2023–24 LEN Champions League

For the equivalent women's tournament, see 2023–24 LEN Women's Champions League.

The 2023–24 LEN Champions League is the 61st edition of LEN's premier competition for men's water polo clubs. Because of the congested schedule, there's a new format this year.^[1] Pro Recco are the three-time defending champions.

2023–24 LEN Champions League
League	LEN Champions League
Sport	Water polo
Duration	7 September 2023 – 7 June 2024
Season MVP	Dušan Mandić (FTC-Telekom)
Top scorer	Álvaro Granados 39 goals (Novi Beograd)
Finals champions	FTC-Telekom (2nd title)
Runners-up	Pro Recco
Finals MVP	Dušan Mandić (FTC-Telekom)

FTC-Telekom won their second title after triumphing over Pro Recco in the final.^[2]

Format

This season, the format has undergone some changes. After one qualification round (instead of three), sixteen teams will qualify for the group stage. Because of the congested schedule, four groups of four will be played instead of two groups of eight. The top two in each group will make the quarter-finals round (also a group stage). The team that finish third and fourth will compete in the 2023–24 LEN Euro Cup knockout stage. The remaining eight teams in the quarter-finals round will play a further six matches, with the top two in each group making the Final Four, which makes a return.^[3]

Rankings

Starting this season, LEN also started a club rankings. The top 11 best ranked countries in the new rankings are allowed to have their national champion go directly into the main round, as long as they meet requirements.^[1][4]

Rank[4] Association Points Teams 1 Italy 118,765 3 2 Hungary 91,047.5 3 Spain 75,387.5 4 Serbia 68,902.5 5 Greece 64,375 6 Croatia 56,065 7 France 47,207.5 8 Germany 41,660 9 Romania 19,800 10 Montenegro 17,700 2 11 Georgia 11,245 1 12 Russia 10,490 0 13 Netherlands 5,005

Rank Association Points Teams 14 Turkey 4,807.5 0 15 Slovakia 1,870 16 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1,415 17 Portugal 1,385 18 Switzerland 1,210 19 Slovenia 1,160 20 Israel 860 21 Poland 635 22 Denmark 560 23 Lithuania 515 24 Malta 435 24 Ukraine 435

Teams

Alongside the 11 domestic champions, the defending champions also get a spot in the main round. In the event that the Champions League defending champions won their national league, the runners-up of the national league will take the vacant spot. Although, the Italian runners-up, AN Brescia, declined the spot because they didn't want to pay the wildcard fee (which was 25,000 Euros), their spot went to the Spanish runners-up, Astrapool Sabadell).

Main round

Jadran Split (1st)	CN Marseille (1st)	Dinamo Tbilisi (1st)	Spandau 04 (1st)
Olympiacos Piraeus (1st)	FTC-Telekom (1st)	Pro Recco CL (1st)	Jadran Herceg Novi (1st)
Steaua București (1st)	Novi Beograd (1st)	Zodiac Atlètic-Barceloneta (1st)	Astrapool Sabadell (2nd)

Qualification round

Jug AO Dubrovnik (2nd)	Primorje Erste Bank Rijeka (3rd)	CN Noisy-le-Sec (2nd)	EN Tourcoing (3rd)
Waspo'98 Hannover (2nd)	ASC Duisburg (3rd)	NC Vouliagmeni (2nd)	GS Apollon Smyrnis (3rd)
OSC Budapest (2nd)	Endo Plus Service Honvéd (3rd)	AN Brescia (2nd)	CC Ortigia (3rd)
Primorac Kotor (2nd)	CSM Oradea (2nd)	Dinamo București (3rd)	Crvena zvezda (2nd)
Radnički Kragujevac (3rd)	CN Barcelona (3rd)

Round and draw dates

Schedule

Phase	Round	Round date[5]
Qualification round		7–10 September 2023
Main round	Matchday 1	26–27 September 2023
	Matchday 2	6–7 October 2023
	Matchday 3	17–18 October 2023
	Matchday 4	31 October/1 November 2023
	Matchday 5	21–22 November 2023
	Matchday 6	5–6 December 2023
Quarter-finals round	Matchday 1	8–9 March 2024
	Matchday 2	19–20 March 2024
	Matchday 3	2–3 April 2024
	Matchday 4	23–24 April 2024
	Matchday 5	3–4 May 2024
	Matchday 6	14–15 May 2024
Final Four	Semifinals	5 June 2024
	Final	7 June 2024

Qualification round

The group winners qualify for the main round, while everyone else drops down to the Euro Cup qualifiers.

Draw

The draw was on 10 August 2023.^[6] The seeding was decided by the new LEN club rankings.^[7] H indicates which club is hosting the groups. Teams in bold advanced to the main round.

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
AN Brescia Jug AO Dubrovnik (H) Waspo'98 Hannover (H) NC Vouliagmeni	OSC Budapest CC Ortigia Radnički Kragujevac (H) CN Barcelona	Crvena zvezda Primorac Kotor EN Tourcoing CSM Oradea (H)	CN Noisy-le-Sec GS Apollon Smyrnis Endo Plus Service Honvéd ASC Duisburg Primorje Erste Bank Rijeka Dinamo București

Group A

7–10 September 2023, Hannover, Germany

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		CRV	BAR	HAN	APO	HON
1	Crvena zvezda	4	4	0	0	0	50	32	+18	12	Main round		—	—	—	12–10	—
2	CN Barcelona	4	3	0	0	1	41	42	−1	9			9–14	—	—	12–11	9–8
3	Waspo'98 Hannover (H)	4	2	0	0	2	39	47	−8	6			6–14	9–11	—	11–10	13–12
4	GS Apollon Smyrnis	4	1	0	0	3	42	45	−3	3			—	—	—	—	11–10
5	Endo Plus Service Honvéd	4	0	0	0	4	37	43	−6	0			7–10	—	—	—	—

Source: LEN
(H) Host

Group B

7–10 September 2023, Kragujevac, Serbia

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BRE	RAD	NOI	KOT	DUI
1	AN Brescia	4	4	0	0	0	47	24	+23	12	Main round		—	—	—	11–3	11–4
2	Radnički Kragujevac (H)	4	2	1	0	1	46	45	+1	8			8–15	—	13–10	17–16[a]	—
3	CN Noisy-le-Sec	4	2	0	0	2	52	41	+11	6			9–10	—	—	—	—
4	Primorac Kotor	4	1	0	1	2	41	49	−8	4			—	—	10–16	—	16–10
5	ASC Duisburg	4	0	0	0	4	30	57	−27	0			—	8–13	8–17	—	—

Source: LEN
(H) Host

1. Match ended 12–12, Radnički Kragujevac won 5–4 on penalties

Group C

8–10 September 2023, Oradea, Romania

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		VOU	ORT	RIJ	ORA
1	NC Vouliagmeni	3	3	0	0	0	40	25	+15	9	Main round		—	12–8	—	—
2	CC Ortigia	3	2	0	0	1	38	33	+5	6			—	—	16–14	—
3	Primorje Erste Bank Rijeka	3	1	0	0	2	36	37	−1	3			12–14	—	—	—
4	CSM Oradea (H)	3	0	0	0	3	19	38	−19	0			5–14	7–14	7–10	—

Source: LEN
(H) Host

Group D

8–10 September 2023, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		JUG	TOU	OSC	DIN
1	Jug AO Dubrovnik (H)	3	3	0	0	0	47	22	+25	9	Main round		—	17–8	14–10	16–4
2	EN Tourcoing	3	2	0	0	1	32	30	+2	6			—	—	—	—
3	OSC Budapest	3	1	0	0	2	35	33	+2	3			—	5–10	—	20–9
4	Dinamo București	3	0	0	0	3	21	50	−29	0			—	8–14	—	—

Source: LEN
(H) Host

Main round

Jadran Split

Jug

Marseille

Dinamo Tbilisi

Spandau

Olympiacos

Vouliagmeni

FTC

Pro Recco

Brescia

Jadran HN

Steaua București

Belgrade

Barceloneta

Sabadell

Belgrade teams
Crvena zvezda
Novi Beograd

Location of teams of the 2023–24 LEN Champions League group stage.
Red: Group A; Blue: Group B; Yellow: Group C; Green: Group D

The top two from each group make the quarter-finals round. The bottom two from each group drops down to the Euro Cup eighth-finals.

Teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 2 points for a penalty shootout win, 1 point for a penalty shootout loss, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings:

• Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
• Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
• Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
• Goal difference in all group matches;
• Goals scored in all group matches.

Among the teams, 13 return from last season. Steaua București and Crvena zvezda return after a one-season absence, while Jadran Herceg Novi return after a two-season absence. They all replaced Waspo'98 Hannover, Radnički Kragujevac and Genesys OSC-Budapest.

In regards to countries, all 9 from last season return, with the inclusion of Romania and Montenegro after one and two-season absences, bringing the number up to 11.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		NOV	BRE	SAB	STE
1	Novi Beograd	6	5	0	0	1	78	44	+34	15	Advance to quarter-finals		—	13–5	10–12	19–7
2	AN Brescia	6	3	1	0	2	62	56	+6	11			8–13	—	11–10	16–7
3	Astralpool Sabadell	6	3	0	1	2	58	51	+7	10	Transfer to Euro Cup		7–11	9–10[a]	—	13–6
4	Steaua București	6	0	0	0	6	41	88	−47	0			5–12	8–17	8–11	—

Source: LEN Champions League

1. Match ended 5–5, AN Brescia won 5–4 on penalties

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		PRO	OLY	JUG	TBI
1	Pro Recco	6	6	0	0	0	81	52	+29	18	Advance to quarter-finals		—	12–11	13–9	15–6
2	Olympiacos Piraeus	6	3	1	0	2	83	54	+29	11			10–11	—	16–15[a]	16–8
3	Jug AO Dubrovnik	6	2	0	1	3	64	72	−8	7	Transfer to Euro Cup		7–14	5–15	—	19–13
4	Dinamo Tbilisi	6	0	0	0	6	47	97	−50	0			9–16	6–19	5–12	—

Source: LEN Champions League

1. Match ended 12–12, Olympiacos Piraeus won 4–3 on penalties

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		FTC	SPI	CRV	JAD
1	FTC-Telekom	6	5	1	0	0	91	56	+35	17	Advance to quarter-finals		—	13–11	20–6	9–7
2	Jadran Split	6	3	0	1	2	81	78	+3	10			17–20[a]	—	16–13	16–14
3	Crvena zvezda	6	2	0	1	3	54	77	−23	7	Transfer to Euro Cup		6–16	12–11	—	9–6
4	Jadran Herceg Novi	6	0	1	0	5	55	70	−15	2			10–17	10–11	21–20[b]	—

Source: LEN Champions League

1. Match ended 16–16, FTC-Telekom won 4–1 on penalties
2. Match ended 8–8, Jadran Herceg Novi won 13–12 on penalties

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BAR	MAR	SPA	VOU
1	Zodiac Atlètic-Barceloneta	6	6	0	0	0	79	52	+27	18	Advance to quarter-finals		—	9–7	16–6	16–10
2	CN Marseille	6	3	0	0	3	69	68	+1	9			12–13	—	13–11	15–13
3	Spandau 04	6	2	0	0	4	56	75	−19	6	Transfer to Euro Cup		6–13	13–10	—	14–13
4	NC Vouliagmeni	6	1	0	0	5	66	75	−9	3			11–12	9–12	10–6	—

Source: LEN Champions League

Quarter-finals round

Main article: 2023–24 LEN Champions League Quarter-finals round

The four group winners and four group runners-up were drawn into two groups, with each one containing two group winners and two group runners-up. The top two teams in each group advanced to the Final Four.

Draw

The draw took place in Barcelona. The seeded and unseeded clubs consist of the teams that finished first and second in the previous round respectively. The only restriction was that clubs from the same group in the Main round could not be drawn against each other.^[8][9]

Seeded	Unseeded
Novi Beograd Pro Recco FTC-Telekom Zodiac Atlètic-Barceloneta	AN Brescia Olympiacos Piraeus Jadran Split CN Marseille

Teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 2 points for a penalty shootout win, 1 point for a penalty shootout loss, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings:

• Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
• Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
• Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
• Goal difference in all group matches;
• Goals scored in all group matches.

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		PRO	NOV	MAR	JAD
1	Pro Recco	6	5	1	0	0	88	58	+30	17	Final four		—	15–7	15–8	18–9
2	Novi Beograd	6	4	0	1	1	78	74	+4	13			14–15[a]	—	13–10	15–11
3	CN Marseille	6	2	0	0	4	72	76	−4	6			10–12	13–14	—	17–10
4	Jadran Split	6	0	0	0	6	62	92	−30	0			10–13	10–15	12–14	—

Source: LEN Champions League

1. Match ended 10–10, Pro Recco won 5–4 on penalties

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		FTC	OLY	BAR	BRE
1	FTC-Telekom	6	5	0	0	1	62	55	+7	15	Final four		—	11–9	13–11	9–8
2	Olympiacos Piraeus	6	4	1	0	1	78	68	+10	14			10–8	—	10–7	17–12
3	Zodiac Atlètic-Barceloneta	6	2	0	1	3	68	65	+3	7			8–10	18–19[a]	—	12–8
4	AN Brescia	6	0	0	0	6	54	74	−20	0			9–11	12–13	5–12	—

Source: LEN Champions League

1. Match ended 13–13, Olympiacos Piraeus won 6–5 on penalties

Final Four

Main article: 2023–24 LEN Champions League Final Four

The Final Four tournament was held from the 5 to 7 June 2024 at the National Pool Complex in Valletta, Malta.^[10][11]

Bracket

	Semi-finals				Final
	5 June
	Pro Recco (PSO)	13
					7 June
	Olympiacos Piraeus	11
					Pro Recco	11
	5 June
					FTC-Telekom	12
	FTC-Telekom (PSO)	18
	Novi Beograd	17
					Third place
					7 June
					Olympiacos Piraeus	9
					Novi Beograd	6

Semi-finals

5 June 2024 19:00	Report	Pro Recco	13–11 (PSO)	Olympiacos Piraeus	National Pool Complex, Valletta Referees: Adrian Tiberiu Alexandrescu (ROU), Sebastien Dervieux (FRA)
		Score by quarters: 3–0, 1–2, 3–3, 2–4  PSO: 4–2
		Di Fulvio, Younger 2	Goals	Genidounias 3

5 June 2024 21:00	Report	FTC-Telekom	18–17 (PSO)	Novi Beograd	National Pool Complex, Valletta Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), David Gomez (ESP)
		Score by quarters: 4–4, 3–2, 5–4, 1–3  PSO: 5–4
		Mandić 5	Goals	Vlachopoulos 4

Third place match

7 June 2024 19:00	Report	Olympiacos Piraeus	9–6	Novi Beograd	National Pool Complex, Valletta Referees: Frank Ohme (GER), Andrej Franulović (CRO)
		Score by quarters: 4–1, 3–3, 1–1, 1–1
		Fountoulis 3	Goals	Ćuk 2

Final

7 June 2024 21:00	Report	Pro Recco	11–12	FTC-Telekom	National Pool Complex, Valletta Attendance: 3,000[12] Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), Adrian Tiberiu Alexandrescu (ROU)
		Score by quarters: 2–2, 2–4, 3–3, 4–3
		four players 2	Goals	Mandić 4

2023–24 LEN Champions League Champions
FTC-Telekom 2nd title

Awards

Season MVP	Top Scorer	Finals MVP
Dušan Mandić (FTC-Telekom)	Alvaro Granados (Novi Beograd) [39 goals]	Dušan Mandić (FTC-Telekom)

Total 7 of the Season
LW	Andrija Prlainović (CN Marseille)	CF	Kostas Kakaris (Pro Recco)	RW	Dušan Mandić (FTC-Telekom)
LD	Álvaro Granados (Novi Beograd)	CB	Aaron Younger (Pro Recco)	RD	Konstantinos Genidounias (Olympiacos Piraeus)
		GK	Soma Vogel (FTC-Telekom)

See also

• 2023–24 LEN Euro Cup
• 2023–24 LEN Challenger Cup
• 2023 LEN Super Cup
• 2023–24 LEN Women's Champions League
• 2023–24 LEN Women's Euro Cup
• 2023–24 LEN Women's Challenger Cup
• 2023 LEN Women's Super Cup