2023–24 LEN Challenger Cup

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For the equivalent women's tournament, see 2023–24 LEN Women's Challenger Cup.
2023–24 LEN Challenger Cup
LeagueLEN Challenger Cup
SportWater polo
Duration19 October 2023 – 27 April 2024
Number of games50
Number of teams19
Finals championsTurkey Galatasaray (1st title)
  Runners-upSlovenia Triglav Kranj
LEN Challenger Cup seasons

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.

Galatasaray won the competition, beating Slovenian side, Triglav Kranj, in the final. They become the first men's water polo team from Turkey to win a European title.[1]

Format[edit]

This is the first season under the new changes made by LEN.[2] 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[edit]

Only teams below the top 12 can enter the competition.

Rank[3] 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[edit]

The team were announced on 8 September 2023.[4] 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[a] 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.[5]

Schedule[edit]

Rounds and dates[edit]

Phase Round Round date
Qualification round 19–22 October 2023
Quarter-finals First leg 25 November 2023
Second leg 9 December 2023
Semi-finals First leg 9 March 2024
Second leg 23 March 2024
Final First leg 6 April 2024
Second leg 27 April 2024

Qualification round[edit]

Draw[edit]

The draw was on 11 September 2023. H indicates which club is hosting the groups.[6][7][8][9] Teams in bold advanced to the quarter-finals. The seeding was decided by as follows:

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[edit]

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[a] — — 10–8 — 18–5
3 Portugal Vitoria Sport Clube 4 2 0 0 2 48 45 +3 6[a] 10–12 — — — 18–14
4 Portugal Clube Fluvial Portuense (H) 4 2 0 0 2 39 51 −12 6[a] 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. ^ a b c 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[edit]

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[a] — 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[edit]

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[edit]

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[a] Quarter-finals — — 8–11 22–8 —
2 Malta Valletta (H) 4 3 0 0 1 67 33 +34 9[a] 11–15 — 14–10 21–5 21–3
3 Turkey Enka Istanbul 4 3 0 0 1 68 26 +42 9[a] — — — 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. ^ a b c Head-to-head goal difference: EVK Zaibas +1, Valletta 0, Enka Istanbul –1.

Knockout stage[edit]

Draw[edit]

The draw took place on 24 October in Barcelona.[12] 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[edit]

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
            
Belgium Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois 7 7 14
Lithuania EVK Zaibas 17 18 35
Lithuania EVK Zaibas 8 9 17
Turkey Galatasaray 9 12 21
Malta Valletta 6 12 18
Turkey Galatasaray 10 15 25
Turkey Galatasaray 14 19 33
Slovenia Triglav Kranj 6 13 19
Slovenia Triglav Kranj 17 12 29
Switzerland Carouge Natation 7 14 21
Slovenia Triglav Kranj 11 10 21
Switzerland SC Kreuzlingen 10 10 20
Slovakia KVP Novaky 15 11 26
Switzerland SC Kreuzlingen 14 13 27

Quarter-finals[edit]

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.

Semi-finals[edit]

9 March 2024
19:00 		Report EVK Zaibas Lithuania 8–9 Turkey Galatasaray Elektrėnai, Lithuania
Referees:
Rik Evers (NED), Gernot Haentschel (GER)
Score by quarters: 0–3, 2–2, 5–2, 1–2
Gostautas, Pumputis 2 Goals Acar, Naipoglu 2
23 March 2024
19:00 		Report Galatasaray Turkey 12–9 Lithuania EVK Zaibas Istanbul, Turkey
Referees:
Daniele Bianco (ITA), Tomislav Copic (CRO)
Score by quarters: 4–1, 3–1, 3–5, 2–2
Krstic 4 Goals Jelača 5

Galatasaray won 21–17 on aggregate

9 March 2024
18:00 		Report Triglav Kranj Slovenia 11–10 Switzerland SC Kreuzlingen Kranj, Slovenia
Referees:
Rajmund Fodor (HUN), Jakov Blaskovic (CRO)
Score by quarters: 3–1, 2–2, 3–3, 3–4
Paunovic 3 Goals Pleyer 3
23 March 2024
20:00 		Report SC Kreuzlingen Switzerland 10–10 Slovenia Triglav Kranj Kreuzlingen, Switzerland
Referees:
David Gomez (ESP), Stanko Ivanovski (MNE)
Score by quarters: 3–0, 4–3, 2–3, 1–4
Herzog, Pleyer 4 Goals Cerar, Troppan 3

Triglav Kranj won 21–20 on aggregate

Final[edit]

6 April 2024
18:00 		Report Galatasaray Turkey 14–6 Slovenia Triglav Kranj Istanbul, Turkey
Referees:
Rik Evers (NED), Sinisa Matijasevic (MNE)
Score by quarters: 3–2, 5–2, 3–1, 3–1
Destici 5 Goals Justin 2
27 April 2024
20:00 		Report Triglav Kranj Slovenia 13–19 Turkey Galatasaray Kranj, Slovenia
Referees:
Radoslaw Koryzna (POL), Hendrik Schopp (GER)
Score by quarters: 3–5, 3–2, 3–5, 4–7
Rajlic, Stromajer 3 Goals Naipoglu 4

Galatasaray won 33–19 on aggregate


2023–24 LEN Challenger Cup Champions
Turkey
Galatasaray
First title

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Galatasaray lands historical cup win - European Aquatics®". www.len.eu. April 27, 2024.
  2. ^ "Big changes in European water polo club competitions - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. June 2, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d "Men Clubs Country Ranking - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. February 20, 2023.
  4. ^ Curcic, Ivan (September 8, 2023). "36 teams in Men's LEN Euro Cup; new format will be applied".
  5. ^ Curcic, Ivan (October 20, 2023). "Great day for Swiss tandem".
  6. ^ "Draws for Euro Cup and Challenger Cup - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. September 8, 2023.
  7. ^ "LEN Qualifying Round Draws: 2023/2024 Euro Cup Men, Challenger Cup Men and Women - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. September 11, 2023.
  8. ^ Curcic, Ivan (September 11, 2023). "Plenty of national clashes in Euro Cup qualifications; Vasas starts title defense from Budapest".
  9. ^ "Water-Polo : Les Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois retrouvent l'Europe". RTBF.
  10. ^ "Men Club Ranking - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. February 20, 2023.
  11. ^ "Men Country Ranking - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. February 20, 2023.
  12. ^ "Water Polo Challenger Cup Men and Women: draw and changes - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. October 23, 2023.
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