Champions League Women: FTC sink local rivals UVSE to place one foot in second successive Final Four

Though three Spanish greats played at home in the first-leg of the Champions League Women quarterfinals, only Mataro managed to gain an advantage, against Roma. Title-holders St Andreu had to come back from five-goals down to force a tie with Vouliagmeni while seven-time champions Sabadell were thrashed by the other Greek team, Olympiacos, whose five-goal victory might just as well send them to the Final Four. In the all-Hungarian battle, FTC totally outclassed local rivals UVSE, winning by seven goals.

2025/26 Champions League Women
Quarterfinals, leg 1
Saturday 11 April 2026

Astralpool CN Sabadell (ESP) 12-17 Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE)
Assolim CN Mataro (ESP) 13-9 SIS Roma (ITA)
FTC-Telekom (HUN) 16-9 UVSE-Helia D (HUN)
*Sant Andreu (ESP) 11-11 CN Vouliagmeni (GRE)
*To be played Friday 10 April

Astralpool CN Sabadell (ESP) 12-17 Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE) (5-6, 2-5, 1-3, 4-3)

After a close first period, Olympiacos simply outclassed Sabadell in all areas. At one point in the fourth, the Greeks led by eight goals and ultimately secured a decisive away win.

Though the hosts made the better start, a swift 0-3 burst by Olympiacos in the middle of the first period already offered a preview of what was to come in the standout match of the day.

In the final two and a half minutes, however, Sabadell – mainly thanks to a couple of classy strikes from Simone van de Kraats – managed to respond to the Greeks’ offence, which had already hit top gear.

As balanced as the opening period seemed, ending 5-6, the Spaniards’ weaknesses became far more visible in the second quarter.

By the midpoint of the period, they trailed 5-10 as Olympiacos dismantled their defence.

The Greeks’ perimeter shooting proved decisive, while Sabadell’s US goalkeeper Isabel Williams struggled – somewhat understandably, having just returned from injury and still lacking rhythm.

Jovana Sekulic, Abby Andrews and Foteini Tricha all beat her with a series of pinpoint efforts, while the home side failed to convert their chances.

They missed three six-on-fives before Natasa Rybanska converted from close range, followed by another fine finish from van de Kraats, but Erini Ninou’s clever effort halted their momentum.

Williams did stop an Andrews penalty shortly before half-time, but Olympiacos still led 7-11.

Little changed after the restart. The Greeks killed a woman-down, and Stefania Santa broke away for a fine counter.

Tara Prentice netted from the centre, but once again the response was immediate, as Maria Myriokefalitaki was set up for a simple finish on extra to make it 8-13.

Van de Kraats then missed a penalty, followed by wasted extra-player chances at both ends, before Andrews’ pinpoint strike stretched the gap to six with 14 seconds remaining in the quarter.

In truth, very little worked for Sabadell, even their most dangerous weapon – the counter – resulted in missed opportunities.

They paid heavily for that in the fourth, as further misses allowed Olympiacos to extend their lead to 8-16 after another pair of action goals from Ninou and Myriokefalitaki.

With the job effectively done, the Greeks slowed the tempo and avoided unnecessary risks in the final four minutes, which allowed Sabadell some breathing space and the chance to reduce the deficit with a 4-1 run to the finish.

Still, the seven-time champions never looked strong enough to turn it into a contest, and even with the second leg more than a month away, it is difficult to see Olympiacos letting this advantage slip.

Assolim CN Mataro (ESP) 13-9 SIS Roma (ITA) (2-2, 5-3, 3-2, 3-2)

Roma fought hard, but Mataro were more effective in attack, with their superiority in the centre-forward position making the difference – and this four-goal advantage might be enough to take them to the finals.

Mataro opened the scoring, but Roma came up with some fine defending and a couple of nice action goals from Sienna Hearn and Izabella Chiappini to turn it at 1-2.

They had an extra to go up by two, but missed it and a fine centre action ended in a penalty at the other end, which Jewel Roemer buried for 2-2, 15 seconds from time.

And this continued in the second period, as the Italians worked hard to keep up, but twice in the first three minutes they were unable to mark the centre-forward properly and both ended in penalties – Roemer netted both to make it 4-2.

Martina Claveria added a great action goal after a nice individual action while the Italians seemed to have run out ideas up front.

Elizaveta Zaplatina’s great lob came kind of out the blue, but this halted Mataro’s massive 4-0 run and they managed to deny the hosts’ next extra.

Still, another fast counter earned another penalty for Mataro and Silvia Morell sent it home to reset the three-goal gap.

The final minute before the break was thrilling, Lavinia Papi hit a brilliant one from the centre, Laia Gil put away an extra, but Zaplatina was also on target 17 seconds from time in a six-on-five, so Mataro led 7-5 at half-time.

Mireia Guiral kicked off the third with a smart shot from the centre and soon the hosts had a penalty to go up by four, but for the fifth time goalie Olimpia Sesena made the right guess and stopped Roemer’s effort.

It felt crucial as Chiara Ranalli delivered a great finish in a six-on-five, so it was 8-6 instead of 9-5.

Not for long, though, as Roemer made up for her previous miss with a blistering perimeter shot in the next possession and after a killed woman-down, Mataro converted their next extra, Silvia Avegno stunned her fellow Italians with a great finish from the left wing for 10-6.

It could have been more, but Roma’s defence worked well in the next woman-down and Ranalli managed to score from the next extra 2:15 from time.

Both sides created opportunities till the end, though they missed them and it took two and a half minutes in the fourth to see the first hit – Avegno’s great action shot for 11-7.

Roma missed an extra, then Mataro did that as well before Maxine Schaap managed to bring the Italians somewhat closer with a nice action goal to halt their seven-minute-long scoreless run.

But when it mattered the most, the Spaniards could outplay the Italians’ defence and Clara Cambray’s fierce bouncer made it 12-8.

The remaining three minutes produced a fierce battle where Schaap could finally score, again from action with 0:39 on the clock, but the Spanish could force a woman-up in the centre and a quick finish from Paige Hauschild 15 seconds from time reset the four-goal gap, which gave the favourites a comfortable advantage ahead of the second leg.

FTC-Telekom (HUN) 16-9 UVSE-Helia D (HUN) (5-3, 5-1, 5-0, 1-5)

Fradi needed three periods to blow away local arch-rivals UVSE and despite a late surge by the visitors, this massive seven-goal win probably sent them to the flight-centre to start looking for options for their trip to the Final Four in Malta.

FTC jumped to a 2-0 lead in two minutes, while UVSE needed two more to open their account. This was followed by a superfast exchange of goals, in a span of 16 seconds, then Vivien Bonca netted one from the centre for 4-2.

A fine save from Boglarka Neszmely denied UVSE’s six-on-five and the ensuing counter ended in a penalty, which Beatriz Ortiz buried.

And FTC had another penalty soon after, but missed it, so instead of 6-2, UVSE came back to 5-3 as they converted theirs, 13 seconds from time.

This, however, only delayed the inevitable, as FTC pushed on, hitting two from action in 48 seconds and Dorottya Szilagyi also sent the ball home from an extra for 8-3.

Kamilla Farago pulled one back from a six-on-five, but with some luck, Vanda Valyi had an open chance after a rebound and Greta Kurucz-Gurisatti just beat the buzzer from another six-on-five to make it 10-4 at half-time.

The first three minutes in the third just sank UVSE deeper. Ortiz hit one from action one minute into the quarter, then Neszmely had another stop in a woman-down and Valyi finished off the counter.

Something similar happened soon after, the only difference was the penalty called at the end of the counter, after another missed six-on-five from UVSE, and Eleftheria Plevritou sent it home for 13-4.

One more missed extra there, two more action goals here, by Valyi and Ortiz, and it looked disastrous from UVSE’s angle as FTC led 15-4, with a 10-1 blast in the middle two periods.

Credit to the underdogs, though, as they didn’t give in, switched to their ‘wall-defence’, with a player standing next to the goalie, while the home players seemed to have eased up.

UVSE managed to force penalties and extras and this time they converted all but one to stage a 0-5 rush as FTC were unable to find gaps any more and couldn’t unleash any counter as they had to line-up for restarts after goals.

Even though the result was already decided, UVSE climbed back to 15-9 before the hosts earned a woman-up and Dora Leimeter fired it in 35 seconds from time.

The late surge somewhat narrowed the gap, but Fradi are still very much in pole position to make the Final Four once again.

Sant Andreu (ESP) 11-11 CN Vouliagmeni (GRE) (1-4, 4-3, 3-3, 3-1)

The title-holders staged an astonishing comeback after trailing by five goals in the first half, as Vouliagmeni kept the game under firm control early on.

Still, they were unable to maintain that level, but a late penalty save ensured the Greeks will start the return leg on even terms.

It all began as expected, with Ariadna Ruiz opening St Andreu’s account with a six-on-five goal – what followed, however, was a shock.

While the visitors initially struggled to break through the hosts’ defence, Eleni Xenaki eventually converted on extra, and after a successful woman-down, Vouliagmeni struck three times in as many possessions to surge to a 1-4 lead by the end of the first quarter.

More followed, despite an early centre goal from Paula Camus. Kitty Lynn Joustra finished off a counter, then Sant Andreu missed another extra, and Eleftheria Fountotou added another from action. Midway through the period, Nefeli Krassa’s powerful strike made it 2-7, to the amazement of the assembled crowd.

The Ruiz sisters stepped up to spark the hosts’ comeback, with Elena scoring from the perimeter and, 49 seconds later, Ariadna adding another.

Although Sant Andreu missed a six-on-five chance, a turnover foul against the Greeks led to a penalty, which Alice Williams converted to cut the deficit to two at half-time (5-7).

Hope returned in the third and was quickly reinforced by Queralt Anton’s action goal, and after further intense battling, Gisella Farre added another fine strike to level at 7-7 with 4:10 remaining.

Sant Andreu’s 5-0 run was finally halted by Fountotou’s long-range effort – the Greeks’ first goal in 8:32 – but the response was immediate, as Anton converted a woman-up to restore parity.

The Greeks then missed a six-on-five, but Kyra Christmas produced a fine action goal to put them back in front.

After Sant Andreu squandered another extra, Lola Moolhuijzen doubled the advantage with 54 seconds left in the quarter for 8-10.

Once again, the title-holders struck early in the next period, this time through Alba Munoz from the centre just 25 seconds into the fourth.

Moolhuijzen’s attempt did not find the net during Vouliagmeni’s extra, and Munoz struck again from 2m to level the score at 10-10.

Marina Kotsioni was kept busy in the Greek goal, producing a series of fine saves, while the visitors’ offence began to lose momentum.

With 2:45 remaining, Ariadna Ruiz fired home from the perimeter to restore the lead for the first time since 1-0, but Moolhuijzen responded with an equally impressive action goal to make it 11-11.

The final two and a half minutes were fiercely contested, but neither side could find a winner.

Fountotou struck the post from a six-on-five, while Maria Palacio did the same at the other end.

Vouliagmeni forced another extra but failed to produce a shot, and the hosts won a penalty on the counter – however, Kotsioni delivered a crucial save from Elena Ruiz’s effort with 11 seconds remaining, ensuring it finished 11-11.

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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics

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