After the 2019 Champions League Water Polo Final Eight in Hannover, Germany, a total of € 381.000 was shared among the participating teams, with Ferencvaros taking home the lion’s share of € 52.000 for being crowned champions.
Silver medallists Olympiacos were awarded € 42.000, while bronze medallists Pro Recco earned € 35.000.
The rest of the prize money breakdown is listed below, along with more interesting facts and figures from the 2019 Champions League Water Polo season.
PRIZE MONEY
1. Ferencvaros € 52.000
2. Olympiacos € 42.000
3. Pro Recco € 35.000
4. Barceloneta € 33.000
5. Jug Dubrovnik € 30.000
6. AN Brescia € 29.000
7. BPM Busto € 27.000
8. Waspo Hannover € 25.000
9. Szolnok € 21.500
10. Dynamo Moscow € 20.500
11. Jadran Split € 19.500
12. ZF Eger € 18.000
13. Mladost Zagreb € 10.000
14. Steaua Bucharest € 8.000
15. Spandau 04 € 6.000
16. Crvena Zvezda € 4.500
Total € 381.000
• For the first time ever, the Champions League title was decided in a penalty shootout. (Just as the previous big LEN event, the men’s final of the European Championships in Barcelona, where Serbia won by penalties against Spain.)
• Ferencvaros is the 7th club in seven years which won the trophy (previous ones since 2013: Crvena Zvezda SRB, Barceloneta ESP, Recco ITA, Jug CRO, Szolnok HUN, Olympiacos GRE).
• Ferencvaros claimed a European trophy for the third year in a row, they clinched the Euro Cup in 2017 and 2018, and added the Champions League win yesterday.
• Ferencvaros won three shootouts this season: they beat Olympiacos both in the Super Cup final in December and in the final in Hannover and they claimed the decisive win by penalties in the Hungarian league final over OSC.
• This was the third lost final for Olympiacos: they stand 2-3 now – won in 2002 and 2018, lost in 2001, 2016 and 2019.
• Both the men and women teams of Olympiacos reached the final in the top competitions, but both lost the final: the women’s team was defeated by Sabadell (ESP) in the Euro League Final Four in April.
• Ferencvaros has joined a unique circle of clubs which managed to win all three historical trophies having been/are on offer in European water polo. The Hungarians claimed the Cupwinners Cup in 1974, 1977, 1979, 1998, the Euro Cup in 2017 and 2018 and now the Champions League. Teams already members of the ‘Club Treble’: Pescara (ITA, CHL/EUC: 1988, CWC: 1990, 1993, 1994, EC/LT: 1996), Partizan (SRB – CHL: 1964, ’66, 67, ’71, ’75, ’76, 2011, CWC: 1991, EC/LT: 1998), Posillipo (ITA – CHL: 1997, 1998, 2005, CWC: 1988, 2003, EC: 2015). All three sides, just like Ferencvaros, also clinched the Super Cup at least once.
• Ferencvaros is the second team after Pro Recco (2015) which started the season in the qualification and ended up winning the trophy. They are also the lowest ranked side in the prelims (4th) which made it to the top. Barceloneta finished third in 2014 before clinching the trophy.
• The Hungarians beat three former champions in Hannover: 2016 winner Jug Dubrovnik in the quarters, 2014 winner Barceloneta in the semi-finals, 2018 champion Olympiacos in the final.
• Denes Varga claimed his second MVP title, he was also awarded in 2012 (in Oradea he played for Primorje but lost the final to Recco).
• Konstantinos Genidounias finished the season in style: he scored 5 goals in the final and tops the overall scorers’ ranks with 42 goals. An interesting fact: in the previous two seasons the top scorer also had 42 goals: Darko Brguljan (Hannover) in 2018 and Felipe Perrone (Barceloneta) in 2017.
• As for the other master shooters behind Genidounias: Hannover’s Aleksandar Radovic is second with 38, team-mate Darko Brugljan is tied third with Alberto Munarriz with 34 goals apiece. Jug’s Loren Fatovic was the best scorer in Hannover with 13 goals.
• Ferencvaros’s young goalie Soma Vogel produced the best saving percentage in Hannover: he had 33 saves on 55 shots for 60.0%. His father Zsolt won the trophy 25 years ago with Ujpest.
• This was the second trophy for five Ferencvaros players. Marton Vamos, Denes Varga and Aaron Younger took the first one with Szolnok in 2017, Slobodan Nikic with Recco in 2010 and Stefan Mitrovic with Partizan in 2011.
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