SL Benfica, FC Porto, OC Barcelos and CE Noia kick off the Final Four of the WSE Champions League 2024/25 this Saturday. The kick-off was held this Friday at the Sports and Congress Centre in Matosinhos, the city hosting the event, with training sessions for the four teams and press conferences for the coaches who promise a lot of ambition and great games to reach the final. The first semi-final, between SL Benfica and FC Porto, is already sold out.
This Friday, 9 May, the Centro de Desportos e Congressos de Matosinhos hosted the kick-off of the Final Four of the World Skate Europe Champions League 2024/2025, the 60th edition of Europe’s biggest club rink hockey competition. SL Benfica, FC Porto, OC Barcelos, all from Portugal, and CE Noia, from Spain, are the four finalists who will be fighting for the most coveted trophy.
The semi-finals will take place this Saturday at the Matosinhos Sports and Congress Centre, with the first game between SL Benfica and FC Porto at 12 noon, and the second semi-final at 3.30pm between OC Barcelos and CE Noia. The final is scheduled for Sunday at 4pm.
To reach the Final Four, SL Benfica scored 28 out of a possible 30 points in the group stage. They only lost points in the away draw with HC Liceo. They had the best attack, best defence and top spot in the group. In the quarter-finals they knocked out Reus Deportiu.
FC Porto finished third in Group A with 17 points, the result of five wins, two draws and three defeats. The Dragons raised their game in the quarter-finals, beating Oliveirense 5-2 on aggregate.
Back in the Final Four, OC Barcelos had an unbeaten run in the group stage, facing teams such as FC Porto, CE Noia, Reus Deportiu, Saint-Omer and Barcelona. They overcame HC Liceo in the quarter-finals.
CE Noia secured second place in the hotly contested Group A with 17 points, ahead of Barcelona and Reus. In the quarter-finals, the Catalans eliminated Italian runners-up Trissino.
This Friday, the four teams tested the new floor at the Matosinhos Sports and Congress Centre.
This was followed at 7.30pm by the press conference to present the competition. In attendance were the sports councillor of Matosinhos City Council, Nuno Matos; the chairman of World Skate Europe, Orlando Panza. The clubs were represented by their coaches, Eduard Castro, from SL Benfica; Ricardo Ares, from FC Porto; Rui Neto, from OC Barcelos and Carlos Cortijo, from CE Noia.
Statements made by those present:
Orlando Panza, Chair of WSE
“A word of thanks to CM Matosinhos and Sigma Stars for setting up this excellent stage and for the contribution they have made to the modernisation of roller hockey in Portugal. Welcome to the four teams. They were the most competent to be here and I congratulate them on that. The WSE has an obligation to find ways to develop this sport, introducing new technological means available to everyone. That’s why it’s time to introduce video refereeing (CRV) in this competition. We couldn’t fail to be at the forefront of the best practices in world sport. The stage is set, the ball can roll.”
Nuno Matos, Sports Councillor of Matosinhos City Council
‘The Municipality of Matosinhos is very proud to be hosting this major rink hockey event. Matosinhos is the current European City of Sport, in this city there is a hockey village, and so it made perfect sense to bring a great competition here and at a good time we went to talk to the WSE to get this great organisation to Matosinhos. We’re sure it will be a great Champions League, with the four best teams in Europe. It’s a great honour to welcome you all.”
Edu Castro, SL Benfica coach
“We’ve come here with a lot of confidence to continue our good run and win this competition. I’ve won this competition many years ago… we’ve already played FC Porto this season, but this will be a completely different game to all the others. The players are the protagonists, they make the decisions, we hope it’s a great game and that we make it to the final. But these are games that are decided in detail. In a game like this we can make a lot of people happy and that gives us a lot of responsibility. That’s why it’s a special game that we want to win to reach the final and face another great rival.”
Ricardo Ares, FC Porto coach
“We’re very happy because we’re playing for the biggest title in this sport and we really want to reach the final. Previous experience is important, but every game is different, and a game like this, with players who know each other well, is decided in detail. FC Porto – SL Benfica is different from other games, this is the most coveted title in the sport and that’s why it’s so important. It’s a game with great feeling and the energy that the fans give us in these games is very important for the players.”
Rui Neto, OC Barcelos coach
“There were two challenging moments for us to get here, the first group game, because it allowed us to start this journey, and the quarter-final that allowed us to be here. I don’t know if we’re the four best teams today, but we’re the ones who gave everything to be here. Now we have a 50/50 chance of winning to reach the final. These games have a very big emotional component and we have to have enormous control and remain humble in order to achieve our goals.”
Carlos Cortijo, coach of CE Noia
“I’m proud to be among great teams and great coaches. We’re going to play OC Barcelos with a lot of respect. We’ve come with a lot of energy and a lot of hope that we can reach the final. We’ve worked hard to be here, but in these games everything can be decided in a detail. What we’ve experienced to get here has been phenomenal and we’re ready for more.”
Tickets for the SL Benfica-FC Porto semi-final are sold out.
The games will be broadcast live on DAZN, with streaming on the Record newspaper website as well as on the WSE website (http.//europe.worldskate.tv). Also in TV Catalunya, Porto Canal e Benfica TV.
NOTE: We would like to remind journalists that PRESS ACCREDITATION can be obtained through TECHNICAL DOOR 2 – Photographers.
World Skate Europe Champions League 2024/2025 Final Four Schedule:
– Saturday, May 10
Semi-final 1, at 12:00 (GMT+1): SL BENFICA – FC PORTO
Live TV: DAZN, Benfica TV, Porto Canal | Live Streaming – WSETV: | Media Kit
Semi-final 2, at 15:30 (GMT+1):: OC BARCELOS – CE NOIA
Live TV: DAZN, Esport3 (Spain) | Live Streaming – WSETV | Media Kit
– Sunday, May 11
Final, at 16:00 (GMT+1): Winner of semi-final 1 – Winner of semi-final 2
Live TV: DAZN | Live Streaming – WSETV
