The 2026-27 Champions League season got underway on Friday, with five competitive opening-day encounters across Oradea, Tbilisi and Split.
Novi Beograd, Brescia, A-Polo Sport Management and Panathinaikos all collected victories in regulation time, while hosts CSM Oradea produced a dramatic late comeback before defeating Spandau 04 in a penalty shootout.
In Group A, Novi Beograd began their campaign with a 15-12 victory over Strasbourg, inspired by a six-goal performance from Vasilije Martinovic.
Strasbourg remained within touching distance for much of the contest and reduced the deficit to a single goal on several occasions. But Novi Beograd eventually created the separation they needed with a four-goal run spanning the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth, moving from 10-9 to 14-9.
Martinovic finished as the game’s leading scorer with six, while Alexandre Crippa struck four for Strasbourg.
The second Group A game produced one of the biggest comebacks of the day as CSM Oradea recovered from four goals down to beat Spandau 04 19-17 after penalties.
Spandau appeared to be in control after Marek Tkac put the German side 13-9 ahead midway through the fourth quarter. They still led 15-13 inside the final 70 seconds, but Oradea refused to go away.
Ivan Gusarov eventually levelled the game at 15-15 with just 14 seconds remaining, sending the contest to penalties. Oradea then won the shootout 4-2, with Lazar Dobozanov making the decisive save.
Group B in Tbilisi began with another one-goal thriller as Brescia edged Sabadell 16-15.
The Italian side never trailed and at one stage moved four goals clear during the second half, but Sabadell fought back to make it a one-goal game in the fourth quarter.
The Spanish side had a final opportunity to draw level with a man-up attack inside the closing 30 seconds, but Bernat Cabanas was unable to convert, allowing Brescia to secure all three points.
Giacomo Ferrero led Brescia with four goals, while Fran Valera scored five for Sabadell.
A-Polo Sport Management also made a winning Champions League debut, defeating Budva 19-16 in the other Group B encounter.
Budva led for much of the first half and twice went two goals ahead early in the third quarter, but A-Polo responded with three consecutive goals to turn an 11-9 deficit into a 12-11 advantage.
Vuk Draskovic was the standout performer, scoring six times, including his final goal with just over a minute remaining to effectively secure the victory.
In Split, Panathinaikos gained an early advantage in Group C with a 15-14 win over Jadran Split.
The sides had met in last season’s Euro Cup quarter-finals, when Jadran progressed after two extremely close encounters, but Panathinaikos arrived in Croatia with a strengthened squad.
After an even opening period, the visitors gradually took control and extended their advantage to 14-10 with three minutes remaining.
Jadran mounted a late comeback and pulled within one through Jerko Matkovic with 34 seconds left. Panathinaikos answered immediately through Dimitrios Chalyvopoulos, however, before Zvonimir Butic scored Jadran’s final goal in the closing seconds.
Alexandros Nikolaidis scored four for Panathinaikos, with Matkovic matching that tally for Jadran.
Champions League Qualification – Day 1 Results
Group A – Oradea
Novi Beograd 15-12 Strasbourg
CSM Oradea 19-17 Spandau 04 (15-15, 4-2 pens)
Group B – Tbilisi
Brescia 16-15 Sabadell
A-Polo Sport Management 19-16 Budva
Group C – Split
Jadran Split 14-15 Panathinaikos
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