# 2018–19 LEN Champions League

The 2018–19 LEN Champions League was the 56th edition of LEN's premier competition for men's water polo clubs.

## Overview
### Team allocation

12 teams are directly qualified for the preliminary round (TH: Champions League title holders).
Preliminary Round :
| HAVK Mladost | Waspo 98 Hannover | Pro Recco | Dynamo Moscow |
| Jug Dubrovnik | ZF Eger | Olympiacos | Crvena zvezda |
| Spandau 04 | Szolnoki Dozsa | Steaua București BA | CNA Barceloneta |
| Qualification round II ||||
| Jadran Split | NC Vouliagmeni | CSM Digi Oradea | OSC Potsdam |
| FTC Telekom Budapest | AN Brescia | Sintez Kazan | CN Sabadell |
| Qualification round I ||||
| Pays D’Aix Natation | BPM Sport Management | Enka SK | Valletta |
| Strasbourg | Corona Sportul Studențesc | AZC Alphen | WP Club Tbilisi |
| Jadran Carine | CN Terrassa | Dynamo Lviv | |

### Phases and rounds dates

The schedule of the competition is as follows.
| Phase | Round | First leg | Second leg |
| Qualifying rounds | Qualification round I | 13–16 September 2018 | 13–16 September 2018 |
| Qualifying rounds | Qualification round II | 28–30 September 2018 | 28–30 September 2018 |
| Qualifying rounds | Qualification round III | 6 October 2018 | 10 October 2018 |
| Preliminary round | Matchday 1 | 17 October 2018 | 17 October 2018 |
| Preliminary round | Matchday 2 | 3 November 2018 | 3 November 2018 |
| Preliminary round | Matchday 3 | 21 November 2018 | 21 November 2018 |
| Preliminary round | Matchday 4 | 5 December 2018 | 5 December 2018 |
| Preliminary round | Matchday 5 | 19 December 2018 | 19 December 2018 |
| Preliminary round | Matchday 6 | 9 January 2019 | 9 January 2019 |
| Preliminary round | Matchday 7 | 23 January 2019 | 23 January 2019 |
| Preliminary round | Matchday 8 | 6 February 2019 | 6 February 2019 |
| Preliminary round | Matchday 9 | 27 February 2019 | 27 February 2019 |
| Preliminary round | Matchday 10 | 16 March 2019 | 16 March 2019 |
| Preliminary round | Matchday 11 | 27 March 2019 | 27 March 2019 |
| Preliminary round | Matchday 12 | 13 April 2019 | 13 April 2019 |
| Preliminary round | Matchday 13 | 24 April 2019 | 24 April 2019 |
| Preliminary round | Matchday 14 | 15 May 2019 | 15 May 2019 |
| Final Eight | Quarterfinals | 6 June 2019 | 6 June 2019 |
| Final Eight | Semifinals | 7 June 2019 | 7 June 2019 |
| Final Eight | Final | 8 June 2019 | 8 June 2019 |

## Qualifying rounds
### Qualification round I
#### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | BPM | AIX | BRA | ENK | LVI | TBI |
| 1 | BPM Sport Management | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 72 | 28 | +44 | 15 | Round II | — | 13–8 | | 12–2 | 22–8 | 14–3 |
| 2 | Pays D’Aix Natation | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 61 | 38 | +23 | 12 | Round II | | — | | | 15–9 | |
| 3 | Corona Sportul Studențesc (H) | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 45 | 40 | +5 | 9 | Round II | 7–11 | 7–12 | — | 10–6 | 9–4 | 12–7 |
| 4 | Enka SK | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 32 | 48 | −16 | 6 | Round II | | 5–11 | | — | 9–8 | 10–7 |
| 5 | Dynamo Lviv | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 39 | 61 | −22 | 3 | | | | | | — | |
| 6 | WP Club Tbilisi | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 27 | 61 | −34 | 0 | | | 4–15 | | | 6–10 | — |

#### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | JAD | STR | TER | ALP | VAL |
| 1 | Jadran Carine | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 63 | 24 | +39 | 12 | Round II | — | | 10–8 | | |
| 2 | Strasbourg (H) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 43 | 30 | +13 | 9 | Round II | 5–11 | — | 10–8 | 12–6 | 16–5 |
| 3 | CN Terrassa | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 47 | 32 | +15 | 6 | Round II | | | — | 12–9 | |
| 4 | AZC Alphen | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 30 | 47 | −17 | 3 | Round II | 6–17 | | | — | 9–6 |
| 5 | Valletta | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 19 | 69 | −50 | 0 | | 5–25 | | 3–19 | | — |

### Qualification round II
#### Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | JAD | VOU | SIN | BRA |
| 1 | Jadran Carine (H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 18 | +23 | 9 | Round III | — | 8–7 | 18–6 | 15–5 |
| 2 | NC Vouliagmeni | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 19 | +7 | 6 | Round III | | — | | 9–3 |
| 3 | Sintez Kazan | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 27 | 36 | −9 | 3 | | | 8–10 | — | |
| 4 | Corona Sportul Studențesc | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 37 | −21 | 0 | | | | 8–13 | — |

#### Group D

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | VER | TER | SAB | POT |
| 1 | BPM Sport Management | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 42 | 28 | +14 | 7 | Round III | — | 13–13 | | 17–11 |
| 2 | CN Terrassa | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 36 | 26 | +10 | 5 | Round III | | — | | |
| 3 | CN Sabadell (H) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 29 | 27 | +2 | 4 | | 4–12 | 7–7 | — | 18–8 |
| 4 | OSC Potsdam | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 25 | 51 | −26 | 0 | | | 6–16 | | — |

#### Group E

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | BRE | STR | ORA | ENK |
| 1 | AN Brescia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 16 | +27 | 9 | Round III | — | | | 12–3 |
| 2 | Strasbourg | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 26 | −2 | 6 | Round III | 5–16 | — | | |
| 3 | CSM Digi Oradea (H) | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 31 | −10 | 1 | | 8–15 | 6–9 | — | 7–7 |
| 4 | Enka SK | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 29 | −15 | 1 | | | 4–10 | | — |

#### Group F

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | FTC | SPL | AIX | ALP |
| 1 | FTC Telekom Budapest | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 18 | +23 | 9 | Round III | — | 17–7 | | 14–7 |
| 2 | Jadran Split | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 37 | 35 | +2 | 6 | Round III | | — | | |
| 3 | Pays D’Aix Natation (H) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 32 | 29 | +3 | 3 | | 4–10 | 11–12 | — | 17–7 |
| 4 | AZC Alphen | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 49 | −28 | 0 | | | 7–18 | | — |

### Qualification round III

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| FTC Telekom Budapest | 22–11 | NC Vouliagmeni | 10–4 | 12–7 |
| Jadran Split | 17–15 | Jadran Carine | 11–9 | 6–6 |
| AN Brescia | 16–13 | CN Terrassa | 8–4 | 8–9 |
| Strasbourg | 10–26 | BPM Sport Management | 4–10 | 6–16 |

## Preliminary round

The draw for the group stage was held on 5 September 2018 in Barcelona. The 16 teams were drawn into two groups of eight.
In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners, runners-ups and third placed teams advance to the Final 8. They are joined by the host of the tournament and the fourth placed team from a group other than one the host plays in. The matchdays are 17 October, 3 and 21 November, 5 and 19 December 2018, 9 and 23 January, 6 and 27 February, 16 and 27 March, 13 and 24 April, 15 May 2019.
A total of 9 national associations are represented in the group stage.

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | PRO | BAR | BRE | FTC | MOS | EGR | BUC | CRV |
| 1 | Pro Recco | 14 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 197 | 91 | +106 | 42 | Final 8 | — | 8–3 | 12–6 | 9–6 | 11–6 | 17–7 | 19–7 | 21–6 |
| 2 | CNA Barceloneta | 14 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 154 | 120 | +34 | 31 | Final 8 | 11–15 | — | 8–8 | 8–5 | 13–9 | 12–7 | 11–8 | 14–3 |
| 3 | AN Brescia | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 133 | 107 | +26 | 29 | Final 8 | 8–9 | 14–8 | — | 10–5 | 10–8 | 11–6 | 13–9 | 7–2 |
| 4 | FTC Telekom Budapest | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 146 | 117 | +29 | 25 | Final 8 | 7–13 | 8–9 | 8–8 | — | 13–6 | 16–9 | 12–4 | 17–9 |
| 5 | Dynamo Moscow | 14 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 153 | 145 | +8 | 18 | | 5–14 | 12–13 | 10–6 | 11–13 | — | 15–13 | 16–4 | 14–4 |
| 6 | ZF Eger | 14 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 144 | 179 | −35 | 15 | | 7–16 | 10–16 | 8–11 | 9–12 | 12–10 | — | 13–9 | 17–11 |
| 7 | Steaua București BA | 14 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 109 | 168 | −59 | 6 | | 8–16 | 10–14 | 5–8 | 6–9 | 11–14 | 11–13 | — | 8–3 |
| 8 | Crvena zvezda | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 87 | 196 | −109 | 0 | | 4–17 | 3–14 | 9–13 | 6–15 | 8–17 | 12–13 | 7–9 | — |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | JUG | OLY | VER | SZO | SPL | HAN | ZAG | SPA |
| 1 | Jug Dubrovnik | 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 152 | 110 | +42 | 32 | Final 8 | — | 10–6 | 9–8 | 8–7 | 6–7 | 18–7 | 14–11 | 14–9 |
| 2 | Olympiacos | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 149 | 98 | +51 | 30 | Final 8 | 10–10 | — | 11–5 | 11–10 | 13–7 | 17–7 | 13–8 | 11–4 |
| 3 | BPM Sport Management | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 125 | 115 | +10 | 27 | Final 8 | 11–11 | 7–6 | — | 7–5 | 9–8 | 12–7 | 12–9 | 8–6 |
| 4 | Szolnoki Dozsa | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 135 | 122 | +13 | 22 | | 10–7 | 9–9 | 6–6 | — | 10–9 | 10–10 | 11–8 | 14–6 |
| 5 | Jadran Split | 14 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 137 | 140 | −3 | 18 | | 6–13 | 3–8 | 12–9 | 15–10 | — | 15–10 | 10–12 | 14–8 |
| 6 | Waspo 98 Hannover | 14 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 130 | 169 | −39 | 12 | Final 8 | 7–14 | 9–9 | 10–11 | 9–13 | 9–8 | — | 14–9 | 11–7 |
| 7 | HAVK Mladost Zagreb | 14 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 129 | 161 | −32 | 11 | | 5–11 | 6–14 | 7–7 | 8–11 | 11–12 | 11–11 | — | 9–7 |
| 8 | Spandau 04 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 114 | 156 | −42 | 7 | | 6–7 | 3–11 | 8–13 | 9–9 | 12–11 | 15–9 | 14–15 | — |
* ↑ Hannover qualified for the Final Eight as the host team of the tournament.

## Final eight

6–8 June 2018—Hannover, Germany

### Qualified teams

| Group | Winners | Runners-up | Third | Fourth | Host |
| A | Pro Recco | CNA Barceloneta | AN Brescia | FTC Telekom Budapest | |
| B | Jug Dubrovnik | Olympiacos | BPM Sport Management | | Waspo 98 Hannover |

### Bracket

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | | Final | Final |
| 6 June | 6 June | | | |
| Pro Recco | 14 | | | |
| Pro Recco | 14 | 7 June | 7 June | | |
| Waspo 98 Hannover | 10 | 7 June | 7 June | |
| Waspo 98 Hannover | 10 | Pro Recco | 11 | |
| 6 June | 6 June | | Pro Recco | 11 | |
| 6 June | 6 June | Olympiacos | 12 | |
| Olympiacos | 8 | Olympiacos | 12 | |
| Olympiacos | 8 | | | | 8 June | 8 June |
| AN Brescia | 7 | | | | 8 June | 8 June |
| AN Brescia | 7 | | | | Olympiacos | 10 (3) |
| 6 June | 6 June | | | | | Olympiacos | 10 (3) |
| 6 June | 6 June | | | | FTC Telekom | 10 (4) |
| Jug Dubrovnik | 9 | | | | FTC Telekom | 10 (4) |
| Jug Dubrovnik | 9 | 7 June | 7 June | | | |
| FTC Telekom | 10 | 7 June | 7 June | | | |
| FTC Telekom | 10 | FTC Telekom | 9 | | | |
| 6 June | 6 June | | FTC Telekom | 9 | | | |
| 6 June | 6 June | CNA Barceloneta | 7 | | Third place game | Third place game |
| CNA Barceloneta | 12 | CNA Barceloneta | 7 | | Third place game | Third place game |
| CNA Barceloneta | 12 | | | | 8 June | 8 June |
| BPM Sport Management | 7 | | | | 8 June | 8 June |
| BPM Sport Management | 7 | | | | Pro Recco | 8 |
| | | | | | CNA Barceloneta | 7 |

#### 5th–8th place bracket

| 5th–8th place semifinals | 5th–8th place semifinals | Fifth place game | Fifth place game |
| 7 June | 7 June |
| Waspo 98 Hannover | 8 |
| Waspo 98 Hannover | 8 | 8 June | 8 June |
| AN Brescia | 11 | 8 June | 8 June |
| AN Brescia | 11 | AN Brescia | 12 |
| 7 June | 7 June | | AN Brescia | 12 |
| 7 June | 7 June | Jug Dubrovnik | 13 |
| Jug Dubrovnik | 11 | Jug Dubrovnik | 13 |
| BPM Sport Management | 8 | | |
| BPM Sport Management | 8 | Seventh place game | Seventh place game |
| | | 8 June | 8 June |
| | | Waspo 98 Hannover | 8 |
| | | BPM Sport Management | 10 |

### Quarterfinals

| 6 June 2019 16:00 | Report | Jug Dubrovnik | 9–10 | FTC Telekom Budapest | Hannover Referees: Adrian Alexandrescu Sergey Naumov |
| Hannover Referees: Adrian Alexandrescu Sergey Naumov |||
| 6 June 2019 16:00 | Report | Fatović 4 | Goals | three players 2 | Hannover Referees: Adrian Alexandrescu Sergey Naumov |
| 6 June 2019 17:30 | Report | CNA Barceloneta | 12–7 | BPM Sport Management | Hannover Referees: Levan Berishvili Sebastien Dervieux |
| Hannover Referees: Levan Berishvili Sebastien Dervieux |||
| 6 June 2019 17:30 | Report | Granados, Perrone 3 | Goals | Mirarchi 4 | Hannover Referees: Levan Berishvili Sebastien Dervieux |
| 6 June 2019 19:00 | Report | Pro Recco | 14–10 | Waspo 98 Hannover | Hannover Referees: Stanko Ivanovski Michiel Zwart |
| Hannover Referees: Stanko Ivanovski Michiel Zwart |||
| 6 June 2019 19:00 | Report | Mandić 3 | Goals | Radović 4 | Hannover Referees: Stanko Ivanovski Michiel Zwart |
| 6 June 2019 20:30 | Report | Olympiacos | 8–7 | AN Brescia | Hannover Referees: Boris Margeta Ivan Raković |
| Hannover Referees: Boris Margeta Ivan Raković |||
| 6 June 2019 20:30 | Report | Mourikis 2 | Goals | Presciutti 3 | Hannover Referees: Boris Margeta Ivan Raković |

### 5th–8th place semifinals

| 7 June 2019 15:00 | Report | Waspo 98 Hannover | 8–11 | AN Brescia | Hannover Referees: Sebastian Dervieux Stanko Ivanovski |
| Hannover Referees: Sebastian Dervieux Stanko Ivanovski |||
| 7 June 2019 15:00 | Report | Brguljan 4 | Goals | Rizzo, Muslim 3 | Hannover Referees: Sebastian Dervieux Stanko Ivanovski |
| 7 June 2019 16:30 | Report | Jug Dubrovnik | 11–8 | BPM Sport Management | Hannover Referees: Levan Berishvili Michiel Zwart |
| Hannover Referees: Levan Berishvili Michiel Zwart |||
| 7 June 2019 16:30 | Report | Fatović, Benić 4 | Goals | Alesiani 3 | Hannover Referees: Levan Berishvili Michiel Zwart |

### Semifinals

| 7 June 2019 19:00 | SF3 | Pro Recco | 11–12 | Olympiacos | Hannover Referees: Boris Margeta Sergey Naumov |
| Hannover Referees: Boris Margeta Sergey Naumov |||
| 7 June 2019 19:00 | SF3 | Ivović 3 | Goals | Fountoulis 3 | Hannover Referees: Boris Margeta Sergey Naumov |
| 7 June 2019 20:30 | SF4 | FTC Telekom Budapest | 9–7 | CNA Barceloneta | Hannover Referees: Adrian Alexandrescu Ivan Raković |
| Hannover Referees: Adrian Alexandrescu Ivan Raković |||
| 7 June 2019 20:30 | SF4 | Varga 3 | Goals | Granados 3 | Hannover Referees: Adrian Alexandrescu Ivan Raković |

### Seventh place game

| 8 June 2019 15:00 | Waspo 98 Hannover | 8–10 | BPM Sport Management | Hannover Referees: Stanko Ivanovski Michiel Zwart |
| Hannover Referees: Stanko Ivanovski Michiel Zwart |||
| 8 June 2019 15:00 | Brguljan 3 | Goals | Fondelli 4 | Hannover Referees: Stanko Ivanovski Michiel Zwart |

### Fifth place game

| 8 June 2019 16:00 | AN Brescia | 12–13 | Jug Dubrovnik | Hannover Referees: Levan Berishvili Sergey Naumov |
| Hannover Referees: Levan Berishvili Sergey Naumov |||
| 8 June 2019 16:00 | Gallo 4 | Goals | Fatović 5 | Hannover Referees: Levan Berishvili Sergey Naumov |

### Third place game

| 8 June 2019 19:00 | Report | Pro Recco | 8–7 | CNA Barceloneta | Hannover Referees: Ivan Raković Sebastian Dervieux |
| Hannover Referees: Ivan Raković Sebastian Dervieux |||
| 8 June 2019 19:00 | Report | Filipović 3 | Goals | Munarriz 5 | Hannover Referees: Ivan Raković Sebastian Dervieux |

### Final

| 8 June 2019 20:30 | Report | Olympiacos | 13–14 | FTC Telekom Budapest | Hannover Referees: Boris Margeta Adrian Alexandrescu |
| Hannover Referees: Boris Margeta Adrian Alexandrescu |||
| 8 June 2019 20:30 | Report | Genidounias 5 | Goals | Mitrović 3 | Hannover Referees: Boris Margeta Adrian Alexandrescu |
* 2018–19 LEN Champions League Champions
* FTC Telekom Budapest 1st title
* Andras Gardonyi, Tamás Sedlmayer, Mark Kallay, Zoltan Pohl, Márton Vámos, Tamás Mezei, Slobodan Nikić, Nikola Jakšić, Aaron Younger, Dénes Varga, Szilárd Jansik, Soma Vogel, Stefan Mitrović, Norbert Madaras
* Head coach
* Zsolt Varga

### Final standings

| | Team |
| | FTC Telekom Budapest |
| | Olympiacos |
| | Pro Recco |
| 4 | CNA Barceloneta |
| 5 | AN Brescia |
| 6 | Jug Dubrovnik |
| 7 | BPM Sport Management |
| 8 | Waspo 98 Hannover |

### Awards

| Season MVP | Top Scorer | Player of the Final Eight | Goalkeeper of the Final Eight |
| Filip Filipović (Pro Recco) | Konstantinos Genidounias (Olympiacos) 42 goals | Denes Varga (Ferencváros) | Soma Vogel (Ferencváros) |
Total 7 of the Season :
| LW | Dénes Varga (Ferecvaros) | CF | Josip Vrlić (Barceloneta) | RW | Márton Vámos (Ferecvaros) |
| LD | Konstantinos Genidounias (Olympiacos) | CB | Andro Bušlje (Olympiacos) | RD | Filip Filipović (Pro Recco) |
| GK | Soma Vogel (Ferecvaros) | Soma Vogel (Ferecvaros) | Soma Vogel (Ferecvaros) | Soma Vogel (Ferecvaros) | Soma Vogel (Ferecvaros) |