2023–24 LEN Women's Champions League

The 2023–24 LEN Women's Champions League is the 36th edition of the water polo competition organised by the Ligue Européenne de Natation (LEN). This is the first season under the new changes made by LEN. The defending champions are Astralpool Sabadell.

The Spanish side successfully defended their title with a win against Olympiacos Piraeus in the final.

Format

This season, the format has undergone some changes. After one qualification round (instead of two), sixteen teams will qualify for the main round. For the first time ever, the groups in the main round are held in a home and away format. After the main round, the four groups winners will compete in the final four to decide the winners of the LEN Women's Champions League.

Rankings

Starting this season, LEN also started a club rankings. Countries inside the top 6 of the new LEN women's club rankings are eligible to enter 5 clubs into the Champions League. While countries outside the top 6 can enter their league champion into either the Champions League or Challenger Cup.

Teams

Alongside the new changes, LEN increased the amount of clubs a country can enter, from 4 to 5. German representative, Spandau 04, was the only club outside the top 6 who decided to enter, starting in the qualifiers. While on the other hand, despite being in the top 6, Russia was banned and Netherlands took the sixth-place spot. All other clubs and countries below the top six entered the 2023–24 LEN Women's Challenger Cup.

Round and draw dates

Schedule

Draw

The draw was on 10 August 2023. The seeding was decided by the new LEN club rankings. H indicates which club is hosting the groups.

Qualification round

In the qualification round, teams play in a round robin format. The top 3 in every group makes the main round, while the fourth and fifth placed teams in the groups drop down to the 2023–24 LEN Women's Euro Cup group stage.

Group A

*21–24 September 2023, Budapest, Hungary.

Group B

*21–24 September 2023, Mulhouse, France.

Group C

*21–24 September 2023, Mataró, Spain.

Group D

*21–24 September 2023, Rome, Italy.

Main round

The draw took place on 26 September 2023 in Barcelona, Spain.
The four group winners advance to the final four.

Teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 2 points for a penalty shootout win, 1 point for a penalty shootout loss, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings:

*Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
*Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
*Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
*Goal difference in all group matches;
*Goals scored in all group matches.

This is the first time that this round is being held in a home and away format. Five countries are being represented, with Spain boasting the most clubs with five.

Seeding

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Final four

The Final four was held between 20 and 21 April 2024. The draw was held in Barcelona on 26 March 2024. On 12 April, the Nova Escullera pool in Barcelona was announced as the host.

Bracket

Semi-finals

Third place match

Final

See also

*2023–24 LEN Champions League
*2023–24 LEN Euro Cup
*2023–24 LEN Challenger Cup
*2023 LEN Super Cup
*2023–24 LEN Women's Euro Cup
*2023–24 LEN Women's Challenger Cup
* 2023 LEN Women's Super Cup

External links

Official websiteOfficial statistics of the tournamentOfficial playlist

References

{{2023–24 European club competitions

LEN Women's Champions League seasons
2023 in women's water polo
2024 in women's water polo
2023–24 in LEN water polo