Women’s Euro Cup: CN Catalunya visit the “Bruno Bianchi”, Trieste aiming to secure qualification

On Saturday 20 December, in the fourth round of the Women’s Euro Cup group stage (Group D), Pallanuoto Trieste will host CN Catalunya. The game will be played at the “Bruno Bianchi” swimming pool, starting at 6:30 pm, with free entry. The referees will be Maria Daskalopoulou (Greece) and Ayal Gabel (Israel). Live streaming will be available on European Aquatics TV, while real-time play-by-play will be provided by the Microplustiming service.

The Samer & Co. Shipping-sponsored team have already collected two wins from two matches in the Group Stage and are closing in on a place in the quarter-finals. One point against the Spanish side would be enough to mathematically secure qualification, but the Orchette will be aiming for the full three points to firmly secure first place in the group — a key factor in earning a more favourable draw ahead of the knockout phase.

“It will be a match to savour,” explained head coach Paolo Zizza. “They are coming off several strong performances and in the first leg they managed to put us under pressure. We’ve reviewed and analysed that match; we’ll need to avoid certain mistakes in our approach and not give away easy goals. We’re ready, we’ve trained with great focus, the stakes are high and we’ll try to give our all.”

Javier Belmonte Vidal’s Catalunya side are fully in the race for qualification and, looking at the Group D standings, must also keep an eye on Keruleti, whom they nevertheless defeated convincingly (21–12) in their head-to-head clash on 13 December. In the División de Honor, the yellow-and-reds currently sit in seventh place and, in their most recent league match (8 December), they were beaten 18–10 by league leaders Sabadell. Among the most dangerous players is undoubtedly the outstanding Laura Aarts, the Netherlands’ starting goalkeeper and bronze medallist at the 2024 Olympic Games. Also worth close attention are the attacking qualities of New Zealander Emmerson Joy Houghton and Brit Toula Falvey, both of whom scored hat-tricks in the match won 15–13 by the alabardate on 8 November.