2023–24 LEN Challenger Cup

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 champions Galatasaray (1st title)
  Runners-up Triglav Kranj

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][2][3][4][5]

Format

This is the first season under the new changes made by LEN.[6] 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[7] Association Points Teams
NR Belgium 0 1
NR Bulgaria 0
NR Cyprus 0 1
NR Finland 0
NR Great Britain 0 2

Teams

The team were announced on 8 September 2023.[8] 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
Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois VK Banja Luka KVT Komodor APOEL Nicosia
Cetus Espoo Polytechnic Water Polo Club City Of Manchester Water Polo Club EVK Zaibas
Valletta[a] Vitória Sport Clube Clube Fluvial Portuense Sporting Clube De Portugal
KVP Novaky Triglav Kranj SC Kreuzlingen Carouge Natation
Galatasaray ODTU Sport Club Enka Istanbul
  1. ^ Valletta is actually the Maltese national team, but is playing under the name Valletta.[9]

Schedule

Rounds and dates

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

Draw

The draw was on 11 September 2023. H indicates which club is hosting the groups.[10][11][12][13] 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

Vitória Sport Clube
Galatasaray (H)
Enka Istanbul
Carouge Natation

Triglav Kranj
VK Banja Luka
KVP Novaky
EVK Zaibas

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

SC Kreuzlingen
Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois (H)
KVT Komodor
Polytechnic Water Polo Club

City Of Manchester Water Polo Club
Cetus Espoo
APOEL Nicosia

Group A

Held in Porto, Portugal

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification KRE TRI VIT FLU APO
1 SC Kreuzlingen 4 4 0 0 0 59 36 +23 12 Quarter-finals — 10–9 — — —
2 Triglav Kranj 4 2 0 0 2 47 34 +13 6[a] — — 10–8 — 18–5
3 Vitória Sport Clube 4 2 0 0 2 48 45 +3 6[a] 10–12 — — — 18–14
4 Clube Fluvial Portuense (H) 4 2 0 0 2 39 51 −12 6[a] 8–21 11–10 9–12 — 11–8
5 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

Held in Mouscron, Belgium

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification CAR DAU MAN ODT BAN
1 Carouge Natation 4 3 1 0 0 59 34 +25 11 Quarter-finals — — 11–10 20–9 20–7
2 Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois (H) 4 3 0 1 0 69 36 +33 10 11–12[a] — 16–14 20–7 25–7
3 City Of Manchester Water Polo Club 4 2 0 0 2 60 42 +18 6 — — — — —
4 ODTU Sport Club 4 1 0 0 3 45 69 −24 3 — — 8–13 — 21–16
5 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 GAL NOV POL SPO
1 Galatasaray (H) 3 3 0 0 0 58 21 +37 9 Quarter-finals — 14–7 17–8 27–6
2 KVP Novaky 3 2 0 0 1 33 28 +5 6 — — — 15–6
3 Polytechnic Water Polo Club 3 1 0 0 2 25 32 −7 3 — 8–11 — —
4 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 ZAI VAL ENK CET KOM
1 EVK Zaibas 4 3 0 0 1 64 35 +29 9[a] Quarter-finals — — 8–11 22–8 —
2 Valletta (H) 4 3 0 0 1 67 33 +34 9[a] 11–15 — 14–10 21–5 21–3
3 Enka Istanbul 4 3 0 0 1 68 26 +42 9[a] — — — 22–1 25–3
4 Cetus Espoo 4 1 0 0 3 36 74 −38 3 — — — — 22–9
5 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

Draw

The draw took place on 24 October in Barcelona.[16] 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

SC Kreuzlingen
Carouge Natation
Galatasaray
EVK Zaibas

Triglav Kranj
Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois
KVP Novaky
Valletta

Bracket

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

Quarter-finals

25 November 2023
20:30 		Report Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois 7–17 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 18–7 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 6–10 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 15–12 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 17–7 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 14–12 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 15–14 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 13–11 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

9 March 2024
19:00 		Report EVK Zaibas 8–9 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 12–9 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 11–10 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 10–10 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

6 April 2024
18:00 		Report Galatasaray 14–6 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 13–19 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

Galatasaray
First title

See also

References

  1. ^ "Galatasaray lands historical cup win - European Aquatics®". www.len.eu. April 27, 2024.
  2. ^ Štamcar, Miha (April 27, 2024). "Pokal Challenger Galatasarayu, Triglavu drugo mesto".
  3. ^ https://www.galatasaray.org/haber/su-sporlari/sutopu/galatasaray-sutopu-takimimiz-len-challenger-cup-ta-namaglup-sampiyon/55457#:~:text=LEN%20Challenger%20Cup%E2%80%99ta%20%C3%BClkemizi%20temsil%20eden%20Galatasaray%20Sutopu,Kranj%20tak%C4%B1m%C4%B1n%C4%B1%2019-13%20ma%C4%9Flup%20ederek%20nama%C4%9Flup%20%C5%9Fampiyon%20oldu.
  4. ^ "Galatasaray, Challenger Kupası'nda şampiyon". www.trtspor.com.tr.
  5. ^ Mađerić, Davor (April 28, 2024). "Pokal Challenger Galatasarayu, Triglavu drugo mesto - Športni portal".
  6. ^ "Big changes in European water polo club competitions - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. June 2, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d "Men Clubs Country Ranking - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. February 20, 2023.
  8. ^ Curcic, Ivan (September 8, 2023). "36 teams in Men's LEN Euro Cup; new format will be applied".
  9. ^ Curcic, Ivan (October 20, 2023). "Great day for Swiss tandem".
  10. ^ "Draws for Euro Cup and Challenger Cup - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. September 8, 2023.
  11. ^ "LEN Qualifying Round Draws: 2023/2024 Euro Cup Men, Challenger Cup Men and Women - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. September 11, 2023.
  12. ^ Curcic, Ivan (September 11, 2023). "Plenty of national clashes in Euro Cup qualifications; Vasas starts title defense from Budapest".
  13. ^ "Water-Polo : Les Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois retrouvent l'Europe". RTBF.
  14. ^ "Men Club Ranking - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. February 20, 2023.
  15. ^ "Men Country Ranking - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. February 20, 2023.
  16. ^ "Water Polo Challenger Cup Men and Women: draw and changes - LEN - European Aquatics". www.len.eu. October 23, 2023.
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