“Civil” Vouliagmeni-Panionios, a difficult task for Panathinaikos and Apollon

The Greek teams participating in the group stage will claim their first victory Men’s Water Polo Euro Cupafter 0/4 of the premiere.

Vouliagmeni and Panionios they face each other at 17:00 in Laimos, in a derby that can prove pivotal in the battle for qualification from Group B. NOB started its duties with a narrow defeat (16-15) against Ortigia in Syracuse, while the “blue and red” lost in Nea Smyrni 16-13 against Vazoutas, which appears to be the strongest team in the group. The winner of the match will keep their hopes of qualifying for the knockout matches of the competition intact, while, on the contrary, the loser will lose valuable ground. The referees of the match will be the Spanish Javier Butz and the Croatian Jakov Blaskovic. It is worth noting that Vouliagmeni and Panionios faced each other last month in the established SEDY tournament, and in fact twice (once in the final), with NOB winning both games in the penalty shootout (18-16 and 16-15 )!

After the defeat (10-8) of the premiere by Barcelona at Serafio, the Panathinaikos is obliged to chase a “double”, to stay “alive” in the battle of the balanced 4th group. Perhaps the best opportunity for the “greens” is the (17/10, 20:30) match in Budapest against the young Honved, who lost 12-8 in Serbia against Sabac in the 1st matchday. The Hungarian team defeated Panionios once (in the qualifiers) and Apollon twice (in the group stage) in the same tournament last year, but in the summer they lost two of their key players, goalkeeper Istvan Kartos and Sobor’s top scorer Eckler, who switched to Vazoutas. It goes without saying that veteran international Marton Sivos’ side are capable and dangerous, especially if they find rhythm, while they are coming off an important league win over Vazuta (9-6). The match between Panathinaikos in Budapest will be directed by the Italian Alessandro Severo and the Croatian Tomislav Chopic.

In the A’ group, finally, o Apollo of Smyrna has another very difficult assignment, welcoming Brescia at 21:00 at Serafio. Like Jug Dubrovnik, from whom the “amphibious brigade” lost (14-10) in the premiere in Croatia, the Italian team makes a… guest appearance in the Euro Cup (of which it is the winner of four trophies), after in recent years it has had a permanent presence in the Champions League, and indeed in the eight, having reached the semi-finals twice (2021 and 2022). Alessandro Bovo’s team has weakened in the last two years, last year they were left out of the league finals by Savona and this year they were eliminated in the Champions League qualifiers (where they crushed PAOK 15-4 anyway), but in the Euro Cup they are one of the favorites for the final-4. It easily went first from the qualifying round and in the group stage it started with a difficult home victory (11-9) against Strasbourg. Montenegrin goalkeeper Petar Tesanovic, Serbian striker Djorje Lazic and experienced Italian international Vincenzo Renzuto left in the summer, but the roster still has a number of notable players, both experienced (Aleziani, Dolce, Zito) and young (Faraglia, Giannazza, Ferrero). Brescia’s only foreigner is the American – “bronze” Olympic champion in Paris – Max Irving, known to the Greek public from his time in Idraikos and Olympiakos. The referees in the Apollo match will be the Spanish Jaume Teixido and the Hungarian Norbert Erce.

Summary of the matches of the Greek teams in the 2nd matchday of the men’s Euro Cup group stage:

GROUP A

21:00 Apollon Smyrna-Brescia (Italy)

GROUP B

17:00 Vouliagmeni-Panionios

D’ GROUP

20:30 Honved (Hungary)-Panathinaikos