Sky broadcasts water polo Champions League, Daniele Barone proud and highly motivated
The European Aquatics Champions League 2025/2026 will kick off on Tuesday, October 14: the challenges of the two Italian clubs involved, Pro Recco (included in Group B) and Brescia (included in Group C), will be broadcast on Sky and NOW. In addition, the Final Four, which will take place June 11-13, 2026, will be broadcast.
Television commentators will be Daniele Barone and Ettore Miraglia, and technical commentary will be provided by Sandro Campagna, technical commissioner of the men’s national water polo team, and Leonardo Binchi, European silver medalist in 2001 and coach of Waterpolo Milano.
Sportal.it spoke with Daniele Barone about a tournament that promises to be as compelling as it is spectacular.
The Champions League of water polo is just around the corner. What should we expect?”
It starts right away with a great challenge: Wednesday is the Super Cup between Ferencváros and Pro Recco. It is an appetizer of the highest level that opens a promising season and that I am proud to be able to report on Sky and NOW.
Pro Recco seems to be at the center of the scene again and not only in Italy. What situation is the team experiencing?
It has experienced complicated months. After the defeat in the 2024 Champions League final to the usual Ferencvaros, it lost its historical owner, Gabriele Volpi, and risked disappearing from the Italian water polo scene. But the club fought back. Maurizio Felugo even as sole administrator played a key role: he convinced the most important players to stay and relaunched the project, including through major investments.
With what results?
Extraordinary. Pro Recco achieved a historic hat trick: it won the Coppa Italia, the Scudetto and, for the first time in its history, the Euro Cup, which we can compare to the Europa League in soccer. A sporting feat of the highest level, all the more so after such a special moment.
Pro Recco quadra symbol of Italian and, if you will, also European water polo…
Absolutely. It is the most titled team, the most representative, both in Italy and on the continent. A reference point for the whole movement.
And water polo, as a sport, what moment is it experiencing?
It is a spectacular sport, very televised. Sky has chosen to focus on it, broadcasting all the Champions League matches. There will be not only Pro Recco, which can aspire to get into the top four, but also Brescia, which could land in the quarters: then we will see, but that Lombardy is also a wonderful reality
Excluding the Italians, how do you see it?
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In some countries there is a lot of enthusiasm. In Hungary, for example, water polo is a national sport and Ferencvaros is a real battleship, having won the two most recent Champions Leagues. But there are strong sides like Olympiacos, which fields much of the Greek national team, and Barceloneta, which represents the de facto Spanish national team, fresh world champions at the World Cup in Singapore.
We are in for a really busy season in Europe…
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No doubt. The technical level is very high, the teams are prepared, and there are high expectations. It will be a fun and hard-fought tournament. For those who love the sport, it is a spectacle not to be missed.
