The BPER Rare Nantes Savona lost, against Olympiacos, in the “Zanelli” swimming pool in Savona, the match valid for the 6th day of the Group Stage of the 2024/2025 Men’s Water Polo Champions League. 14 to 11 was the final result in favor of Olympiacos after the penalty shots. Regulation time ended at 11-all. The match was always led by the Savonese. The turning point came 3 minutes and 49 seconds from the end of the match, with Savona leading 11 to 8, when the referees sent off Pietro Figlioli for brutality. The protests of the Savona bench were of no avail.
Savona had to suffer a penalty shot and numerical inferiority until the end of the match. So with 17 seconds left Papanastasiou grabbed the equalizer which led the teams to penalties. The penalty shots saw three scores for the Greeks and no goals for the Savona team.
The vice president and sporting director, Giuseppe Gervasio, states: “A great match for Rari which unfortunately was decided by the evaluation given by the referees on Figlioli’s expulsion. If our player had committed a foul, the same yardstick used for the previous definitive expulsion of Kakaris had to be used.
Unfortunately this wasn’t the case and with Figlioli’s exit Olympiacos was able to grab a draw. Accepting this defeat is really difficult.”
With this victory, Rari finishes the group in second place and qualifies for the Quarter Finals of the Champions League. The draw will take place on 11 December and Savona’s next opponents will be known. The qualified teams are Novi Beograd and Oradea for Group A, Ferencvaros and Jadran Spalato for Group B, Barceloneta and Marseille in Group C.
The next match for Alberto Angelini’s red and whites will be with the 9th day of the Regular Season of the Serie A 1 Championship scheduled for Saturday 7 December in the “Zanelli” swimming pool in Savona with CN Posillipo. The meeting will start at 3.00 pm.
