Jadran welcomes Solaris in the semifinals - Croatian Water Polo Federation
Jadran, Mladost, Jug Adriatic Insurance, and Solaris. The quartet of the best teams in the country this season, four teams among which the new national champion is hidden. To figure out who that best team is, we will have to wait a bit, but now we are entering the practical final part of the entire season.
The four mentioned clubs, or rather their teams, also made up the final tournament of the national cup this season, held at the end of November last year in Zagreb. However, now the semifinal pairs are slightly different, based clearly on the outcomes of the quarterfinal matches; Jadran - Solaris and Mladost - Jug Adriatic Insurance. Saturday and Sunday bring us the first matches of the semifinals. A pair each day, starting with Saturday's Split match between Jadran and Solaris.
Splićani dedicated to the Croatian Championship
In the ranks of the people of Split, everything is subordinated to the Croatian Championship, regardless of Jadran's obligation to play another match in the Champions League.
"If we are on top of our game, which we were not against Marseille, I believe we will reach the final," emphasizes Jadran's goalkeeper Marko Bijač.
"I keep repeating, we must be truly one hundred percent ready, focused because Solaris is a serious team, well-organized, and they will definitely take advantage of any opportunity they see. The fact is that we have been preparing exclusively for this semifinal in the past days, and the training sessions were programmed accordingly. Of course, this does not diminish our poor performance against Marseille, and we certainly have reasons to be concerned because there were a lot of mistakes in all aspects of the game. However, we somehow 'reset,' prepared for Solaris, and we must play excellent matches to reach the desired final.
Solaris awaits their chance
On the other hand, Solaris has already achieved a lot by qualifying for the Croatian Championship semifinals, as acknowledged by the coach of Solaris, Bruno Sabioni.
"It means we are doing something right, but the fact is we know who Jadran is and what players Jadran has. We are realistic and we know where we stand, but again... No one can take away from us the fact that we deserve to be where we are. Let's make it difficult for them so that it's not easy for them. We are aware of who we are playing against, but our principle always remains the same. Even when we know that the opponent is realistically stronger, that does not mean that we won't give our all for success."
The team that first achieves two victories will advance to the final.
Also fighting for Europe
On Saturday (April 26), the battle for places from 5th to 8th also begins. It is also important because it offers access to the European scene. It should be noted that starting from the 2025/26 season, the European Aquatics will introduce a new competition. In addition to the Champions League and the Euro Cup, the third rank of continental competitions will be the Conference Cup, while the Challenger Cup will be the fourth most important competition.
In the ranking from 5th to 8th place, the pairs are Medveščak - Primorje EB and Zadar 1952 - Mornar. Both pairs are interesting, but maybe the duel between the people of Zadar and Split is more intriguing because it is also a clash of the two best clubs from the western A1 league group in the regular season. Zadar 1952 and Mornar competed to see which of the two clubs in the fight against Solaris for promotion/staying in the Premier League.
