CN Marseille claimed a huge five-goal victory over last season’s bronze medallists Olympiacos SFP on day three of the Champions League Quarter Final Stage. The Greeks suffered their second defeat in a row and might need miracles in the remaining three rounds to qualify for the finals. Elsewhere, VK Novi Beograd remain on course for Malta as they maintained their perfect record by dismantling Croatian arch-rivals VK Jadran Split.
Champions League Men
Quarter Final Stage
Group A – Day 3 Results
Tuesday 18th March 2025
CN Marseille (FRA) 12-7 Olympiacos SFP (GRE)
VK Novi Beograd (SRB) 17-8 VK Jadran Split (CRO)
Standings: 1. NBG 9pts, 2. Marseille 6pts, 3. Olympiacos 3pts, 4. Jadran Split 0pts
Olympiacos melted inside Marseille’s red-hot cauldron, as the French giants came up with another majestic home performance, and this huge win puts them in a great position in the hunt for a Final Four berth.
At the beginning, it was a balanced match, with the Greeks taking the lead twice, but the hosts levelled up and when Daniel Angyal hit a one-timer early in the second, Marseille gradually took control.
Luka Loncar buried an extra, but Angyal managed to put the ball away from a dying man-up and Petar Tesanovic delivered a huge save in a man-down.
Olympiacos equalised for 4-4 – for the last time as it turned out – then a blast from Thomas Vernoux and Ugo Crousillat’s man-up hit gave Marseille a 6-4 lead in 69 seconds.
Ioannis Fountoulis pulled one back from an extra, but Crousillat converted a penalty 53 seconds before the break to reset the two-goal gap.
The Greeks were getting into bigger trouble early in the third when Alexandre Bouet finished off a nicely played attack for 8-5. Andro Buslje’s rocket gave some hope for Olympiacos halfway through this quarter, then both sides missed a man-up after a time-out.
The next French six on five ended in a penalty and Emmanouil Zerdevas heroically stopped Crousillat’s effort, but the Greeks were unable to build on this momentum. Instead, just 28 seconds later, Vernoux made no mistake in a counter, and Marseille enjoyed a 9-6 lead heading into the final period.
Andrija Prlainovic delivered a trademark pinpoint perimeter shot 46 seconds into the fourth for 10-6, which put the Greeks under huge pressure. Indeed, the visitors were unable to handle it, as their attack continued to misfire.
Tesanovic did great in Marseille’s goal too – in a 64-second span, three goals were scored, all from action, Bouet was precise, Gergo Zalanki fired in from distance, but Vernoux also hit a big one after some patient and smart play.
At 12-7, Marseille didn’t want to rush anything, while Olympiacos made desperate attempts to reduce the gap, but they missed two more six on fives.
After back-to-back defeats, the Greeks will probably need a couple of miracles, like winning in Belgrade and/or defeating Marseille by more than five goals – otherwise they will miss the final showdown in Malta.
In the previous two rounds, Group A’s encounters produced thrilling matches, so many expected something similar in Belgrade as the Serbian-Croatian rivalry usually offers grand excitements – and these two sides’ last two clashes in the Regional League ended in a shootout both times.
Instead, this game was a walkover for the Serbians, as Jadran were on the ropes by half-time, then were torn into pieces in the fourth period.
The writing was already on the wall after four and a half minutes as NBG hit three in a span of 1:50 minutes to take a 4-1 lead. A quick double from Zvonimir Butic brought Jadran back to life – but only temporarily.
The second quarter belonged to the Serbs, who were absolutely dominant. They staged a 4-0 run in six minutes, killing three man-downs en-route. Their young goalie Milan Glusac came up with excellent saves, while Marko Bijac was far from his best and was subbed at half-time.
Jadran had a better spell early in the third, as they managed back-to-back goals for 9-6, but with some luck, Milos Cuk buried an extra – regaining the ball after a rebound – then they killed another Croatian six on five before Nikola Lukic scored a fine one from action to put the Serbs five up again at 11-6. Jadran climbed back to 12-8 by the end of the third, however, it was hard to see them coming closer.
Indeed, they never had a chance, as their evening went from bad to worse. Though Bijac returned to the water, and had stops in back-to-back man-downs, Jadran’s offence couldn’t inflict any damage.
Then, turning into the last four minutes, the Croats collapsed. Dorde Vucinic buried an extra for NBG, then Jadran’s Jerko Marinic-Kragic hit the post from a penalty and that appeared to sink his team’s morale even more.
In the last three minutes the visitors conceded four, so the fourth ended in a 5-0 rumble by the triumphant Serbians.
