FTC Telekom Waterpolo arrive in Malta with more than another Champions League title on the line. For the Hungarian champions, this week is about history.
Two more wins would make Ferencvaros only the third men’s club since 1964 to win three consecutive Champions League crowns, joining Mladost Zagreb, who achieved the feat between 1968 and 1970, and Pro Recco, who matched it from 2021 to 2023.
FTC lifted the trophy in Malta in both 2024 and 2025. Now, they return to the island aiming to complete the trilogy.
Head coach Balazs Nyeki is fully aware of what is at stake.
“As we got closer to the Final 4, naturally everyone started thinking more and more about the possibility the team and the club could achieve something great,” Nyeki said in a statement sent to European Aquatics before Tuesday’s press conference.
“I think no matter how much the pressure of defending the title might weigh on the players, we feel it would be an incredible achievement to join the narrow elite represented by Pro Recco and Mladost Zagreb, by winning the Champions League three times in a row.
“We’d like to belong to that group as well, and if things go our way, we’d like to continue writing our success story.
“At this moment, however, we’re only focused on finding deep inside ourselves that feeling, that hunger for success, which led us to our first Champions League title together.
“We have to jump into the water with the same motivation and fire.”
FTC face Zodiac CNAB Barceloneta in Thursday’s semi-final at the National Pool Complex in Malta, with Pro Recco and Olympiacos meeting in the other semi-final later that evening.
On paper, FTC remain the team everyone is trying to catch. Since ending Recco’s dominance in the 2024 Champions League final, Fradi have continued to collect trophies at an extraordinary rate. League titles, Hungarian Cups, Champions League triumphs and European Super Cups have followed, with the club recently adding another domestic title after sweeping Honved in the Hungarian final.
For most clubs, another national championship would define the season. For FTC, it has become part of the build-up.
After winning the Hungarian title, Nyeki admitted that domestic success is now expected from this squad, and that the true measure of the season would come in Malta.
“Winning golds in the home competitions is expected,” he said. “Of course, I’d be more than happy to have a lot tighter matches in the league, but the reality is that this team’s real playing ground is the Champions League.”
FTC’s European campaign has not been without complications. They topped their opening group, but suffered defeats to Brescia and Pro Recco during the season, both at home. Injuries have also disrupted their rhythm more than in previous years, with key players including Dusan Mandic, Stylianos Argyropoulos, Edoardo Di Somma and Akos Nagy all missing periods of the campaign.
Yet the champions have still found a way through. They responded to their home defeat against Recco by winning 16-14 in Italy, before sealing their Final Four place with victories over Waspo 98 Hannover and Mladost Zagreb.
Gergo Fekete described the campaign as a demanding one, both physically and mentally.
“It has been a rollercoaster, physically and mentally as well,” Fekete said.
“This last phase of the Champions League was really pretty hard, and it was all decent games. So it was good we managed to make our ticket to the Final 4, that’s what matters, and now we are only focusing on our semifinal.”
That semi-final will be anything but straightforward.
Barceloneta arrive in Malta as Spanish champions and one of the form teams in Europe. Since the end of November, Fran Fernandez’s side have put together a 32-game winning streak across all competitions, a longer unbeaten run than either FTC or Recco. They also produced a perfect Quarterfinal Stage, winning six from six, including home-and-away victories over Novi Beograd and Olympiacos.
Their attacking numbers have been particularly striking. In three home matches in the Quarterfinal Stage, Barceloneta scored 56 goals, averaging 18.6 per game.
Fernandez, who is leading CNAB into his first Final Four as head coach, made clear that his side are not travelling to Malta simply to take part.
“We want to win, though we know we’re playing against the champions of the last two seasons,” Fernandez said.
“We’ve played well throughout the season and we’re confident we can ruin FTC’s plans.”
Barceloneta will, however, be without Vince Vigvari, who broke a finger on his shooting hand during the domestic final against Sabadell and has since undergone surgery. His absence removes one of the most intriguing storylines of the semi-final, with his brother Vendel Vigvari set to represent FTC on the opposite side.
Fernandez admitted the Hungarian international cannot be replaced directly.
“We cannot replace Vince, it’s not possible,” he said. “What we can do is believe in our team effort.”
Unai Aguirre also acknowledged the scale of the task facing the Spanish side.
“I have to say it’s really difficult to play against Fradi,” Aguirre said. “Of course, we know they are a much better team with top class players in every position.
“Ours is a team whose characteristics are more about the team effort. Still, we know it’ll be a really difficult match because they are two-time champions in a row. Of course, it will be hard, but we’ll try with everything, with our heart and passion.”
That respect is understandable. FTC’s Champions League record in recent years has placed them firmly among the great teams of the modern era. They won their first title in 2019, before adding back-to-back titles in 2024 and 2025.
Their latest challenge is not only to win again, but to do something almost no one in men’s club water polo has ever done.
For FTC, Malta has already become a place of celebration. This week, it could become the setting for history.
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