# 2023–24 LEN Challenger Cup

The 2023–24 LEN Challenger Cup was the 2nd edition of a water polo competition organised by the Ligue Européenne de Natation (LEN). It acts as the third tier, below the LEN Champions League and the LEN Euro Cup. The reigning champions are GS Apollon Smyrnis, but they won't defend their title due to their involvement in this season's Champions League and Euro Cup.
Galatasaray won the competition, beating Slovenian side, Triglav Kranj, in the final. They become the first men's water polo team from Turkey to win a European title.

## Format

This is the first season under the new changes made by LEN. 19 teams are grouped into 4 pools, three with five clubs, and one with four clubs. The pools are held by one of the clubs. The top 2 from every pool advances to the quarter-finals, followed by semi-finals and finals.

## Rankings

Only teams below the top 12 can enter the competition.
| Rank | Association | Points | Teams |
| 1 | Italy | 118,765 | 0 |
| 2 | Hungary | 91,047.5 | 0 |
| 3 | Spain | 75,387.5 | 0 |
| 4 | Serbia | 68,902.5 | 0 |
| 5 | Greece | 64,375 | 0 |
| 6 | Croatia | 56,065 | 0 |
| 7 | France | 47,207.5 | 0 |
| 8 | Germany | 41,660 | 0 |
| 9 | Romania | 19,800 | 0 |
| 10 | Montenegro | 17,700 | 0 |
| 11 | Georgia | 11,245 | 0 |
| 12 | Russia | 10,490 | 0 |
| 13 | Netherlands | 5,005 | 0 |
| Rank | Association | Points | Teams |
| 14 | Turkey | 4,807.5 | 3 |
| 15 | Slovakia | 1,870 | 1 |
| 16 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1,415 | 1 |
| 17 | Portugal | 1,385 | 3 |
| 18 | Switzerland | 1,210 | 2 |
| 19 | Slovenia | 1,160 | 1 |
| 20 | Israel | 860 | 0 |
| 21 | Poland | 635 | 0 |
| 22 | Denmark | 560 | 0 |
| 23 | Lithuania | 515 | 1 |
| 24 | Malta | 435 | 1 |
| 24 | Ukraine | 435 | 0 |
| Rank | Association | Points | Teams |
| NR | Belgium | 0 | 1 |
| NR | Bulgaria | 0 | 1 |
| NR | Cyprus | 0 | 1 |
| NR | Finland | 0 | 1 |
| NR | Great Britain | 0 | 2 |

## Teams

The team were announced on 8 September 2023. Starting this season, no countries ranked in the top 12 of the LEN men's club rankings can take part in this tournament.
Participating teams :
| Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois | VK Banja Luka | KVT Komodor | APOEL Nicosia |
| Cetus Espoo | Polytechnic Water Polo Club | City Of Manchester Water Polo Club | EVK Zaibas |
| Valletta | Vitória Sport Clube | Clube Fluvial Portuense | Sporting Clube De Portugal |
| KVP Novaky | Triglav Kranj | SC Kreuzlingen | Carouge Natation |
| Galatasaray | ODTU Sport Club | Enka Istanbul | |
* ↑ Valletta is actually the Maltese national team, but is playing under the name Valletta.

## Schedule
### Rounds and dates

| Phase | Round | Round date |
| Qualification round | | 19–22 October 2023 |
| Quarter-finals | First leg | 25 November 2023 |
| Quarter-finals | Second leg | 9 December 2023 |
| Semi-finals | First leg | 9 March 2024 |
| Semi-finals | Second leg | 23 March 2024 |
| Final | First leg | 6 April 2024 |
| Final | Second leg | 27 April 2024 |

## Qualification round
### Draw

The draw was on 11 September 2023. H indicates which club is hosting the groups. Teams in bold advanced to the quarter-finals. The seeding was decided by as follows:
* The new LEN club rankings.
* LEN country club rankings.
* LEN men's national team rankings.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 | Pot 5 |
| Vitória Sport Clube Galatasaray (H) Enka Istanbul Carouge Natation | Triglav Kranj VK Banja Luka KVP Novaky EVK Zaibas | Valletta (H) ODTU Sport Club Clube Fluvial Portuense (H) Sporting Clube De Portugal | SC Kreuzlingen Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois (H) KVT Komodor Polytechnic Water Polo Club | City Of Manchester Water Polo Club Cetus Espoo APOEL Nicosia |

### Group A

Held in Porto, Portugal
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | KRE | TRI | VIT | FLU | APO |
| 1 | SC Kreuzlingen | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 59 | 36 | +23 | 12 | Quarter-finals | — | 10–9 | — | — | — |
| 2 | Triglav Kranj | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 47 | 34 | +13 | 6 | Quarter-finals | — | — | 10–8 | — | 18–5 |
| 3 | Vitória Sport Clube | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 48 | 45 | +3 | 6 | | 10–12 | — | — | — | 18–14 |
| 4 | Clube Fluvial Portuense (H) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 39 | 51 | −12 | 6 | | 8–21 | 11–10 | 9–12 | — | 11–8 |
| 5 | APOEL Nicosia | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 36 | 63 | −27 | 0 | | 9–16 | — | — | — | — |
* 1 2 3 Head-to-head goal difference: Triglav Kranj +1, Vitoria Sport Clube +1, Clube Fluvial Portuense –2. Head-to-head result: Triglav Kranj 10–8 Vitoria Sport Clube.

### Group B

Held in Mouscron, Belgium
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | CAR | DAU | MAN | ODT | BAN |
| 1 | Carouge Natation | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 59 | 34 | +25 | 11 | Quarter-finals | — | — | 11–10 | 20–9 | 20–7 |
| 2 | Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois (H) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 69 | 36 | +33 | 10 | Quarter-finals | 11–12 | — | 16–14 | 20–7 | 25–7 |
| 3 | City Of Manchester Water Polo Club | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 60 | 42 | +18 | 6 | | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | ODTU Sport Club | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 45 | 69 | −24 | 3 | | — | — | 8–13 | — | 21–16 |
| 5 | VK Banja Luka | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 37 | 89 | −52 | 0 | | — | — | 7–23 | — | — |
* ↑ Match ended 8–8, Carouge Natation won 4–3 on penalties

### Group C

Held in Istanbul, Turkey
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | GAL | NOV | POL | SPO |
| 1 | Galatasaray (H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 21 | +37 | 9 | Quarter-finals | — | 14–7 | 17–8 | 27–6 |
| 2 | KVP Novaky | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 33 | 28 | +5 | 6 | Quarter-finals | — | — | — | 15–6 |
| 3 | Polytechnic Water Polo Club | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 25 | 32 | −7 | 3 | | — | 8–11 | — | — |
| 4 | Sporting Clube De Portugal | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 51 | −35 | 0 | | — | — | 4–9 | — |

### Group D

Held in Valletta, Malta
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ZAI | VAL | ENK | CET | KOM |
| 1 | EVK Zaibas | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 64 | 35 | +29 | 9 | Quarter-finals | — | — | 8–11 | 22–8 | — |
| 2 | Valletta (H) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 67 | 33 | +34 | 9 | Quarter-finals | 11–15 | — | 14–10 | 21–5 | 21–3 |
| 3 | Enka Istanbul | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 68 | 26 | +42 | 9 | | — | — | — | 22–1 | 25–3 |
| 4 | Cetus Espoo | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 36 | 74 | −38 | 3 | | — | — | — | — | 22–9 |
| 5 | KVT Komodor | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 20 | 87 | −67 | 0 | | 5–19 | — | — | — | — |
* 1 2 3 Head-to-head goal difference: EVK Zaibas +1, Valletta 0, Enka Istanbul –1.

## Knockout stage
### Draw

The draw took place on 24 October in Barcelona. 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 previous round could not be drawn against each other.
| Seeded | Unseeded |
| SC Kreuzlingen Carouge Natation Galatasaray EVK Zaibas | Triglav Kranj Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois KVP Novaky Valletta |

### Bracket

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois | 7 | 7 | 14 | | | | | | | | |
| EVK Zaibas | 17 | 18 | 35 | | | | | | | | |
| EVK Zaibas | 17 | 18 | 35 | EVK Zaibas | 8 | 9 | 17 | | | | |
| | | | | Galatasaray | 9 | 12 | 21 | | | | |
| Valletta | 6 | 12 | 18 | Galatasaray | 9 | 12 | 21 | | | | |
| Galatasaray | 10 | 15 | 25 | | | | | | | | |
| Galatasaray | 10 | 15 | 25 | | | | | Galatasaray | 14 | 19 | 33 |
| | | | | | | | | Triglav Kranj | 6 | 13 | 19 |
| Triglav Kranj | 17 | 12 | 29 | | | | | | | | | Triglav Kranj | 6 | 13 | 19 |
| Carouge Natation | 7 | 14 | 21 | | | | | | | | |
| Carouge Natation | 7 | 14 | 21 | Triglav Kranj | 11 | 10 | 21 | | | | |
| | | | | SC Kreuzlingen | 10 | 10 | 20 | | | | |
| KVP Novaky | 15 | 11 | 26 | SC Kreuzlingen | 10 | 10 | 20 | | | | |
| SC Kreuzlingen | 14 | 13 | 27 | | | | | | | | |

### Quarter-finals

| 25 November 2023 20:30 | Report | Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois | 7–17 | EVK Zaibas | Mouscron, Belgium Referees: Peter Radic (SVK), Luis Santos (POR) |
| Mouscron, Belgium Referees: Peter Radic (SVK), Luis Santos (POR) |||
| 25 November 2023 20:30 | Report | Croquet 2 | Goals | Bakulo 4 | Mouscron, Belgium Referees: Peter Radic (SVK), Luis Santos (POR) |
| 9 December 2023 19:00 | Report | EVK Zaibas | 18–7 | Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois | Elektrėnai, Lithuania Referees: Massimo Castrilli (SUI), Rok Vehovec (SLO) |
| Elektrėnai, Lithuania Referees: Massimo Castrilli (SUI), Rok Vehovec (SLO) |||
| 9 December 2023 19:00 | Report | Bakulo, Jonkus 4 | Goals | Lukacs 2 | Elektrėnai, Lithuania Referees: Massimo Castrilli (SUI), Rok Vehovec (SLO) |
EVK Zaibas won 35–14 on aggregate.
| 25 November 2023 19:00 | Report | Valletta | 6–10 | Galatasaray | Gzira, Malta Referees: Alessandro Severo (ITA), Tomi Kavcic (SLO) |
| Gzira, Malta Referees: Alessandro Severo (ITA), Tomi Kavcic (SLO) |||
| 25 November 2023 19:00 | Report | Galea, Gialanze 2 | Goals | Caner 3 | Gzira, Malta Referees: Alessandro Severo (ITA), Tomi Kavcic (SLO) |
| 9 December 2023 17:30 | Report | Galatasaray | 15–12 | Valletta | Istanbul, Turkey Referees: Erik Kolar (SVK), Philip Uhlig (GER) |
| Istanbul, Turkey Referees: Erik Kolar (SVK), Philip Uhlig (GER) |||
| 9 December 2023 17:30 | Report | Caner 4 | Goals | Cachia, Gialanze 3 | Istanbul, Turkey Referees: Erik Kolar (SVK), Philip Uhlig (GER) |
Galatasaray won 25–18 on aggregate.
| 2 December 2023 20:00 | Report | Triglav Kranj | 17–7 | Carouge Natation | Kranj, Slovenia Referees: Karel Dvoracek (CZE), Erkan Turkkan (TUR) |
| Kranj, Slovenia Referees: Karel Dvoracek (CZE), Erkan Turkkan (TUR) |||
| 2 December 2023 20:00 | Report | Lah 4 | Goals | Blary, Roscio 2 | Kranj, Slovenia Referees: Karel Dvoracek (CZE), Erkan Turkkan (TUR) |
| 9 December 2023 19:15 | Report | Carouge Natation | 14–12 | Triglav Kranj | Carouge, Switzerland Referees: Radosław Koryzna (POL), Boris Margeta (SLO) |
| Carouge, Switzerland Referees: Radosław Koryzna (POL), Boris Margeta (SLO) |||
| 9 December 2023 19:15 | Report | Blary 7 | Goals | Justin 4 | Carouge, Switzerland Referees: Radosław Koryzna (POL), Boris Margeta (SLO) |
Triglav Kranj won 29–21 on aggregate.
| 25 November 2023 19:00 | Report | KVP Novaky | 15–14 | SC Kreuzlingen | Novaky, Slovakia Referees: Massimo Angileri (MLT), Nerijus Papaurelis (LTU) |
| Novaky, Slovakia Referees: Massimo Angileri (MLT), Nerijus Papaurelis (LTU) |||
| 25 November 2023 19:00 | Report | Mihal, Tisaj 4 | Goals | Geiser, Pleyer 3 | Novaky, Slovakia Referees: Massimo Angileri (MLT), Nerijus Papaurelis (LTU) |
| 9 December 2023 20:00 | Report | SC Kreuzlingen | 13–11 | KVP Novaky | Kreuzlingen, Switzerland |
| Kreuzlingen, Switzerland |||
| 9 December 2023 20:00 | Report | Pleyer 6 | Goals | Bielik 3 | Kreuzlingen, Switzerland |
SC Kreuzlingen won 27–26 on aggregate.

### Semi-finals

| 9 March 2024 19:00 | Report | EVK Zaibas | 8–9 | Galatasaray | Elektrėnai, Lithuania Referees: Rik Evers (NED), Gernot Haentschel (GER) |
| Elektrėnai, Lithuania Referees: Rik Evers (NED), Gernot Haentschel (GER) |||
| 9 March 2024 19:00 | Report | Gostautas, Pumputis 2 | Goals | Acar, Naipoglu 2 | Elektrėnai, Lithuania Referees: Rik Evers (NED), Gernot Haentschel (GER) |
| 23 March 2024 19:00 | Report | Galatasaray | 12–9 | EVK Zaibas | Istanbul, Turkey Referees: Daniele Bianco (ITA), Tomislav Copic (CRO) |
| Istanbul, Turkey Referees: Daniele Bianco (ITA), Tomislav Copic (CRO) |||
| 23 March 2024 19:00 | Report | Krstic 4 | Goals | Jelača 5 | Istanbul, Turkey Referees: Daniele Bianco (ITA), Tomislav Copic (CRO) |
Galatasaray won 21–17 on aggregate
| 9 March 2024 18:00 | Report | Triglav Kranj | 11–10 | SC Kreuzlingen | Kranj, Slovenia Referees: Rajmund Fodor (HUN), Jakov Blaskovic (CRO) |
| Kranj, Slovenia Referees: Rajmund Fodor (HUN), Jakov Blaskovic (CRO) |||
| 9 March 2024 18:00 | Report | Paunovic 3 | Goals | Pleyer 3 | Kranj, Slovenia Referees: Rajmund Fodor (HUN), Jakov Blaskovic (CRO) |
| 23 March 2024 20:00 | Report | SC Kreuzlingen | 10–10 | Triglav Kranj | Kreuzlingen, Switzerland Referees: David Gomez (ESP), Stanko Ivanovski (MNE) |
| Kreuzlingen, Switzerland Referees: David Gomez (ESP), Stanko Ivanovski (MNE) |||
| 23 March 2024 20:00 | Report | Herzog, Pleyer 4 | Goals | Cerar, Troppan 3 | Kreuzlingen, Switzerland Referees: David Gomez (ESP), Stanko Ivanovski (MNE) |
Triglav Kranj won 21–20 on aggregate

### Final

| 6 April 2024 18:00 | Report | Galatasaray | 14–6 | Triglav Kranj | Istanbul, Turkey Referees: Rik Evers (NED), Sinisa Matijasevic (MNE) |
| Istanbul, Turkey Referees: Rik Evers (NED), Sinisa Matijasevic (MNE) |||
| 6 April 2024 18:00 | Report | Destici 5 | Goals | Justin 2 | Istanbul, Turkey Referees: Rik Evers (NED), Sinisa Matijasevic (MNE) |
| 27 April 2024 20:00 | Report | Triglav Kranj | 13–19 | Galatasaray | Kranj, Slovenia Referees: Radoslaw Koryzna (POL), Hendrik Schopp (GER) |
| Kranj, Slovenia Referees: Radoslaw Koryzna (POL), Hendrik Schopp (GER) |||
| 27 April 2024 20:00 | Report | Rajlic, Stromajer 3 | Goals | Naipoglu 4 | Kranj, Slovenia Referees: Radoslaw Koryzna (POL), Hendrik Schopp (GER) |
Galatasaray won 33–19 on aggregate
* 2023–24 LEN Challenger Cup Champions
* Galatasaray First title