Courtesy: LEN
An all-Spanish final is very much in the cards after the draw for the Champions League Women Final Four has been conducted today. Mataro will take on Hungary’s Dunaujvaros, while Sabadell is to meet Italy’s Orizzonte in the semi-finals – the tournament will return to Sabadell on 31 March and 1 April.
Unlike in the men’s competition, the women’s top club event has never seen a final featuring teams from the same nation. Now, considering the line-ups, Sabadell and Mataro are considered the favourites to reach the final as they were not paired against each other in the semis. Well, they have a less pleasant experience from 2017 when they both made the F4 but lost their respective semis (vs Kirishi and Olympiacos respectively), and had to settle for the bronze medal clash.
Now that outcome would be a huge upset, still, Dunaujvaros did only upsets so far while 8-time record winner Orizzonte will have the edge to go toe-to-toe with Sabadell, which, according to the LEN Executive decision, shall host the event again after 2019.
As for the participants, Orizzonte return to the Final 4 after 2018, though their last victory, the 8th one, dates back to 2008. Dunaujvaros will be part of the show for the fifth time, their best showing came on the last occasion in 2021 when they finished runner-up. Sabadell is a 5-time winner, played in 8 gold medal matches in the last 11 editions. Mataro had only one appearance, in 2017 when they finished fourth.
Final Four
Semi-finals, 31 March
Assolim CN Mataro (ESP) v Dunaujvarosi VC (HUN)
Ekipe Orizzonte (ITA) v Astralpool Sabadell (ESP)
Bronze medal match and Champions League Women Final on 1 April
LEN will announce the final schedule soon.