LEN Champions League

LEN Champions League
	Current season, competition or edition:; 2020–21 LEN Champions League
Formerly	European Cup; Euroleague
Sport	Water polo
Founded	1963
President	Paolo Barelli
No. of teams	24 (preliminary stage); 16 (group stage)
Country	LEN members
Continent	Europe
Most recent; champion(s)	Ferencváros; (1st title)
Most titles	Pro Recco; (8 titles)
Level on pyramid	1st Tier (Europe)
Official website	len.eu

The LEN Champions League is the top-tier European professional water polo club competition with teams from up to 18 different countries. It is organized by the Ligue Européenne de Natation.

The competition started in 1963 as European Cup. A change of name and format occurred in 1996, with the competition being renamed Champions League and the final four system being established as the format of choice, for the first time during the 1996–97 LEN Champions League. From 2003 to 2011 the competition was named LEN Euroleague (with the change of name being simply a re-branding) and from 2011 and on LEN Champions League, its current name.

LEN Champions League is the most popular water polo league in the European continent. It has been won by 24 different clubs, 10 of which have won the title more than once. The most successful club in the competition is Pro Recco, with eight titles. The current European champion is FTC Telekom Budapest, who won their first title after defeating Olympiacos in the 2018–19 LEN Champions League Final in Hannover.

History

Names of the competition

1963–1996: European Cup
1996–2003: Champions League
2003–2011: LEN Euroleague
2011–present: LEN Champions League

Title holders

1963–64 Partizan
1964–65 Pro Recco
1965–66 Partizan
1966–67 Partizan
1967–68 Mladost
1968–69 Mladost
1969–70 Mladost
1970–71 Partizan
1971–72 Mladost
1972–73 OSC Budapest
1973–74 MGU Moscow
1974–75 Partizan
1975–76 Partizan
1976–77 CSK VMF Moscow
1977–78 Canottieri Napoli
1978–79 OSC Budapest
1979–80 Vasas
1980–81 Jug Dubrovnik
1981–82 Barcelona

1982–83 Spandau 04
1983–84 Stefanel Recco
1984–85 Vasas
1985–86 Spandau 04
1986–87 Spandau 04
1987–88 Sisley Pescara
1988–89 Spandau 04
1989–90 Mladost
1990–91 Mladost
1991–92 Jadran Split
1992–93 Jadran Split
1993–94 Újpest
1994–95 Catalunya
1995–96 Mladost
1996–97 Posillipo
1997–98 Posillipo
1998–99 POŠK
1999–00 Bečej
2000–01 Jug Dubrovnik

Finals

Year	Champion	Score	Second place
Year	Final			Third and fourth place
1963–64 Details	Partizan	4–3	Dynamo Moscow	Dynamo Magdeburg	ASC Duisburg
1964–65 Details	Pro Recco	1–0	Partizan	Dynamo Magdeburg	CSK VMF Moscow
1965–66 Details	Partizan	8–7 (5–3 / 3–4)	Dynamo Magdeburg	Pro Recco	CSK VMF Moscow
1966–67 Details	Partizan	10–8 (5–3 / 1–2 / 4–3)	Pro Recco	Dynamo Magdeburg	Dinamo București
1967–68 Details	Mladost	8–6 (4–2 / 4–4)	Dinamo București	CSK VMF Moscow	Pro Recco
1968–69 Details	Mladost	11–7 (7–3 / 4–4)	Dynamo Moscow	Dynamo Magdeburg	Partizan
1969–70 Details	Mladost	7–6 (5–3 / 2–3)	Pro Recco	Barcelona	OSC Budapest
1970–71 Details	Partizan	4–4	Mladost	Dynamo Moscow	Stockholm
1971–72 Details	Mladost	4–2	Pro Recco	Dynamo Moscow	De Robben
1972–73 Details	OSC Budapest	5–4	Partizan	CSK VMF Moscow	Dinamo București
1973–74 Details	MGU Moscow	4–3	OSC Budapest	Partizan	Canottieri Napoli
1974–75 Details	Partizan	6–2	OSC Budapest	Dinamo București	De Robben
1975–76 Details	Partizan	6–5	Vasas	Canottieri Napoli	De Robben
1976–77 Details	CSK VMF Moscow	7–5	Zian	Würzburg 05	Partizan
1977–78 Details	Canottieri Napoli	5–5	CSK VMF Moscow	Partizan	Würzburg 05
1978–79 Details	OSC Budapest	5–2	Montjuïc	Würzburg 05	Pro Recco
1979–80 Details	Vasas	9–7	Partizan	Spandau 04	Montjuïc
1980–81 Details	Jug Dubrovnik	6–4	Spandau 04	Vasas	Ethnikos Piraeus
1981–82 Details	Barcelona	12–11	Spandau 04	Vasas	Alphen
1982–83 Details	Spandau 04	17–16 (7–10 / 10–6)	Dynamo Alma-Ata	Vasas	Pro Recco
1983–84 Details	Pro Recco	16–15 (8–10 / 8–5)	Alphen	Jug Dubrovnik	Spandau 04
1984–85 Details	Vasas	21–16 (11–11 / 10–5)	CSK VMF Moscow	Spandau 04	Partizan
1985–86 Details	Spandau 04	14–13 (7–9 / 7–4)	BVSC	Montjuïc	Jug Dubrovnik
1986–87 Details	Spandau 04	17–13 (10–5 / 7–8)	Dynamo Moscow	Primorac Kotor	Újpest
1987–88 Details	Pescara	21–19 (12–10 / 9–9)	Spandau 04	Dinamo București	Partizan
1988–89 Details	Spandau 04	22–21 (11–10 / 11–11)	Catalunya	Partizan	Ferencváros
1989–90 Details	Mladost	20–19 (9–10 / 11–9)	Spandau 04	Vasas	CSK VMF Moscow
1990–91 Details	Mladost	21–17 (10–7 / 11–10)	Canottieri Napoli	CSK VMF Moscow	Spandau 04
1991–92 Details	Jadran Split	21–20 (10–12 / 11–8)	Savona	Polar Bears Ede	Spandau 04
1992–93 Details	Jadran Split	13–12 (7–8 / 6–4)	Mladost	Olympic Nice	Polar Bears Ede
1993–94 Details	Újpest	21–17 (10–6 / 11–11)	Catalunya	Posillipo	Jadran Split
1994–95 Details	Catalunya	15–13 (7–6 / 8–7)	Újpest	Mladost	Spandau 04
1995–96 Details	Mladost	13–10 (7–4 / 6–6)	Újpest	Barcelona	Posillipo
1996–97 Details	Posillipo	10–7	Mladost	Barcelona	Bečej
1997–98 Details	Posillipo	8–6	Pescara	Mladost	Spartak Volgograd
1998–99 Details	POŠK	8–7	Bečej	Dynamo Moscow	Posillipo
1999–00 Details	Bečej	11–8	Mladost	BVSC	POŠK
2000–01 Details	Jug Dubrovnik	8–7	Olympiacos	Posillipo	Bečej
2001–02 Details	Olympiacos	9–7	Honvéd	Posillipo	Jug Dubrovnik
2002–03 Details	Pro Recco	9–4	Honvéd	Mladost	Spandau 04
2003–04 Details	Honvéd	7–6	Jadran Herceg Novi	Primorje	Shturm 2002
2004–05 Details	Posillipo	9–8	Honvéd	Pro Recco	Jug Dubrovnik
2005–06 Details	Jug Dubrovnik	9–7	Pro Recco	Posillipo	Savona
2006–07 Details	Pro Recco	9–8	Jug Dubrovnik	Partizan	Olympiacos
2007–08 Details	Pro Recco	13–12	Jug Dubrovnik	Vasas	Mladost
2008–09 Details	Primorac Kotor	8–7	Pro Recco	Jug Dubrovnik	Mladost
2009–10 Details	Pro Recco	9–3	Primorac Kotor	Partizan	Jug Dubrovnik
2010–11 Details	Partizan	11–7	Pro Recco	Mladost	Budva
2011–12 Details	Pro Recco	11–8	Primorje	Mladost	Vasas
2012–13 Details	Crvena zvezda	8–7	Jug Dubrovnik	Atlètic-Barceloneta	Partizan
2013–14 Details	Atlètic-Barceloneta	7–6	Radnički Kragujevac	Primorje	Partizan
2014–15 Details	Pro Recco	8–7	Primorje	Atlètic-Barceloneta	Jug Dubrovnik
2015–16 Details	Jug CO	6–4	Olympiacos	Szolnok	Pro Recco
2016–17 Details	Szolnok	10–5	Jug Dubrovnik	Pro Recco	Eger
2017–18 Details	Olympiacos	9–7	Pro Recco	Atlètic-Barceloneta	Jug Dubrovnik
2018–19 Details	Ferencváros	10–10 (PSO: 4–3)	Olympiacos	Pro Recco	Atlètic-Barceloneta
2019–20 Details	Cancelled			Cancelled

Titles by club

Rank	Club	Titles	Runner-up	Champion years
1.	Pro Recco	8	7	1964–65, 1983–84, 2002–03, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2014–15
2.	Mladost	7	4	1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1995–96
3.	Partizan	7	3	1963–64, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1970–71, 1974–75, 1975–76, 2010–11
4.	Jug Dubrovnik	4	4	1980–81, 2000–01, 2005–06, 2015–16
–	Spandau 04	4	4	1982–83, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1988–89
6.	Posillipo	3		1996–97, 1997–98, 2004–05
7.	Olympiacos	2	3	2001–02, 2017–18
8.	OSC Budapest	2	2	1972–73, 1978–79
9.	Vasas	2	1	1979–80, 1984–85
10.	Jadran Split	2		1991–92, 1992–93
11.	Honvéd	1	3	2003–04
12.	CSK VMF Moscow	1	2	1976–77
–	Újpest	1	2	1993–94
–	Catalunya	1	2	1994–95
15.	Canottieri Napoli	1	1	1977–78
–	Pescara	1	1	1987–88
–	Bečej	1	1	1999–00
–	Primorac Kotor	1	1	2008–09
19.	MGU Moscow	1		1973–74
–	Barcelona	1		1981–82
–	POŠK	1		1998–99
–	Crvena zvezda	1		2012–13
–	Barceloneta	1		2013–14
–	Szolnok	1		2016–17
–	Ferencváros	1		2018–19
26.	Dynamo Moscow		3
27.	Primorje		2
28.	Dynamo Magdeburg		1
–	Dinamo București		1
–	Zian		1
–	Montjuïc		1
–	Dynamo Alma-Ata		1
–	Alphen		1
–	BVSC		1
–	Savona		1
–	Jadran Herceg Novi		1
–	Radnički Kragujevac		1

Titles by nation

Rank	Country	Titles	Runners-up	CL winning clubs
1.	Yugoslavia ^[A]	14	6	3
2.	Italy	13	10	4
3.	Hungary	8	9	6
4.	Croatia	7	9	3
5.	Germany ^[B]	4	4	1
6.	Spain	3	3	3
7.	Soviet Union ^[C]	2	6	2
8.	Greece	2	3	1
9.	Serbia	2	1	2
10.	Montenegro	1	1	1
11.	Netherlands		2
12.	East Germany		1
–	Romania		1

*^A Results until the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991 and the self-determination of its rump state Serbia and Montenegro in 2006. Clubs from present day Serbia won the title 6 times and were runners-up additional 4 times, clubs from present day Croatia won the title 7 and were runners-up once time, clubs from present day Montenegro were runners-up once time.

*^B The results of West Germany counted with those of Germany.

*^C Results until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Clubs from present day Russia won the title 2 times and were runners-up additional 5 times, clubs from present day Kazakhstan were runners-up once time.

Records

Pro Recco has been the most successful club, having won the competition a record eight times.
Mladost is the only club to have won the competition three times in a row (1968, 1969, 1970).
Partizan is the only club to have won the European Championship twice in a row for two times (1966, 1967 & 1975, 1976).
Spandau 04 (1986, 1987), Mladost (1990, 1991), Jadran Split (1992, 1993), Posillipo (1997, 1998) and Pro Recco (2007, 2008) are the other five teams to have won the European Championship twice in a row, only for one time.

Players

Most Titles

Player	#	Clubs
Player	#	#	List
Maurizo Felugo	6	2	Posillipo 2005, Pro Recco 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2015
Đorđe Perišić	6	1	Partizan 1964, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1975, 1976
Andrija Prlainović	5	4	Partizan 2011, Pro Recco 2012, 2015, Crvena Zvezda 2013, Szolnok 2017
Ozren Bonačić	5	2	Partizan 1964, Mladost 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972
Tibor Benedek	5	2	Ujpest 1994, Pro Recco 2003, 2008, 2010, 2012
Tamas Kasas	5	2	Posillipo 1998, Pro Recco 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012
Stefano Tempesti	5	1	Pro Recco 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2015
Mirko Sandić	5	1	Partizan 1964, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1975

4 titles: Karlo Stipanić, Zlatko Šimenc, Ronald Lopatny, Miro Poljak, Marijan Žužej.

Titles with 3 different clubs: Duško Pijetlović

Players/Coaches

Most Titles

Player/Coach	#	as Player		as Coach
Player/Coach	#	#	List	#	List
Guiseppe Porzio	7	2	Posillipo 1997, 1998	5	Posillipo 2005, Pro Recco 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012
Ozren Bonačić	6	5	Partizan 1964, Mladost 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972	1	Mladost 1996
Igor Milanović	5	3	Mladost 1990, 1991, Catalunya 1995	2	Partizan 2011, Pro Recco 2015
Duško Antunović	5	3	Partizan 1971, 1975, 1976	2	Mladost 1990, 1991
Ivo Trumbić	4	3	Mladost 1967, 1968, 1969)	1	Pescara 1988
Paolo De Crescenzo	3	1	Canottieri Naples 1978	2	Posilllipo 1997, 1998
Boris Čukvas *	3	=	Partizan 1964, 1966, 1967	=	=

* Two players were players and coaches at the same time in the winning teams. Boris Čukvas won three titles in a dual role. He was a player and Partizan’s coach during the seasons in which the Belgrade-based club won its first three titles (1963/64, 1965/66 and 1966/67). Eraldo Pizzo was a player and Pro Recco’s coach in the season 1964/65.

Titles (2) as a player and a coach: Veselin Đuho, Marco Baldineti, Vjekoslav Kobeščak.

Coaches

Most Titles

Player	#	Clubs
Player	#	#	List
Guiseppe Porzio	5	2	Posillipo 2005, Pro Recco 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012
[[]]

References

External links

LEN Champions League at LEN

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[A]

[B]

[C]

European Cup, Euroleague and LEN Champions League
European Cup	1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96
Champions League	1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03
Euroleague	2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11
Champions League	2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 squads 2015–16 squads 2016–17 squads 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21
Records and statistics Winning players

European Cup, Euroleague and LEN Champions League winners
European Cup	1964–65: Partizan 1964–65: Pro Recco 1965–66: Partizan 1966–67: Partizan 1967–68: Mladost 1968–69: Mladost 1969–70: Mladost 1970–71: Partizan 1971–72: Mladost 1972–73: OSC 1973–74: MGU 1974–75: Partizan 1975–76: Partizan 1976–77: CSK Moscow 1977–78: Napoli 1978–79: OSC 1979–80: Vasas 1980–81: Jug 1981–82: Barcelona 1982–83: Spandau 04 1983–84: Pro Recco 1984–85: Vasas 1985–86: Spandau 04 1986–87: Spandau 04 1987–88: Pescara 1988–89: Spandau 04 1989–90: Mladost 1990–91: Mladost 1991–92: Jadran Split 1992–93: Jadran Split 1993–94: Újpest 1994–95: Catalunya 1995–96: Mladost
Champions League	1996–97: Posillipo 1997–98: Posillipo 1998–99: POŠK 1999–00: Bečej 2000–01: Jug 2001–02: Olympiacos 2002–03: Pro Recco
Euroleague	2003–04: Honvéd 2004–05: Posillipo 2005–06: Jug 2006–07: Pro Recco 2007–08: Pro Recco 2008–09: Primorac Kotor 2009–10: Pro Recco 2010–11: Partizan
Champions League	2011–12: Pro Recco 2012–13: Crvena Zvezda 2013–14: Atlètic-Barceloneta 2014–15: Pro Recco 2015–16: Jug 2016–17: Szolnok 2017–18: Olympiacos 2018–19: Ferencváros

Top level water polo leagues of Europe (LEN)
Continental	LEN Champions League LEN Euro Cup
Regional	Adriatic
National	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Faroe Islands Finland France Georgia Germany Great Britain Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Israel Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine
Defunct	Czechoslovakia East Germany Serbia and Montenegro Soviet Union Yugoslavia

International water polo
Geography World Rankings World medalists Achievements by nation
World	FINA – Summer Olympics World Championship U20 U18 World Cup men women World League Challengers' Cup
Africa	CANA – African Championship
Americas	ASUA – Pan American Games ASUA Cup (UANA Cup) Central American and Caribbean Games South American Games Bolivarian Games
Asia	AASF – Asian Games Asian Championship Asian Cup Asian Swimming Championships Asian Beach Games Southeast Asian Games Asian Clubs Championships
Europe	LEN – European Championship U19 U17 Europa Cup European Games Men's club Champions League Euro Cup Super Cup Cup Winners' Cup (defunct) Women's club Euro League LEN Trophy Super Cup
Oceania	OSA – Oceanian Championship
Others	Commonwealth Championships Deaflympics Friendship Games Islamic Solidarity Games Mediterranean Games Summer Universiade World Games
Athletes (teams) of the Year International Hall of Fame List of players Coaches Officials