Priego edge Prague 3-2 in Europe Cup Men final opener
Priego survived three swings and stole a 3-2 lead, but Prague’s comeback made the title race alive heading to Kotlářka.
Real Club Cajasur Priego TM did not break away, they absorbed a punch, reset, and then landed the final blow. In the opening leg of the Europe Cup Men final, Priego beat SF SKK El Niño Praha 3-2 on May 15 at 8 pm, a result that gives the Spanish club a slim edge before the return match in Prague on May 22 at 6 pm at Kotlářka.
The tie turned immediately when Yevhen Pryshchepa opened for Prague with a four-game win over Robert Gardos, giving the visitors the first word in a final built on nerves. Priego answered through Hampus Soderlund, who beat David Reitspies to steady the home side, and then Carlos Machado pushed the Spaniards in front with a straight-games victory over Tomas Konecny. At that stage, Priego looked in control, but only just.
That sense of control vanished again when Reitspies edged Gardos in five games to level the tie at 2-2 and force a decisive last rubber. For a final that has to be won over two legs, that was the pressure point Prague needed. One swing more and the momentum could have flipped completely heading into the return leg, which is exactly why Priego’s advantage is real but fragile.
Soderlund stopped that surge. In the fifth and final match of the opener, he defeated Pryshchepa in four games to secure the 3-2 result and give Priego a narrow foothold in a championship race that is still far from settled. Machado called it an important first step toward the title, while Soderlund described the night as historic for the club and warned that the team now has to recover and reload for Prague. Those comments fit the scoreboard: Priego have the lead, but they will have to earn the trophy again in a venue where El Niňo Praha will be desperate to turn the tie.
The stakes carry weight beyond one night. The Europe Cup Men is ETTU’s second-most important continental club competition behind the Champions League, and it has been running since the 1964-65 season. Prague reached the final for a second straight year after losing the 2025 title to HB Ostrov in an all-Czech final, while Priego arrived after a difficult quarter-final run and a composed semi-final against Lille Métropole TT, winning 3-0 away and 3-1 at home. With Gardos, Pryshchepa, Reitspies, Konecny, Machado and Soderlund all taking part in the opener, the return leg should come down to the same thing that decided this one: which lineup holds up when the final rubber arrives.
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