Euro Cup Men: Race for the last four resumes
With the second legs of the Euro Cup Men quarterfinals set to get underway this weekend, several of the players and coaches shared their thoughts ahead of Saturday’s decisive clashes.
2025/26 Euro Cup Men
Quarterfinals, Second-Legs
Saturday 28 March
(Local times shown & 1st-leg scores)
20:00: SPD Radnicki (SRB) – VPK Primorac Kotor (MNE) (14-10)
18:00: CN Sabadell (ESP) – CN Marseille (FRA) (12-17)
19:00: CSM Oradea (ROU) – BVSC Manna ABC (HUN) (8-14)
12:00: VK Jadran Split (CRO) – Panathinaikos AC (GRE) (11-10)
SPD Radnicki (SRB) – VPK Primorac Kotor (MNE) (14-10)
“We managed to achieve a great result in the first leg, but we must not let that deceive us,” said Radnicki head coach Uros Stevanovic after a 10-14 win in Kotor put his side in the driving seat.
“Primorac are a talented team that have been achieving excellent results lately, and they will certainly come here looking to cause an upset.
“They have nothing to lose and possess talent, desire, and aggressiveness – but everything is in our hands at our home pool.”
With a four-goal deficit to overturn, Primorac captain Drasko Brguljan is aware his team will start as the underdogs this weekend, but his team is ready to put up a big fight.
“We may have lost the first match by four goals, but it was a game where we were not that inferior,” said Brguljan.
“In my opinion we played a good game, but Radnicki took advantage of some of our individual errors.
“They are a team that punishes every mistake. We are going to give our best, try to play the best possible game and if there will be a chance, to win.
“Of course, Radnicki are the favourites, not only in this game, but to win the Euro Cup as well.
“But, once again, we are not going to give up, we will give our best and look to win the game.”
CN Sabadell (ESP) – CN Marseille (FRA) (12-17)
After winning the first leg in France by five goals (17-12), Marseille find themselves in a strong position ahead of the return leg in Sabadell.
“We have real strengths, and we already proved that in the first leg,” said Marseille coach Milos Scepanovic, who will be eager to dish out some more revenge after their two losses to Sabadell in this season’s Champions League. “So, I expect my team to show the same level of intensity in Spain this weekend as we showed in France.
“However, we must not underestimate Sabadell – they are a top team that caused us problems this season. But we have what it takes to win, so it’s up to us to go and secure the victory in their home pool.”
“I feel both confident and cautious heading into this match,” added Marseille captain Ugo Crousillat. “We have finally shown we are capable of beating this Sabadell team in convincing fashion.
“But I remain careful, as things can change very quickly in a second leg, especially with the new rules.
“We need to stay highly focused and determined. We know that playing at their venue is always challenging. Sabadell have proven on several occasions that they are a very strong team.”
Overturning a five-goal deficit might be a daunting task, but Sabadell’s Jack Larsen insists he’s looking forward to the challenge.
“It’s going to be a tough match this Saturday,” said Larsen. “But we have prepared as hard as we can and we are going to go and give it our best shot. We are super excited for a good game.”
CSM Oradea (ROU) – BVSC Manna ABC (HUN) (8-14)
BVSC Manna ABC travel to CSM Oradea this weekend after achieving the biggest winning margin across all of the first legs.
With a six-goal advantage, the Hungarians will start as favourites to advance to the last four.
“Our main goal for this match is to reach the semifinals,” said BVSC’s Zsombor Ekler, who scored a hat-trick against the Romanians in Budapest.
“I think we have worked hard to be there, because we have a six-goal lead. But this match will be the same as every other, because it will start from 0-0 and it will be hard, but we will give everything we have to be in the semifinals with a double win.”
“In the first leg at our own pool we played a very good game against Oradea,” added BVSC coach Daniel Varga, who is aiming to guide his side to another knockout win against Champions League opposition, after eliminating domestic rivals Vasas in the Eight Finals.
“We now have a good chance to qualify. We go to Oradea to win the game, not to rely on our advantage.
“We want to play another good match and achieve another victory.”
VK Jadran Split (CRO) – Panathinaikos AC (GRE) (11-10)
VK Jadran Split will start their clash against Panathinaikos with a slender one-goal advantage, after Zvonimir Butic’s stunning buzzer beater proved to be the difference in Athens.
The Greeks had levelled the scores in the first leg at 10-10 late on, scoring twice in the last 37 seconds, but Butic’s screamer flashed past goalkeeper Adrian Weinberg to earn the Croatians a narrow victory.
“These games are decided by the smallest details,” stated Panathinaikos coach Dimitris Mazis ahead of their trip to Split.
“It will be difficult for us to advance to the next round, but we’ll go there, fight, and chase every chance we have.”
“We are confident it will be a very demanding game,” added Panathinaikos’ Dimitrios Skoumpakis. “But we need to show a good performance and go for the win. We believe in ourselves and in our team.”
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Andy Rollé for European Aquatics
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