — — — —
4 Montenegro Primorac Kotor 4 1 0 1 2 41 49 −8 4 — — 10–16 — 16–10
5 Germany ASC Duisburg 4 0 0 0 4 30 57 −27 0 — 8–13 8–17 — —
Source: LEN
(H) Host
  1. Match ended 12–12, Radnički Kragujevac won 5–4 on penalties

Group C

8–10 September 2023, Oradea, Romania

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Greece VOU Italy ORT Croatia RIJ Romania ORA
1 Greece NC Vouliagmeni 3 3 0 0 0 40 25 +15 9 Main round — 12–8 — —
2 Italy CC Ortigia 3 2 0 0 1 38 33 +5 6 — — 16–14 —
3 Croatia Primorje Erste Bank Rijeka 3 1 0 0 2 36 37 −1 3 12–14 — — —
4 Romania CSM Oradea (H) 3 0 0 0 3 19 38 −19 0 5–14 7–14 7–10 —
Source: LEN
(H) Host

Group D

8–10 September 2023, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Croatia JUG France TOU Hungary OSC Romania DIN
1 Croatia Jug AO Dubrovnik (H) 3 3 0 0 0 47 22 +25 9 Main round — 17–8 14–10 16–4
2 France EN Tourcoing 3 2 0 0 1 32 30 +2 6 — — — —
3 Hungary OSC Budapest 3 1 0 0 2 35 33 +2 3 — 5–10 — 20–9
4 Romania Dinamo București 3 0 0 0 3 21 50 −29 0 — 8–14 — —
Source: LEN
(H) Host

Main round

Location of teams of the 2023–24 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.


Among the teams, 13 return from last season. Steaua București and Crvena zvezda return after a one season absence, while Jadran Herceg Novi return after a two-season absence. They all replaced Waspo'98 Hannover, Radnički Kragujevac and Genesys OSC-Budapest.

In regards to countries, all 9 from last season return, with the inclusion of Romania and Montenegro after one and two-season absences, bringing the number up to 11.

Group A

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Spain SAB Serbia NOV Italy BRE Romania STE
1 Spain Astralpool Sabadell 3 2 0 1 0 28 23 +5 7 Advance to Quarter-finals — 9–10[lower-alpha 1]
2 Serbia Novi Beograd 3 2 0 0 1 42 27 +15 6 10–12 — 19–7
3 Italy AN Brescia 3 1 1 0 1 30 26 +4 5 Transfer to Euro Cup 8–13 —
4 Romania Steaua București 3 0 0 0 3 23 47 −24 0 8–11 8–17 —
Updated to match(es) played on 17 October 2023. Source: LEN Champions League
  1. Match ended 5–5, AN Brescia won 5–4 on penalties

Group B

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Italy PRO Greece OLY Croatia JUG Georgia (country) TBI
1 Italy Pro Recco 3 3 0 0 0 41 24 +17 9 Advance to Quarter-finals — 12–11 15–6
2 Greece Olympiacos Piraeus 3 1 1 0 1 42 30 +12 5 — 16–15[lower-alpha 1]
3 Croatia Jug AO Dubrovnik 3 1 0 1 1 31 31 0 4 Transfer to Euro Cup 7–14 —
4 Georgia (country) Dinamo Tbilisi 3 0 0 0 3 17 46 −29 0 6–19 5–12 —
Updated to match(es) played on 17 October 2023. Source: LEN Champions League
  1. Match ended 12–12, Olympiacos Piraeus won 4–3 on penalties

Group C

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Hungary FTC Croatia SPI Montenegro JAD Serbia CRV
1 Hungary FTC-Telekom 3 3 0 0 0 38 24 +14 9 Advance to Quarter-finals — 13–11 9–7
2 Croatia Jadran Split 3 2 0 0 1 38 36 +2 6 — 16–13
3 Montenegro Jadran Herceg Novi 3 0 1 0 2 25 28 −3 2 Transfer to Euro Cup 10–11 — 21–20[lower-alpha 1]
4 Serbia Crvena zvezda 3 0 0 1 2 27 40 −13 1 6–16 —
Updated to match(es) played on 18 October 2023. Source: LEN Champions League
  1. Match ended 8–8, Jadran Herceg Novi won 13–12 on penalties

Group D

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Spain BAR Germany SPA France MAR Greece VOU
1 Spain Zodiac Atlètic-Barceloneta 3 3 0 0 0 37 24 +13 9 Advance to Quarter-finals — 16–6 9–7
2 Germany Spandau 04 3 2 0 0 1 33 39 −6 6 — 13–10 14–13
3 France CN Marseille 3 1 0 0 2 32 35 −3 3 Transfer to Euro Cup — 15–13
4 Greece NC Vouliagmeni 3 0 0 0 3 37 41 −4 0 11–12 —
Updated to match(es) played on 18 October 2023. Source: LEN Champions League

Quarter-finals round

Group A

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Team 1 Team 2 Team 3 Team 4
1 Team 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Final four —
2 Team 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
3 Team 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
4 Team 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
First match(es) will be played: 8/9 March 2024. Source:

Group B

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Team 1 Team 2 Team 3 Team 4
1 Team 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Final four —
2 Team 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
3 Team 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
4 Team 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
First match(es) will be played: 8/9 March 2024. Source:

Final four

Bracket

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
6 June
 
 
 
 
8 June
 
 
 
 
 
6 June
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Third place
 
 
8 June
 
 
 
 
 
 

See also

References

  1. "Big changes in European water polo club competitions - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. June 2, 2023.
  2. Spencer-Boyce, James (June 2, 2023). "Changes to European competitions reinforced in Belgrade".
  3. "Men Clubs Country Ranking - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. February 20, 2023.
  4. Curcic, Ivan (August 10, 2023). "2024 Men's Champions League: Calendar and schedule".
  5. Curcic, Ivan (August 10, 2023). "Pro Recco starts its new European campaign in group with Olympiacos".
  6. https://www.len.eu/sports/water-polo/men-club-ranking/
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