Euro Cup Men: Quarter-final draw sets up huge Marseille versus Sabadell rematch
It cannot get any better than this – four extraordinary quarter-finals are in sight as Monday’s Euro Cup draw set up really exciting duels, including an instant rematch of a fierce Champions League rivalry between Marseille and Sabadell.
2025/26 Euro Cup Men
Quarter-finals
Leg 1: 18th March
Leg 2: 28th March
QF1: Primorac Kotor (MNE)/Jug Dubrovnik (CRO) v Radnicki Kragujevac (SRB)
QF2: CN Marseille (FRA) v KEIO Sabadell (ESP)
QF3: Panathanaikos AC (GRE) v Jadran Split (CRO)
QF4: BVSC Manna ABC (HUN) v CSM Oradea (ROU)
Semi-finals
Leg 1: 25th April
Leg 2: 9th May
SF1: Winners QF1 v Winners QF2
SF2: Winners QF3 v Winners QF2
Just five weeks after staging an extraordinary match in the Champions League Group Stage, Marseille and Sabadell are set to clash again in arguably the most highly anticipated tie of the quarter-finals.
The French will be eager to take revenge after the Spaniards beat them home and away (12-11, 16-13) and those losses prevented Marseille from making the next round, just half a year after their sensational run to their first Final Four.
Though the Eight Finals second leg of Primorac versus Jug is yet to be decided (it will be played on 14 March), whoever comes out on top will face a thriling battle against Radnicki Kragujevac.
Besides Marseille, the Serbs were the highest-rated casualties of the Champions League Group Stage.
With several freshly crowned European champions in their line-up, Radnicki are aiming to console themselves with a European trophy – since Recco are no longer in their way, unlike last year when they lost to the Italian giants in the final, and this could be an important step for them to reach their goal
The draw also continued Panathinaikos’ quest that could be called ‘Tour de Jadran’.
After eliminating Montengro’s top team, Jadran Herceg Novi, in a shootout in the Eight Finals, the Greeks will return to the Adriatic coast to have another showdown with the other Jadran, Split.
The Croats are the favourites, but Panathinaikos have already proved they are up to the task.
Besides the Greeks, BVSC are the other side who knocked out a Champions League team in the Eight Finals (fellow Hungarian side Vasas – and Jug can join them if they can prevail against Primorac).
Next for BVSC is the team of Oradea and since only a two and a half-hour drive separates the two venues, both matches should be staged in great atmospheres as fans may accompany their teams.
This is a close game to call as the Romanians barely survived the previous round against Terrassa, while the Magyars needed a big comeback in the return leg, advancing after losing by three in the first match.
The first legs are scheduled for 18 March and the return legs are due 10 days later.
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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics
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