Teams competing in the upcoming Super Final of the LEN Europa Cup are the
crème de la crème of men’s water polo. The playing format ensures that even
the prelims will produce pretty tough matches: with no semi-final round in
place, one loss might rule out a team from playing for the trophy and the top
prize of €20,000 (runner-up receives €15,000, the bronze medal pays €5,000).
The composition of the respective groups cannot be any more exciting. In
Group A, last summer’s World Championships silver medallist and 2013 world
champion Hungary will enjoy the company of the superpowers of the
Mediterranean. Olympic bronze medallist and 2011 world champion Italy,
2015 World Championships bronze medallist (and 4 th in 2017) Greece and
host of this year’s European Championships, former Olympic and world
champion Spain are all here to be part of the show.
Whenever teams of the former Yugoslavia play each other, it’s always a must-
see game – in Group B one of these mouth-watering fights is scheduled for
each of the first three days. Thanks to a quite rarely seen scenario, Olympic
champion Serbia, world champion Croatia and European silver medallist
Montenegro are in the same quartet here at the Adriatic coastline. It’s
somewhat bad news for the fourth team of the group France though they
caused some surprise by making the cut for the Rio Olympics two years ago.
The opening day kicks off right with the re-match of last year’s World
Championships astonishing semi-final between Hungary and Greece, followed
by a usually hotly contested battle of Italy and Spain. Host Croatia might have
a seemingly easier but still demanding start against France, then comes the
heavy-weight bout of Serbia and Montenegro – it’s a replay of the 2016
European Championships gold medal game.
Winners of the round robin phase shall clash for the title on Sunday, runners-
up will play in the bronze medal game – so the first three days will already be
devoted to fierce battles. Interest from the media is already sky-high,
broadcasters line up in numbers usual at European Championships – and LEN
also offers free live stream from each and every game of the Super Final.
LEN Europa Cup, Men’s Super Final
Rijeka (CRO) – Schedule 5-
Thursday, 5 April
16:00 Hungary v Greece
17:30 Italy v Spain
19:00 France v Croatia
20:30 Serbia v Montenegro
Friday, 6 April
16:00 Hungary v Italy
17:30 Croatia v Montenegro
19:00 Serbia v France
20:30 Spain v Greece
Saturday, 7 April
16:00 Italy v Greece
17:30 France v Montenegro
19:00 Serbia v Croatia
20:30 Hungary v Spain
Sunday, 8 April 2018
16:00 For places 7-8
17:30 For places 5-6
19:00 Bronze Medal Game
20:30 Men’s Europa Cup Final
