Pro Recco defeated Dubrovnik’s Jug water polo team with 9-8 (3-2, 1-1, 2-2, 3-3) in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Italian club Pro Recco, the host of this year’s final tournament – the Water Polo Champions League – defeated Dubrovnik’s Jug with 9-8 (3-2, 1-1, 2-2, 3-3) in a semi-final match played on Friday in Genoa. Pro Recco will fight on Saturday for the title of European champions against Greek club Olympiacos who finished Spanish club Barcelona in the first semifinal 6-4, reports Gol.hr on June 8, 2018.
The player of the match was Pro Recco goalie Stefano Tempesti who stopped as many as 20 shots from the Dubrovnik water polo players, while on the other side, the captain of Jug, Marko Bijač, had only ten.
Loren Fatović was the best scorer for Jug with two goals, while Joković, Garcia, Ivanković, Rašović, Renzuto, and Benić each scored one goal. The best on Pro Recco was Filip Filipović with three goals, while two goals were scored by Di Fulvio.
Pro Recco opened the duel better to lead 3-1. Jug had their best play from the 10th to 19th minute, when the Dubrovnik club went from 2-4 to leading 5-4. However, Jug was weakened after a red card, which left them without their first center. With three goals in a row, the Italians lead 7-5 and held their advantage until the end of the game.
In the first semi-final, Greek Olympiacos defeated Barcelona 6-4 (1-1, 2-2, 1-1, 2-0), and Croatian goalkeeper Josip Pavić was again the best player of the win with 11 defenses, while Andro Bušlje was the best shooter of the match with two goals.
On Saturday, Jug will play for the 3rd place against Barcelona, and from 20:30, Pro Recco and Olympiacos will fight for the European Championship. The Greek club won their only title in 2002, and Pro Recco won their last title in 2015 when they were better than Primorje from Rijeka.
