Women’s Champions League kicks off, Trieste at Dunaujvaros’ “Fabo Eva” for the Qualification Round

he first official games of the 2025/2026 season are finally here. For the third year in a row, Pallanuoto Trieste’s European journey begins with the Qualification Round of the Women’s Champions League. Between September 26 and 28, the Samer & Co. Shipping-sponsored team will compete at the “Fabo Eva” pool in Dunaujvaros (Hungary) in Group C of the preliminary phase of the continent’s top club competition. Two matches are scheduled: on Friday, September 26 at 7:00 p.m. the all-Italian “derby” against Rapallo Pallanuoto, and on Sunday, September 28 at 12:00 p.m. the clash with CN Mataró. The top two teams will advance to the main draw of the Champions League, while the third will move to the Euro Cup.

It will certainly be a tough challenge for captain Lucrezia Cergol and her teammates, who will face two highly competitive sides. Rapallo strengthened its roster in the transfer market, signing Setterosa attacker Sofia Giustini and also bringing in Serbian all-rounder Jelena Vukovic (formerly of Pallanuoto Trieste). Mataró, meanwhile, is one of the best exponents of the world-leading Spanish water polo school. It will be an immediate “ex” matchup for Trieste’s new signings Aurelie Battu and Morgan McDowall, who both played for the Catalan team last season.

“We’ve been working hard in training,” explained coach Paolo Zizza. “We’ve only been at full strength for two weeks, and there are still some tactical mechanisms to fine-tune. In any case, we’re in good shape and ready for this European challenge. We’re expecting two difficult matches, no doubt, but at the same time very exciting ones. I’m curious to see where we stand in terms of our play. Our task is to give it a go; whatever happens, we’ll return from Hungary with plenty of useful indications for the rest of the season.”

All matches will be streamed live on European Aquatics TV, with real-time play-by-play updates provided by Microplustiming.