2023–24 LEN Challenger Cup
LeagueLEN Challenger Cup
SportWater polo
Duration19 October 2023 – 27 April 2024
Number of games50
Number of teams19

The 2023–24 LEN Challenger Cup was the 2nd edition of a water polo competition organised by the Ligue Européenne de Natation (LEN). It acts as the third tier, below the LEN Champions League and the LEN Euro Cup. The reigning champions are GS Apollon Smyrnis, but they won't defend their title due to their involvement in this season's Champions League and Euro Cup.

Format

This is the first season under the new changes made by LEN.[1] 19 teams are grouped into 4 pools, three with five clubs, and one with four clubs. The pools are held by one of the clubs. The top 2 from every pool advances to the quarter-finals, followed by semi-finals and finals.

Rankings

Only teams below the top 12 can enter the competition.

Rank[2] Association Points Teams
NR Belgium Belgium 0 1
NR Bulgaria Bulgaria 0
NR Cyprus Cyprus 0 1
NR Finland Finland 0
NR United Kingdom Great Britain 0 2

Teams

The team were announced on 8 September 2023.[3] Starting this season, no countries ranked in the top 12 of the LEN men's club rankings can take part in this tournament.

Participating teams
Belgium Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois Bosnia and Herzegovina VK Banja Luka Bulgaria KVT Komodor Cyprus APOEL Nicosia
Finland Cetus Espoo United Kingdom Polytechnic Water Polo Club United Kingdom City Of Manchester Water Polo Club Lithuania EVK Zaibas
Malta Valletta[lower-alpha 1] Portugal Vitoria Sport Clube Portugal Clube Fluvial Portuense Portugal Sporting Clube De Portugal
Slovakia KVP Novaky Slovenia Triglav Kranj Switzerland SC Kreuzlingen Switzerland Carouge Natation
Turkey Galatasaray Turkey ODTU Sport Club Turkey Enka Istanbul
  1. ↑ Valletta is actually the Maltese national team, but is playing under the name Valletta.[4]

Schedule

Rounds and dates

PhaseRoundRound date
Qualification round19–22 October 2023
Quarter-finalsFirst leg25 November 2023
Second leg9 December 2023
Semi-finalsFirst leg9 March 2024
Second leg23 March 2024
FinalFirst leg6 April 2024
Second leg27 April 2024

Qualification round

Draw

The draw was on 11 September 2023. H indicates which club is hosting the groups.[5][6][7] Teams in bold advanced to the quarter-finals. The seeding was decided by as follows:

  • The new LEN club rankings.[8]
  • LEN country club rankings.[2]
  • LEN men's national team rankings.[9]
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4 Pot 5

Portugal Vitoria Sport Clube
Turkey Galatasaray (H)
Turkey Enka Istanbul
Switzerland Carouge Natation

Slovenia Triglav Kranj
Bosnia and Herzegovina VK Banja Luka
Slovakia KVP Novaky
Lithuania EVK Zaibas

Malta Valletta (H)
Turkey ODTU Sport Club
Portugal Clube Fluvial Portuense (H)
Portugal Sporting Clube De Portugal

Switzerland SC Kreuzlingen
Belgium Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois (H)
Bulgaria KVT Komodor
United Kingdom Polytechnic Water Polo Club

United Kingdom City Of Manchester Water Polo Club
Finland Cetus Espoo
Cyprus APOEL Nicosia

Group A

Held in Porto, Portugal

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Switzerland KRE Slovenia TRI Portugal VIT Portugal FLU Cyprus APO
1 Switzerland SC Kreuzlingen 4 4 0 0 0 59 36 +23 12 Quarter-finals — 10–9 — — —
2 Slovenia Triglav Kranj 4 2 0 0 2 47 34 +13 6[lower-alpha 1] — — 10–8 — 18–5
3 Portugal Vitoria Sport Clube 4 2 0 0 2 48 45 +3 6[lower-alpha 1] 10–12 — — — 18–14
4 Portugal Clube Fluvial Portuense (H) 4 2 0 0 2 39 51 −12 6[lower-alpha 1] 8–21 11–10 9–12 — 11–8
5 Cyprus APOEL Nicosia 4 0 0 0 4 36 63 −27 0 9–16 — — — —
Source: Report
(H) Host
Notes:
  1. 1 2 3 Head-to-head goal difference: Triglav Kranj +1, Vitoria Sport Clube +1, Clube Fluvial Portuense –2. Head-to-head result: Triglav Kranj 10–8 Vitoria Sport Clube.

Group B

Held in Mouscron, Belgium

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Switzerland CAR Belgium DAU United Kingdom MAN Turkey ODT Bosnia and Herzegovina BAN
1 Switzerland Carouge Natation 4 3 1 0 0 59 34 +25 11 Quarter-finals — — 11–10 20–9 20–7
2 Belgium Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois (H) 4 3 0 1 0 69 36 +33 10 11–12[lower-alpha 1] — 16–14 20–7 25–7
3 United Kingdom City Of Manchester Water Polo Club 4 2 0 0 2 60 42 +18 6 — — — — —
4 Turkey ODTU Sport Club 4 1 0 0 3 45 69 −24 3 — — 8–13 — 21–16
5 Bosnia and Herzegovina VK Banja Luka 4 0 0 0 4 37 89 −52 0 — — 7–23 — —
Source: Report
(H) Host
  1. ↑ Match ended 8–8, Carouge Natation won 4–3 on penalties

Group C

Held in Istanbul, Turkey

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Turkey GAL Slovakia NOV United Kingdom POL Portugal SPO
1 Turkey Galatasaray (H) 3 3 0 0 0 58 21 +37 9 Quarter-finals — 14–7 17–8 27–6
2 Slovakia KVP Novaky 3 2 0 0 1 33 28 +5 6 — — — 15–6
3 United Kingdom Polytechnic Water Polo Club 3 1 0 0 2 25 32 −7 3 — 8–11 — —
4 Portugal Sporting Clube De Portugal 3 0 0 0 3 16 51 −35 0 — — 4–9 —
Source: Report
(H) Host

Group D

Held in Valletta, Malta

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Lithuania ZAI Malta VAL Turkey ENK Finland CET Bulgaria KOM
1 Lithuania EVK Zaibas 4 3 0 0 1 64 35 +29 9[lower-alpha 1] Quarter-finals — — 8–11 22–8 —
2 Malta Valletta (H) 4 3 0 0 1 67 33 +34 9[lower-alpha 1] 11–15 — 14–10 21–5 21–3
3 Turkey Enka Istanbul 4 3 0 0 1 68 26 +42 9[lower-alpha 1] — — — 22–1 25–3
4 Finland Cetus Espoo 4 1 0 0 3 36 74 −38 3 — — — — 22–9
5 Bulgaria KVT Komodor 4 0 0 0 4 20 87 −67 0 5–19 — — — —
Source: Report
(H) Host
Notes:
  1. 1 2 3 Head-to-head goal difference: EVK Zaibas +1, Valletta 0, Enka Istanbul –1.

Knockout stage

Draw

The draw took place on 24 October in Barcelona.[10] 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 previous round could not be drawn against each other.

Seeded Unseeded

Switzerland SC Kreuzlingen
Switzerland Carouge Natation
Turkey Galatasaray
Lithuania EVK Zaibas

Slovenia Triglav Kranj
Belgium Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois
Slovakia KVP Novaky
Malta Valletta

Bracket

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
            
Belgium Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois 7 7 14
Lithuania EVK Zaibas 17 18 35
Lithuania EVK Zaibas
Turkey Galatasaray
Malta Valletta 6 12 18
Turkey Galatasaray 10 15 25
 
 
Slovenia Triglav Kranj 17 12 29
Switzerland Carouge Natation 7 14 21
Slovenia Triglav Kranj
Switzerland SC Kreuzlingen
Slovakia KVP Novaky 15 11 26
Switzerland SC Kreuzlingen 14 13 27

Quarter-finals

25 November 2023
20:30		 Report Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois Belgium 7–17 Lithuania EVK Zaibas Mouscron, Belgium
Referees:
Peter Radic (SVK), Luis Santos (POR)
Score by quarters: 0–6, 1–1, 2–5, 4–5
Croquet 2 Goals Bakulo 4
9 December 2023
19:00		 Report EVK Zaibas Lithuania 18–7 Belgium Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois Elektrėnai, Lithuania
Referees:
Massimo Castrilli (SUI), Rok Vehovec (SLO)
Score by quarters: 3–4, 5–0, 7–1, 3–2
Bakulo, Jonkus 4 Goals Lukacs 2

EVK Zaibas won 35–14 on aggregate.

25 November 2023
19:00		 Report Valletta Malta 6–10 Turkey Galatasaray Gzira, Malta
Referees:
Alessandro Severo (ITA), Tomi Kavcic (SLO)
Score by quarters: 2–2, 1–3, 2–4, 1–1
Galea, Gialanze 2 Goals Caner 3
9 December 2023
17:30		 Report Galatasaray Turkey 15–12 Malta Valletta Istanbul, Turkey
Referees:
Erik Kolar (SVK), Philip Uhlig (GER)
Score by quarters: 4–2, 3–2, 4–4, 4–4
Caner 4 Goals Cachia, Gialanze 3

Galatasaray won 25–18 on aggregate.

2 December 2023
20:00		 Report Triglav Kranj Slovenia 17–7 Switzerland Carouge Natation Kranj, Slovenia
Referees:
Karel Dvoracek (CZE), Erkan Turkkan (TUR)
Score by quarters: 3–1, 6–4, 2–2, 6–0
Lah 4 Goals Blary, Roscio 2
9 December 2023
19:15		 Report Carouge Natation Switzerland 14–12 Slovenia Triglav Kranj Carouge, Switzerland
Referees:
Radosław Koryzna (POL), Boris Margeta (SLO)
Score by quarters: 3–2, 3–5, 3–5, 5–0
Blary 7 Goals Justin 4

Triglav Kranj won 29–21 on aggregate.

25 November 2023
19:00		 Report KVP Novaky Slovakia 15–14 Switzerland SC Kreuzlingen Novaky, Slovakia
Referees:
Massimo Angileri (MLT), Nerijus Papaurelis (LTU)
Score by quarters: 2–2, 3–4, 6–2, 4–6
Mihal, Tisaj 4 Goals Geiser, Pleyer 3
9 December 2023
20:00		 Report SC Kreuzlingen Switzerland 13–11 Slovakia KVP Novaky Kreuzlingen, Switzerland
Score by quarters: 2–1, 2–1, 3–4, 6–5
Pleyer 6 Goals Bielik 3

SC Kreuzlingen won 27–26 on aggregate.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Big changes in European water polo club competitions - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. June 2, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Men Clubs Country Ranking - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. February 20, 2023.
  3. ↑ Curcic, Ivan (September 8, 2023). "36 teams in Men's LEN Euro Cup; new format will be applied".
  4. ↑ Curcic, Ivan (October 20, 2023). "Great day for Swiss tandem".
  5. ↑ "Draws for Euro Cup and Challenger Cup - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. September 8, 2023.
  6. ↑ "LEN Qualifying Round Draws: 2023/2024 Euro Cup Men, Challenger Cup Men and Women - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. September 11, 2023.
  7. ↑ Curcic, Ivan (September 11, 2023). "Plenty of national clashes in Euro Cup qualifications; Vasas starts title defense from Budapest".
  8. ↑ "Men Club Ranking - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. February 20, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Men Country Ranking - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. February 20, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Water Polo Challenger Cup Men and Women: draw and changes - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. October 23, 2023.
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