Returning to the fight for European glory amid a "lack of respect"

BarcelonaThe dreaded Petros Kapagerov swimming pool in Piraeus is the venue for the final four of the Women's Water Polo Champions League, with the locals, Olympiacos, ready to face the Catalans. Astralpool CN Sabadell, the current champions of the competition, and CN Sant Andreu, playing in their second continental finals, want to return from Greece with the grand prize. The Vallesans had asked European Aquatics to host the finals, but the federation chose the Olympiacos pool, which is always packed at these events with the presence of the animation groups that usually attend the men's football and basketball games, generating an atmosphere not usually seen at a water polo competition.

Sabadell will be Olympiacos' opponent in the first semifinal this Friday (5:30 p.m.). A duel between the two most dominant teams in recent years. The team coached by David Palma has won seven Champions Leagues in the last fifteen years, and the Greeks three. It's still a repeat of the 2024 final, when Sabadell won in Barcelona 16-10. If Sabadell win the cup, they would equal Orizzonte Catania's eight titles at the top of the list. The Sicilians are the only team to have won the Champions League three times in a row, which is something Sabadell hopes to emulate.

The second semifinal pits Sant Andreu against Hungarian side Ferencváros (7:15 p.m.), who are making their debut in the finals and have a host of international players. "Last year's debut will help us, as it will get over the nerves of being the stars," said goalkeeper Martina Terré before flying to Greece, referring to their third place finish a year ago. The grand final will be this Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

With a young squad featuring Terré and striker Elena Ruiz, Sant Andreu has reached this final phase after defeating another Catalan team, Assolim Mataró. "The team is very calm. We're under pressure to want to play in the final and even win it. This year we're approaching the final four in a different way. We know we have a chance of reaching the final and also of winning the Champions League," says Javier Aznar, coach of Sant Andreu, who have won the last two editions of the Reina.

CN Sabadell, on the warpath

The final arrives with CN Sabadell, the continental dominator of the last decade, on the warpath against European Aquatics. The team will receive 125,000 euros, while the winner of the women's competition will receive six times less, 20,000.

"We want to express our strongest disagreement with the economic distribution that Euroaquatics has proposed, in a regrettably incomprehensible manner, for the men's and women's Champions League competitions. [...] It is a lack of respect for the players and the clubs that, like us, have been committed to women's sport for years," and "we deport." "It's very sad. It's difficult for women to grow in water polo like this. We are more united than ever to fight for what we have earned," says Bea Ortiz, awarded as the best water polo player in the world. CN Sant Andreu has preferred not to make any statement on the matter.

This will be the last Champions League final for Mati Ortiz, the Sabadell native's dozen. "I don't usually get nervous, but I am a little now. It's not a final four Furthermore, we can equal Orizzonte and I see the team with a lot of desire," says the captain of the Vallesans.