# 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. Pro Recco are the three time defending champions.
FTC-Telekom won their second title after triumphing over Pro Recco in the final.

## 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.

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

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

## Round and draw dates
### Schedule

| Phase | Round | Round date |
| Qualification round | | 7–10 September 2023 |
| Main round | Matchday 1 | 26–27 September 2023 |
| Main round | Matchday 2 | 6–7 October 2023 |
| Main round | Matchday 3 | 17–18 October 2023 |
| Main round | Matchday 4 | 31 October/1 November 2023 |
| Main round | Matchday 5 | 21–22 November 2023 |
| Main round | Matchday 6 | 5–6 December 2023 |
| Quarter-finals round | Matchday 1 | 8–9 March 2024 |
| Quarter-finals round | Matchday 2 | 19–20 March 2024 |
| Quarter-finals round | Matchday 3 | 2–3 April 2024 |
| Quarter-finals round | Matchday 4 | 23–24 April 2024 |
| Quarter-finals round | Matchday 5 | 3–4 May 2024 |
| Quarter-finals round | Matchday 6 | 14–15 May 2024 |
| Final Four | Semifinals | 5 June 2024 |
| Final Four | Final | 7 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. The seeding was decided by the new LEN club rankings. H indicates which club is hosting the groups. Teams in bold advanced to the main round.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
| AN Brescia Jug AO Dubrovnik (H) Waspo'98 Hannover (H) NC Vouliagmeni | OSC Budapest CC Ortigia Radnički Kragujevac (H) CN Barcelona | Crvena zvezda Primorac Kotor EN Tourcoing CSM Oradea (H) | CN Noisy-le-Sec GS Apollon Smyrnis Endo Plus Service Honvéd ASC Duisburg Primorje Erste Bank Rijeka Dinamo București |

### Group A

7–10 September 2023, Hannover, Germany
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | CRV | BAR | HAN | APO | HON |
| 1 | Crvena zvezda | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 32 | +18 | 12 | Main round | — | — | — | 12–10 | — |
| 2 | CN Barcelona | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 41 | 42 | −1 | 9 | | 9–14 | — | — | 12–11 | 9–8 |
| 3 | Waspo'98 Hannover (H) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 39 | 47 | −8 | 6 | | 6–14 | 9–11 | — | 11–10 | 13–12 |
| 4 | GS Apollon Smyrnis | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 42 | 45 | −3 | 3 | | — | — | — | — | 11–10 |
| 5 | Endo Plus Service Honvéd | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 37 | 43 | −6 | 0 | | 7–10 | — | — | — | — |

### Group B

7–10 September 2023, Kragujevac, Serbia
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | BRE | RAD | NOI | KOT | DUI |
| 1 | AN Brescia | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 24 | +23 | 12 | Main round | — | — | — | 11–3 | 11–4 |
| 2 | Radnički Kragujevac (H) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 46 | 45 | +1 | 8 | | 8–15 | — | 13–10 | 17–16 | — |
| 3 | CN Noisy-le-Sec | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 52 | 41 | +11 | 6 | | 9–10 | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | Primorac Kotor | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 41 | 49 | −8 | 4 | | — | — | 10–16 | — | 16–10 |
| 5 | ASC Duisburg | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 30 | 57 | −27 | 0 | | — | 8–13 | 8–17 | — | — |
* ↑ 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 | VOU | ORT | RIJ | ORA |
| 1 | NC Vouliagmeni | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 25 | +15 | 9 | Main round | — | 12–8 | — | — |
| 2 | CC Ortigia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 38 | 33 | +5 | 6 | | — | — | 16–14 | — |
| 3 | Primorje Erste Bank Rijeka | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 36 | 37 | −1 | 3 | | 12–14 | — | — | — |
| 4 | CSM Oradea (H) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 38 | −19 | 0 | | 5–14 | 7–14 | 7–10 | — |

### Group D

8–10 September 2023, Dubrovnik, Croatia
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | JUG | TOU | OSC | DIN |
| 1 | Jug AO Dubrovnik (H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 22 | +25 | 9 | Main round | — | 17–8 | 14–10 | 16–4 |
| 2 | EN Tourcoing | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 32 | 30 | +2 | 6 | | — | — | — | — |
| 3 | OSC Budapest | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 35 | 33 | +2 | 3 | | — | 5–10 | — | 20–9 |
| 4 | Dinamo București | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 50 | −29 | 0 | | — | 8–14 | — | — |

## Main round

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 | NOV | BRE | SAB | STE |
| 1 | Novi Beograd | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 78 | 44 | +34 | 15 | Advance to quarter-finals | — | 13–5 | 10–12 | 19–7 |
| 2 | AN Brescia | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 62 | 56 | +6 | 11 | Advance to quarter-finals | 8–13 | — | 11–10 | 16–7 |
| 3 | Astralpool Sabadell | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 58 | 51 | +7 | 10 | Transfer to Euro Cup | 7–11 | 9–10 | — | 13–6 |
| 4 | Steaua București | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 41 | 88 | −47 | 0 | Transfer to Euro Cup | 5–12 | 8–17 | 8–11 | — |
* ↑ 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 | PRO | OLY | JUG | TBI |
| 1 | Pro Recco | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 81 | 52 | +29 | 18 | Advance to quarter-finals | — | 12–11 | 13–9 | 15–6 |
| 2 | Olympiacos Piraeus | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 83 | 54 | +29 | 11 | Advance to quarter-finals | 10–11 | — | 16–15 | 16–8 |
| 3 | Jug AO Dubrovnik | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 64 | 72 | −8 | 7 | Transfer to Euro Cup | 7–14 | 5–15 | — | 19–13 |
| 4 | Dinamo Tbilisi | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 47 | 97 | −50 | 0 | Transfer to Euro Cup | 9–16 | 6–19 | 5–12 | — |
* ↑ 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 | FTC | SPI | CRV | JAD |
| 1 | FTC-Telekom | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 91 | 56 | +35 | 17 | Advance to quarter-finals | — | 13–11 | 20–6 | 9–7 |
| 2 | Jadran Split | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 81 | 78 | +3 | 10 | Advance to quarter-finals | 17–20 | — | 16–13 | 16–14 |
| 3 | Crvena zvezda | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 54 | 77 | −23 | 7 | Transfer to Euro Cup | 6–16 | 12–11 | — | 9–6 |
| 4 | Jadran Herceg Novi | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 55 | 70 | −15 | 2 | Transfer to Euro Cup | 10–17 | 10–11 | 21–20 | — |
* ↑ Match ended 16–16, FTC-Telekom won 4–1 on penalties
* ↑ 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 | BAR | MAR | SPA | VOU |
| 1 | Zodiac Atlètic-Barceloneta | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 79 | 52 | +27 | 18 | Advance to quarter-finals | — | 9–7 | 16–6 | 16–10 |
| 2 | CN Marseille | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 69 | 68 | +1 | 9 | Advance to quarter-finals | 12–13 | — | 13–11 | 15–13 |
| 3 | Spandau 04 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 56 | 75 | −19 | 6 | Transfer to Euro Cup | 6–13 | 13–10 | — | 14–13 |
| 4 | NC Vouliagmeni | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 66 | 75 | −9 | 3 | Transfer to Euro Cup | 11–12 | 9–12 | 10–6 | — |

## 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 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 Main round could not be drawn against each other.
| Seeded | Unseeded |
| Novi Beograd Pro Recco FTC-Telekom Zodiac Atlètic-Barceloneta | AN Brescia Olympiacos Piraeus Jadran Split CN Marseille |
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 | Teamvte | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | PRO | NOV | MAR | JAD |
| 1 | Pro Recco | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 88 | 58 | +30 | 17 | Final four | — | 15–7 | 15–8 | 18–9 |
| 2 | Novi Beograd | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 78 | 74 | +4 | 13 | Final four | 14–15 | — | 13–10 | 15–11 |
| 3 | CN Marseille | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 72 | 76 | −4 | 6 | | 10–12 | 13–14 | — | 17–10 |
| 4 | Jadran Split | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 62 | 92 | −30 | 0 | | 10–13 | 10–15 | 12–14 | — |
* ↑ Match ended 10–10, Pro Recco won 5–4 on penalties

### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | FTC | OLY | BAR | BRE |
| 1 | FTC-Telekom | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 62 | 55 | +7 | 15 | Final four | — | 11–9 | 13–11 | 9–8 |
| 2 | Olympiacos Piraeus | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 78 | 68 | +10 | 14 | Final four | 10–8 | — | 10–7 | 17–12 |
| 3 | Zodiac Atlètic-Barceloneta | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 68 | 65 | +3 | 7 | | 8–10 | 18–19 | — | 12–8 |
| 4 | AN Brescia | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 54 | 74 | −20 | 0 | | 9–11 | 12–13 | 5–12 | — |
* ↑ Match ended 13–13, Olympiacos Piraeus won 6–5 on penalties

## Final Four

On 18 January 2024, the final four was held in the capital of Malta, Valletta, at the National Pool Complex from the 5 to 7 June 2024.

### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 5 June | 5 June |
| Pro Recco (PSO) | 13 |
| Pro Recco (PSO) | 13 | 7 June | 7 June |
| Olympiacos Piraeus | 11 | 7 June | 7 June |
| Olympiacos Piraeus | 11 | Pro Recco | 11 |
| 5 June | 5 June | | Pro Recco | 11 |
| 5 June | 5 June | FTC-Telekom | 12 |
| FTC-Telekom (PSO) | 18 | FTC-Telekom | 12 |
| Novi Beograd | 17 | | |
| Novi Beograd | 17 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 7 June | 7 June |
| | | Olympiacos Piraeus | 9 |
| | | Novi Beograd | 6 |

### Semi-finals

| 5 June 2024 19:00 | Report | Pro Recco | 13–11 | Olympiacos Piraeus | National Pool Complex, Valletta Referees: Adrian Tiberiu Alexandrescu (ROU), Sebastien Dervieux (FRA) |
| National Pool Complex, Valletta Referees: Adrian Tiberiu Alexandrescu (ROU), Sebastien Dervieux (FRA) |||
| 5 June 2024 19:00 | Report | Di Fulvio, Younger 2 | Goals | Genidounias 3 | National Pool Complex, Valletta Referees: Adrian Tiberiu Alexandrescu (ROU), Sebastien Dervieux (FRA) |
| 5 June 2024 21:00 | Report | FTC-Telekom | 18–17 | Novi Beograd | National Pool Complex, Valletta Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), David Gomez (ESP) |
| National Pool Complex, Valletta Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), David Gomez (ESP) |||
| 5 June 2024 21:00 | Report | Mandić 5 | Goals | Vlachopoulos 4 | National Pool Complex, Valletta Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), David Gomez (ESP) |

### Third place match

| 7 June 2024 19:00 | Report | Olympiacos Piraeus | 9–6 | Novi Beograd | National Pool Complex, Valletta Referees: Frank Ohme (GER), Andrej Franulović (CRO) |
| National Pool Complex, Valletta Referees: Frank Ohme (GER), Andrej Franulović (CRO) |||
| 7 June 2024 19:00 | Report | Fountoulis 3 | Goals | Ćuk 2 | National Pool Complex, Valletta Referees: Frank Ohme (GER), Andrej Franulović (CRO) |

### Final

| 7 June 2024 21:00 | Report | Pro Recco | 11–12 | FTC-Telekom | National Pool Complex, Valletta Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), Adrian Tiberiu Alexandrescu (ROU) |
| National Pool Complex, Valletta Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), Adrian Tiberiu Alexandrescu (ROU) |||
| 7 June 2024 21:00 | Report | four players 2 | Goals | Mandić 4 | National Pool Complex, Valletta Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), Adrian Tiberiu Alexandrescu (ROU) |
* 2023–24 LEN Champions League Champions
* FTC-Telekom Second title

## Awards

| Season MVP | Top Scorer | Finals MVP |
| Dušan Mandić (FTC-Telekom) | Alvaro Granados 39 goals (Novi Beograd) | Dušan Mandić (FTC-Telekom) |
Total 7 of the Season :
| LW | Andrija Prlainović (CN Marseille) | CF | Kostas Kakaris (Pro Recco) | RW | Dušan Mandić (FTC-Telekom) |
| LD | Álvaro Granados (Novi Beograd) | CB | Aaron Younger (Pro Recco) | RD | Konstantinos Genidounias (Olympiacos Piraeus) |
| GK | Soma Vogel (FTC-Telekom) | Soma Vogel (FTC-Telekom) | Soma Vogel (FTC-Telekom) | Soma Vogel (FTC-Telekom) | Soma Vogel (FTC-Telekom) |