The 2024–25 European Aquatics Champions League is the 62nd edition of the newly renamed European Aquatics's premier competition for men's water polo clubs. FTC-Telekom are the defending champions.
FTC-Telekom won their third title with a win over Novi Beograd in the final.
Format After one qualification round, sixteen teams will qualify for the group stage. Four groups of four will be played., with 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 2024–25 European Aquatics 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.
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.
RankAssociationPointsTeams1 Italy110,26032 Hungary84,492.53 Spain71,732.54 Serbia69,8155 Greece68,857.56 Croatia57,2107 France45,62028 Germany33,042.59 Romania17,087.5310 Montenegro14,977.5211 Georgia12,407.5112 Turkey7,24513 Russia5,162.5014 Switzerland3,68515 Netherlands3,280
RankAssociationPointsTeams16 Slovakia3,180017 Portugal2,972.518 Slovenia2,96019 Lithuania1,877.520 Bosnia and Herzegovina1,790121 Great Britain1,720022 Belgium1,31023 Malta1,31024 Israel86025 Denmark56026 Finland56027 Bulgaria 37028 Cyprus37029 Poland317.5
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. In this season, as FTC-Telekom are the reigning champions, Hungary's spot was given to the Hungarian runners-up, A-Híd Vasas Plaket. After the abrupt withdrawal of the Italian champions, Pro Recco, due to financial reasons, RN Savona, who placed second, takes their place in the Main round. Also, despite finishing fourth, CC Ortigia took Italy's third spot in the tournament. Croatia also saw a team withdrawing with Primorje EB Rijeka, who placed third, giving up their spot. The replacement was HAVK Mladost Zagreb, who finished fourth.
+Main round Jadran Split (1st) CN Marseille (1st) Dinamo Tbilisi (1st) Waspo'98 Hannover (1st) Olympiacos Piraeus (1st) FTC-Telekom CL (1st) A-Híd Vasas Plaket (2nd) RN Savona (2nd) Primorac Kotor (1st) Steaua București (1st) Novi Beograd (1st) Zodiac Atlètic-Barceloneta (1st)
+Qualification round VK Banja Luka (1st) Jug AO Dubrovnik (2nd) HAVK Mladost Zagreb (4th) Pays d'Aix Natation (3rd) Spandau 04 (2nd) NC Vouliagmeni (2nd) AC PAOK (3rd) BVSC-Zugló (3rd) AN Brescia (3rd) CC Ortigia (4th) Jadran Herceg Novi (2nd) CSM Oradea (2nd) Dinamo București (3rd) Radnički Kragujevac (2nd) VK Šabac (3rd) Astrapool Sabadell (2nd) CN Barcelona (3rd) Enka Istanbul (1st)
Round and draw dates Schedule Phase Round Round date Qualification round 12–15 September 2024Main round Matchday 1 8–9 October 2024 Matchday 2 15–16 October 2024 Matchday 3 29–30 October 2024 Matchday 4 12–13 November 2024 Matchday 5 19–20 November 2024 Matchday 6 3–4 December 2024Quarter-finals round Matchday 1 4–5 February 2025 Matchday 2 25–26 February 2025 Matchday 3 18–19 March 2025 Matchday 4 1–2 April 2025 Matchday 5 22–23 April 2025 Matchday 6 13–14 May 2025Final Four Semifinals 30 May 2025 Final 1 June 2025
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 13 August 2024 in Zagreb, Croatia. H indicates which clubs is hosting a group. Teams in bold advanced to the main round.
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4 AN Brescia Jug AO Dubrovnik (H) NC Vouliagmeni Astrapool Sabadell (H) Spandau 04 CC Ortigia CN Barcelona Radnički Kragujevac (H) VK Šabac Jadran Herceg Novi CSM Oradea (H) HAVK Mladost Zagreb BVSC-Zugló Enka Istanbul Pays d'Aix Natation VK Banja Luka Dinamo București AC PAOK
Group A 12–15 September 2024, Dubrovnik, Croatia
Group B 13–15 September 2024, Kragujevac, Serbia
Group C 12–15 September 2024, Oradea, Romania
Group D 13–15 September 2024, Sabadell, Spain
Main round
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.
This season, 11 of the 16 clubs from last season are present. RN Savona return to the Champions League for the first time in 18 years. For the first time since 2010–11, Primorac Kotor will participate. After 13 years away, A-Híd Vasas Plaket qualified. Waspo'98 Hannover comes back after a one season absence. Of the teams who progressed from qualification, Radnički Kragujevac and CSM Oradea return after being absent for three and eleven years respectively.
For the first time ever, Romania will be represented by two clubs in the group stage, while Montenegro will boast two clubs in the group stage for the first time since 2011–12. Overall, a total of 11 countries are present in the group stage.
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
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 Zagreb on 11 December. 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. Seeded Unseeded Novi Beograd FTC-Telekom Zodiac Atlètic-Barceloneta Olympiacos Piraeus CSM Oradea Jadran Split CN Marseille RN Savona
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
Group B
Final Four
The Final Four tournament will be held from 31 May to 1 June 2025 at the National Pool Complex in Valletta, Malta.
Bracket
Third place match
Final
See also 2024–25 European Aquatics Euro Cup 2024–25 European Aquatics Challenger Cup 2024 European Aquatics Super Cup 2024–25 European Aquatics Women's Champions League 2024–25 European Aquatics Women's Euro Cup 2024–25 European Aquatics Women's Challenger Cup 2024 European Aquatics Women's Super Cup
References
External links Official website