Champions League Final Four – five talking points

1. FTC-Telekom managed to complete the hardest job – retain the Champions League title – which most people probably expected them to do in Malta at the weekend. But, as FTC coach Balazs Nyeki commented in his post-game interview, several great teams have failed to achieve that feat in the past, and even if Fradi’s dominance looks even more overwhelming, their moment of triumph only arrived after two hard-fought matches.

Earlier this year, the Hungarian giants were making their games look easy, as they demolished their respective rivals in the first three rounds of the Quarter Final Stage, including a 18-10 thrashing of Barceloneta and a 17-9 rout in Savona.

However, they couldn’t maintain that high level in the spring, as they suffered their first defeat on Day 4 in Barcelona, though only in a shootout, and they had to overcome some minor headaches in a couple of matches. But those experiences only helped them to get ready for the ultimate showdown in Malta.

A year ago, they downed Novi Beograd in a shootout and edged out title-holders Pro Recco in a thrilling final.

This time, they managed to beat CN Marseille and VK Novi Beograd in a way that the last few minutes didn’t offer much drama, as both of their rivals were clearly beaten by the closing stages.

However, both challengers made them suffer. Some in the Budapest camp recalled Hungary’s quarter-final against France at the Doha World Championships, when the Magyars led 8-4 at half-time, just like here, but they went on to miss a series of chances, while the French came back and with Thomas Vernoux’s blasts they caused the biggest upset of the event.

Now, after some rockets by Vernoux – where FTC goalkeeper Soma Vogel looked just as helpless as in February 2024 – the match was becoming very similar, but only until 10-10.

Fradi then stepped up a gear and proved that this team is different, and after making two from eight in man-ups in the second half, they went four from four in the last six minutes to close down the contest.

Then, in the final, after a gruelling battle in the first half that saw five goals apiece, FTC managed to speed up their game – while NBG appeared a little worn out – and a mighty 4-0 rush was too much for the Serbs to handle.

In the end, both teams hit double digits once again (13-11 this time), just like they have done in all their previous five clashes.

The win secured Fradi’s title-defence – the first-ever by a Hungarian side – and they also became the first Magyar club to lift the trophy three times, surpassing Vasas and OSC, which had two titles apiece from the Seventies and Eighties.

Fradi’s last two seasons have been a demonstration of absolute power – last season they went 40-1 across all competitions, and this time they finished with 48-1, so combined that adds up to a staggering 88-2 win-loss total in 90 matches, and they clinched seven trophies along the way.

Back in April, they lost to Barceloneta on penalties, which means they haven’t been defeated in regular time since August 2023, as only Olympiacos could upend them in 32 minutes, in April 2024. So, one loss in four quarters in 90 matches, which is simply astonishing.

2. Krisztian Manhercz’s story doesn’t lack twists, and becoming the MVP this year was the ultimate redemption for Fradi’s powerful forward, who scored six goals in the gold medal match.

Eight years ago, when he was classed as one of the most talented youngsters in Hungarian water polo, he joined Fradi, but it was a complete failure.

He found life under coach Zsolt Varga extremely difficult, and after a while he wasn’t even being named in the match-day squads, so he kind of escaped at the end of the season to find shelter at OSC.

There he matured and became a brilliant player, but however strong the team was that had been built around him, they were unable to win anything.

After losing in successive finals, he joined Marseille last season, where he finally tasted winning on the domestic scene, but the French side fell short in the Champions League.

In the meantime, Zsolt Varga was appointed the head coach of the national team in 2022, and their first job was to sit down and put behind them everything which had ruined their relationship years earlier.

It went so well that, this year, Varga even nominated Manhercz as the new captain of the national team, and Krisztian – or as everyone calls him, ‘Mano’ – also returned home to take a second shot at playing for Fradi.

A totally different chapter started for him in the autumn, as his transition phase was almost invisible – he came up with smooth performances early on and it was like he had been part of the illustrious FTC set-up for years.

Still, Manhercz saved his best displays for the end of the season, and his six goals on Sunday night lifted Fradi when Novi were pushing them really hard.

His no-look strike from an-almost impossible angle appeared to crush Milan Glusac’s confidence. The young NBG goalkeeper had done really well until that point, but he was nowhere near as solid in the remaining time and Fradi hit three more goals in two and a half minutes, which proved decisive.

Manhercz’s feat was even more remarkable as this was his first ever Champions League Final Four, unlike his childhood friend Soma Vogel, who was playing in his sixth Final 8/4. Still, with the skills and the experience he has, this performance was anything but surprising.

3. Novi Beograd reached their third final in four years, but once again they failed to get their hands on the famous trophy. This time it wasn’t Pro Recco – like in 2022 and 2023 – who denied them, instead it was this season’s favourites, Ferencvaros.

Their unreal march to the final looked very much like the Serbian national team’s incredible run in Paris. At last summer’s Olympics, few people – if anyone – thought before the start that the Serbs would stand a chance, but they ended up on the top of the podium.

Somewhat similarly, NBG had recently lost a lot of key players (in the summer), including their Spanish scoring machine Alvaro Granados, and the freshly-crowned Olympic champion Nikola Jaksic.

They admittedly only dreamt of making the Final Four in the autumn, however, they showed tremendous strength and fighting spirit during the season – which is anything but surprising from a Serbian team.

Zivko Gocic, who captained the 2016 Olympic winning team in Rio, has already proven that he’s just as influential as a coach as he was as a player.

The NBG mastermind has managed to build a team that has the finest blend of experienced veterans and extremely talented youngsters.

Team effort prevailed in the Quarter Final Stage against classy rivals like Olympiacos, Marseille and Jadran and was enough to upset Barceloneta and land a place in the final.

And while they could keep up their tough, aggressive defending and precise execution in offence, they were on equal terms with FTC.

However, after 20 minutes or so, they began to run out of steam, and Nikola Lukic, who scored six goals just like Manhercz, started missing his shots, but first and foremost they were unable to slow Fradi down.

And it was clear that once the Magyars were gearing up, the game would shift to their favourite territory – and their 0-4 rush brutally demonstrated that.

While in the previous three years, the Novi players (a totally different line-up) might have been disappointed to fall short again and again, this year’s silver should be seen as a tremendous feat.

It’s not a big consolation, but a telling fact that this was their fourth appearance in the F8/4 and they lost to the eventual champions every time (a year ago, Fradi beat them in the semis). So, one may put this into a different perspective – you have to beat Novi Beograd to lift the trophy.

4. Zodiac CNAB took home the bronze for the fifth time in their history. They may have thrashed Marseille 19-9 on the last day, and showed their better face once more, but they were anything but satisfied.

Losing to Novi Beograd in the semis was a very bitter pill to swallow, as they were unable to perform at the level they hit in the spring, which saw them become the only team in the whole season to force a draw against the mighty Ferencvaros and then beat them in the shootout.

The Spanish side have also had a tremendous run this season, losing just one single match in regular time across all competitions (in Budapest, to Fradi), and only a saved penalty denied them a coveted place in the final in Malta (NBG won the shootout 5-4).

Another grand battle with Fradi would have been a worthy ending for this team, which is likely to be transformed once again this summer. And CNAB are the prime example that in the gruelling world of the Champions League, even a near-perfect season from a brilliant team cannot guarantee a (really) happy ending.

5. Marseille’s first appearance on the grand stage landed them in fourth place. In recent years, it has become a rarity that a team could achieve something big during their first try (Fradi did manage to win in 2019 on their debut). Still, their relentless fighting spirit forced a balanced match against FTC in the semis – now they really need to work on their away-game performances.

Reaching the finals relied mostly on their fine home wins. Away from Marseille, they were 2-4 in the two stages combined, so add the results of the Final Four and you are at 2-6 – which is a sharp contrast to their 5-1 run in front of their loud and passionate fans in the south of France.

6. OK, let us add a quick bonus talking point – as we witnessed history in another aspect at the weekend, as when the final concluded, a century-old era came to an end too.

The game between FTC and Novi was the last one played on a field 30m long. The new rules – already applied at the recent World Cup matches – curtailed the men’s playing field to 25m.

Once water polo moved to pools from lakes (where the ball had to be placed on top of boats to score), the field’s length was set at 30m and that has been in use ever since.

A new chapter begins now, and we have seen several changes to the rules over the past decades, with many being real game-changers, like introducing quarters instead of halves, abandoning the so-called standing rule, switching from a leather ball to a rubber one, creating possession and exclusion time, offering time-outs and so on – but the field’s measurements had never been touched (in the men’s game).

Now that will change too – and time will tell how we’ll remember the last game played in a 30m field.

–

Watch water polo action live on www.euroaquaticstv.com and stay up-to-date with live results/tables and real-time updates through the European Aquatics App. Download it here: Google Play.

Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics