February 6, 2020 - The eighth round of the LEN Champions League was held on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, featuring Croatian clubs Jug, Jadran, and Mladost.
The Jug Adriatic water polo team has made a big step towards the final eight after defeating Olympiacos 13:9 in the eighth round of Group A of the Champions League group stage, beating the Greek champions for the first time.
The Dubrovnik squad booked a decisive victory against the 2019 European finalist, and the key was the second quarter, which Jug won 5:1.
Olympiakos led 3:1, but Jug woke up and scored six goals in a row to lead 7:3. At half time, Vjekoslav Kobešćak's team had a five-goal advantage (9:4) and, in the continuation of the match, managed to maintain their edge.
Paulo Obradovic, Loren Fatovic and Luka Loncar each contributed to the win with three goals, while Toni Popadic was excellent in goal. The most efficient for Olympiacos was Maro Jokovic and Stefan Mitrovic with two goals each.
In the second match of this group, Jadran lost to Barceloneta 12:16 away and recorded their sixth defeat. The Split team held up well in the first three quarters and were losing 10:11 in the final eight minutes. However, Barceloneta was better 5:2 in the last quarter.
Alvaro Granados was the most efficient for Barceloneta with five goals and Alexandre Bodegas scored four goals, while Rino Buric, Ivan Domagoj Zovic, and Nathan Power were the best for Jadran with two goals each.
Barceloneta and Olympiacos are tied for the top spot in Group A with 19 points, while Jug is in second place with 18 points.
The third Croatian representative in the Champions League, Mladost Zagreb, defeated Marseille 14:11 as a guest in the 8th round of Group B of the Champions League.
Mladost is fourth in the rankings with 16 points, the same number of points as OSC in third, while Marseille is in sixth with nine points. At the top is Pro Recco with 20 points and Ferencvaros with 17 points.
You can see the full LEN Champions League table here.
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