LEN Champions League

LEN Champions League
Current season, competition or edition:; 2024–25 LEN Champions League
Formerly	European Cup; Euroleague
Sport	Water polo
Founded	1963; 61 years ago
President	Paolo Barelli
No. of teams	24 (preliminary stage); 16 (group stage)
Country	LEN members
Continent	Europe
Most recent; champion(s)	Ferencváros (2nd title)
Most titles	Pro Recco (11 titles)
Level on pyramid	1st Tier (Europe)
Official website	championsleague.len.eu

The LEN Champions League is the top-tier European professional water polo club competition with teams from up to 18 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 clubs, 10 of which have won the title more than once. The most successful club in the competition is Pro Recco, with eleven titles. The current European champion is Ferencváros, who won their second title after defeating Pro Recco in the 2023–24 LEN Champions League Final in Valletta.

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
2001–02 Olympiacos
2002–03 Pro Recco
2003–04 Honvéd
2004–05 Posillipo
2005–06 Jug Dubrovnik
2006–07 Pro Recco
2007–08 Pro Recco
2008–09 Primorac Kotor
2009–10 Pro Recco
2010–11 Partizan
2011–12 Pro Recco
2012–13 Crvena zvezda
2013–14 Atlètic-Barceloneta
2014–15 Pro Recco
2015–16 Jug Dubrovnik
2016–17 Szolnok
2017–18 Olympiacos
2018–19 Ferencváros
2019–20 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 Pro Recco
2021–22 Pro Recco
2022–23 Pro Recco
2023–24 Ferencváros

Finals

Final Four
Year	Final			Semi-finalists
Year	Champion	Score	Runner-up	Third place	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 Dubrovnik	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 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
2020–21 Details	Pro Recco	9–6	Ferencváros	AN Brescia	Atlètic-Barceloneta
2021–22 Details	Pro Recco	13–13 (PSO: 4–3)	Novi Beograd	Ferencváros	AN Brescia
2022–23 Details	Pro Recco	14–11	Novi Beograd	Atlètic-Barceloneta	NC Vouliagmeni
2023–24 Details	Ferencváros	12–11	Pro Recco	Olympiacos	Novi Beograd

Titles by club

Rank	Club	Titles	Runner-up	Champion years
1.	Pro Recco	11	8	1964–65, 1983–84, 2002–03, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23
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
–	Ferencváros	2	1	2018–19, 2023–24
11.	Jadran Split	2		1991–92, 1992–93
12.	Honvéd	1	3	2003–04
13.	CSK VMF Moscow	1	2	1976–77
–	Újpest	1	2	1993–94
–	Catalunya	1	2	1994–95
16.	Canottieri Napoli	1	1	1977–78
–	Pescara	1	1	1987–88
–	Bečej	1	1	1999–00
–	Primorac Kotor	1	1	2008–09
20.	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
26.	Dynamo Moscow		3
27.	Primorje		2
–	Novi Beograd		2
29.	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.	Italy	16	11	4
2.	Yugoslavia ^[A]	14	6	4
3.	Hungary	9	10	6
4.	Croatia ^[A]	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 ^[A]	2	3	2
10.	Montenegro ^[A]	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 all countries unless the union of Serbia and Montenegro, named until 2003 as FR YUgoslavia, and broke up in 2006. Clubs from present day Serbia won the title 7 times and were runners-up additional 4 times, clubs from present day Croatia won the title 7 and were runners-up one time, clubs from present day Montenegro were runners-up one time.

*^AB and ^AB . Note, Croatian record counting since 1991, while Serbian and Montenegrin counting since 2006, only.

*^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 11 times.
Mladost (1968, 1969, 1970) and Pro Recco (2021, 2022, 2023) are the only two clubs to have won the competition three times in a row.
Partizan and Pro Recco are the only two clubs to have won the European Championship twice in a row for two times (1966, 1967 & 1975, 1976) and (2007, 2008 & 2021, 2022)
Spandau 04 (1986, 1987), Mladost (1990, 1991), Jadran Split (1992, 1993) and Posillipo (1997, 1998) are the other five teams to have won the European Championship twice in a row, only for one time.
Most finals in a row: 7 Pro Recco (2006-2012), 5 Mladost (1968-1972) & Spandau 04 (1986-1990).

Most Titles

[1]

Players

bold - active players

Player	Titles	Clubs
Player	Titles	#	List
/ Pietro Figlioli	7	1	Pro Recco 2007, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2021, 2022, 2023
Đorđe Perišić	6	1	Partizan 1964, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1975, 1976
Maurizio Felugo	6	2	Posillipo 2005, Pro Recco 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2015
Aaron Younger	5	3	Szolnok 2017, Ferencvaros 2019, Pro Recco 2021, 2022, 2023
Ozren Bonačić	5	2	Partizan 1964, Mladost 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972
Mirko Sandić	5	1	Partizan 1964, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1975
Tamas Kasas	5	2	Posillipo 1998, Pro Recco 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012
Tibor Benedek	5	2	Ujpest 1994, Pro Recco 2003, 2008, 2010, 2012
Stefano Tempesti	5	1	Pro Recco 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2015
Andrija Prlainović	5	4	Partizan 2011, Pro Recco 2012, 2015, Crvena Zvezda 2013, Szolnok 2017
Aleksandar Ivović	5	1	Pro Recco 2012, 2015, 2021, 2022, 2023
Norbert Madaras	5	2	Pro Recco 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, Ferencváros 2019
Božidar Novaković	5	1	Partizan 1966, 1967, 1971, 1975, 1976
Duško Pijetlović	4	3	Partizan 2011, Pro Recco 2012, 2015, Crvena Zvezda 2013
Karlo Stipanić	4	1	Mladost 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972
Zlatko Šimenc	4	1	Mladost 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972
Miroslav Poljak	4	1	Mladost 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972
Marijan Žužej	4	1	Mladost 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972
Milan Jeger	4	1	Mladost 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972
Zdravko Hebel	4	1	Mladost 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972
Francesco Di Fulvio	4	1	Pro Recco 2015, 2021, 2022, 2023
Matteo Aicardi	4	1	Pro Recco 2015, 2021, 2022, 2023
/ Gonzalo Echenique	4	2	Barceloneta 2014, Pro Recco 2021, 2022, 2023
Hagen Stamm	4	1	Spandau04 1982, 1985, 1986, 1989
/ Armando Fernández	4	1	Spandau04 1982, 1985, 1986, 1989
Peter Röhle	4	1	Spandau04 1982, 1985, 1986, 1989
Zoran Janković	4	1	Partizan 1964, 1966, 1967, 1971
Feliče Tedeski	4	1	Partizan 1964, 1966, 1967, 1971
Branimir Glidžić	4	1	Partizan 1964, 1966, 1967, 1971

* Titles with 3 clubs: Felipe Perrone, Dusan Mandic

Coaches

Coach	Titles	Clubs
Coach	Titles	#	List
Vlaho Orlić	6	1	Patizan 1964, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1975, 1976
Giuseppe Porzio	5	2	Posillipo 2005, Pro Recco 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012
Aleksandar Coša Seifert	4	1	Mladost 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972
/ Alfred Balen	3	1	Spandau04 1982, 1985, 1986

As Player and Coach combined

Player/Coach	Titles	as Player		as Coach
Player/Coach	Titles	#	List	#	List
Giuseppe 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
Sandro Sukno	3	1	Pro Recco 2012	2	Pro Recco 2022, 2023

* 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.

Awards

Most valuable player Final Tournament

2010 – Vanja Udovičić
2011 – Tamás Kásás
2012 – Denes Varga
2013 – Andrija Prlainovic
2014 – Albert Español
2015 – Felipe Perrone
2016 – Felipe Perrone
2017 – Andrija Prlainovic
2018 – Josip Pavic
2019 – Denes Varga
2020 Not awarded due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021 – Dušan Mandić
2022 – Giacomo Cannella
2023 – Gergő Zalánki
2024 – Dušan Mandić

Top Scorer by Season

2012–13 – Felipe Perrone 31 goals
2013–14 – Filip Filipović 51 goals
2014–15 – Sandro Sukno 34 goals
2015–16 – Denes Varga 33 goals
2016–17 – Felipe Perrone 42 goals
2017–18 – Darko Brguljan 42 goals
2018–19 – Kostas Genidounias 42 goals
2019–20 Not awarded due to COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 – Angelos Vlachopoulos 41 goals
2021–22 – Gergő Zalánki 42 goals
2022–23 – Alvaro Granados 46 goals
2023–24 – Alvaro Granados 39 goals