2022 LEN Champions League Predictions Favor the Defending Champions Again

Tommaso Negri in 2020 with the LEN Champions League Cup – Image source: Waterpolo86, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The 2021/22 LEN Champions League season will continue with Final 8 which is held between 2-4 June in Belgrade. We can find last year’s finalists, Pro Recco, and FTC Telekom in the participating eight teams. Along with the hosts, Novi Beograd who are mentioned in the top favorites as well in the 2022 LEN Champions League predictions. 

The first four clubs from each Champions League group have qualified for the 2021/22 LEN Champions League Final 8. Teams will play in the quarter-finals, with the winners advancing to the semi-finals and finally to the final. The tournament is held in Belgrade just like last season, giving a huge advantage to the local team, Novi Beograd. (NBG 11 Alprelya). The Serbian team didn’t qualify for the final last season, so they will surely give everything to entertain the fans. And try to win the club’s first European trophy since its foundation in 2015. Another favorite for the trophy is a much more experienced club, Pro Recco. The Italian team has the most titles (9) in the tournament’s history. While they are also the winners of the previous season. Former Yugoslavian clubs have also won several trophies, from them Jug Dubrovnik can fight for their fifth victory this season. 

2022 LEN Champions League predictions for the final winner 

Pro Recco are the defending champions after they defeated FTC Telekom 9-6 in last year’s final. They have been in great form this season as well both domestically and internationally. The club won their Champions League preliminary group with 13 wins and only one loss. While they also got to the semi-finals in the Italian Championship. In Belgrade, they will face the Spanish top club, Barceloneta in the quarter-finals. It won’t be an easy match, but the Italians are favored to win the whole tournament. With online sportsbooks in Serbia offering the odds of 2.15 for their victory. 

Players like newcomer Gergo Zalanki, team captain Montenegrin, Aleksandar Ivovic, and Ben Hallock have been key players this season. Recco can meet last year’s runner-ups, FTC Telekom in the semi-final. The Hungarians are not the main favorites in the 2022 LEN Champions League predictions. As they only have the odds of 12.50 to win the trophy. Zsolt Varga’s team should still go through against Jug Dubrovnik who are ranked below them. The Croatian team finished third in their team but the four-time champions haven’t been in their best form this season. It explains their quite high odds (25.00) for another title. The victory of German Waspo Hannover would be the biggest surprise and have the odds of 250.00. 

The hosts and other favorites

Novi Beograd finished third in their group behind Brescia and FTC. The Serbian club features Olympic and world champions like Dusan Mandic, Dusko Pijetlovic, and Strahinja Rasovic. The youngest club in the final started the season with big aims and will fight for the trophy. Online gambling sites in Serbia offer the odds of 4.00 for their final victory. First though Igor Milanovic’s  team needs to win against CN Marseille. The French club finished second in their group with three losses but they were close to beating even Recco in the last round. Surely the 2019 Euro Cup winner won’t be an easy opponent for the hosts. But the fans can give some extra power to Beograd. 

Another Italian club, Brescia also reached the final. Just like in the previous season when they finished in third place. This season they topped the group which also meant an easy opponent, Hannover in the quarter-final. Brescia won the LEN Euro Cup four times so far but they can win their first Champions League title this season. Their odds to do so are 6.00 on 22Bet. Another club with several appearances but only one win is CN Atletic-Barceloneta. The Spanish club finished fourth last season after losing the bronze match against Brescia. Now they face a tough job though even to get into the semi-final after facing Recco in the first match. And have the odds of 7.50 for the tournament victory. 

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