LEN Champions League

The LEN Champions League is the top-tier European professional water polo club competition with teams from up to 18 different countries. It is organized by the Ligue Européenne de Natation.

LEN Champions League

Current season, competition or edition: 2019–20 LEN Champions League
Formerly	European Cup Euroleague
Sport	Water polo
Founded	1963 (1963)
President	Paolo Barelli
No. of teams	24 (preliminary stage) 16 (group stage)
Country	LEN members
Continent	Europe
Most recent champion(s)	Ferencváros (1st title)
Most titles	Pro Recco (8 titles)
Level on pyramid	1st Tier (Europe)
Official website	len.eu

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 different clubs, 10 of which have won the title more than once. The most successful club in the competition is Pro Recco, with eight titles. The current European champion is FTC Telekom Budapest, who won their first title after defeating Olympiacos in the 2018–19 LEN Champions League Final in Hannover.

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

Finals

Year		Final				Third and fourth place
		Champion	Score	Second 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 CO	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

Titles by club

Main article: European Cup, Euroleague and LEN Champions League records and statistics

Rank	Club	Titles	Runner-up	Champion years
1.	Pro Recco	8	7	1964–65, 1983–84, 2002–03, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2014–15
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
10.	Jadran Split	2		1991–92, 1992–93
11.	Honvéd	1	3	2003–04
12.	CSK VMF Moscow	1	2	1976–77
–	Újpest	1	2	1993–94
–	Catalunya	1	2	1994–95
15.	Canottieri Napoli	1	1	1977–78
–	Pescara	1	1	1987–88
–	Bečej	1	1	1999–00
–	Primorac Kotor	1	1	2008–09
19.	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
–	Ferencváros	1		2018–19
26.	Dynamo Moscow		3
27.	Primorje		2
28.	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.	Yugoslavia ^[A]	14	6	3
2.	Italy	13	10	4
3.	Hungary	8	9	6
4.	Croatia	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	2	1	2
10.	Montenegro	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 its rump state Serbia and Montenegro in 2006. Clubs from present day Serbia won the title 6 times and were runners-up additional 4 times, clubs from present day Croatia won the title 7 and were runners-up once time, clubs from present day Montenegro were runners-up once time.

*^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 eight times.
• Mladost is the only club to have won the competition three times in a row (1968, 1969, 1970).
• Partizan is the only club to have won the European Championship twice in a row for two times (1966, 1967 & 1975, 1976).
• Spandau 04 (1986, 1987), Mladost (1990, 1991), Jadran Split (1992, 1993), Posillipo (1997, 1998) and Pro Recco (2007, 2008) are the other five teams to have won the European Championship twice in a row, only for one time.

References

External links

• LEN Champions League at LEN