Today, the men’s water polo teams of Vouliagmeni and Panioni have difficult assignments for the round of 16 of the Euro Cup.
NOV is tested at 21:45 in Barcelona, against Barcelonawhile the “blue and red” host Steaua Bucharest at 20:00 in Nea Smyrni. The return matches will take place on Saturday, March 23, with the winners of the pairs taking a step towards the Final 4, which from this year is established in the second inter-club event as well.
THE Drowning participated in the Champions League group stage, but failed to repeat last year’s success and finished bottom of their group, with one win and five losses. The draw pitted them against the powerful Barcelona, who are in third place in the Spanish league and also come from the Champions League, where they were eliminated in the qualifying phase, to continue in the Euro Cup, where they came first from Group 1, with a record of five wins and one loss. It is worth noting that Barcelona have faced Apollon Smyrnis in both competitions this year, which they defeated 12-11 in the Champions League qualifiers and 13-6 in the Euro Cup qualifiers.
It is also noteworthy that 20 years ago (2004), the two teams had met in the final of the same competition, then called the LEN Trophy, with the Catalans winning the trophy, as they drew 11-11 in Laimos and prevailed 11-5 in the rematch. Barcelona also have a Champions Cup (1982) and another LEN Trophy (1995) under their belt, as well as 59 Spanish championships, the last of which was in 2005. They last met NOB in 2010, in their then qualifiers Euroleague, winning 10-9.
The referees of the match will be the Italian Severo and the Hungarian Kovacs-Czatlos.
His work Panioni against Steaua is apparently easier, but the “blue-and-red” must overcome the shock of losing Alexa Ukropina. The Montenegrin international tested positive for a doping test during the Doha World Championships after failing to declare an asthma medication he was taking, resulting in him being banned until his punishment is announced. Kostas Dimos will have to fill the gap from the inside, which is not easy at all, and the first sample of writing was negative, with Neosmyrnios knowing the defeat by Panathinaikos, in the premiere of the second phase of the championship.
Panionios topped their group with four wins (including one on penalties) and two losses and the draw brought one of the weakest teams eliminated in the Champions League group stage. Steaua were directly involved as Romanian champions, but suffered six defeats in as many games, failing to look competitive. With the strength of their home base, the “blue and red” will seek not only to achieve the victory, but also to get a margin of safety ahead of the rematch in Bucharest.
The two teams had met in the qualifiers of the same competition in the 2004-05 season, with Panionios prevailing in Nea Smyrni with 12-7.
The referees of the match will be the Polish Korizna and the Serbian Stanojević.
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