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Forty teams – 25 men's and 15 women's – competed in Milan, with a total of 168 matches played across the two competitions before the European titles were decided on Sunday afternoon.

The men's competition produced a new champion, with the Dutch club Odysseus overcoming Málaga 4–3 in a closely contested final, while Germany's MKC Duisburg successfully defended the women's crown with an impressive 4–0 victory over Burriana.

Odysseus completed their Milan campaign with the biggest prize of the weekend after defeating Málaga 4–3 in Sunday's men's final.

Both finalists had come through extremely close semi-finals earlier in the day. Málaga secured their place in the title match by defeating Italian side Pro Scogli 2–1, while Odysseus edged Avranches 4–3 to reach the final.

The decisive match proved just as competitive, with only one goal separating the two sides as Odysseus prevailed 4–3 to become the 2026 European club champions.

The result completed an impressive weekend for the Belgian club, which had already shown its attacking strength during the preliminary phase, including an 11–2 victory over Dispersus and an 11–3 win against IRWV Ieper.

Their route through the knockout stage became considerably tighter. Odysseus defeated Ulster 3–2 in the quarter-finals before overcoming Avranches by a single goal in the semi-final and repeating that margin against Málaga in the match for gold.

Málaga's run to the silver medal was one of the other major stories of the men's tournament.

The Spanish club faced defending champions KSVH Berlin in the quarter-finals and produced one of the most significant results of the weekend, winning 1–0 to end the German club's hopes of retaining the European title.

Málaga then defeated Pro Scogli 2–1 in the semi-final before pushing Odysseus all the way in the final.

Berlin eventually finished sixth after losing 4–3 to CC Napoli in the match for fifth place.

Avranches completed the men's podium. After narrowly missing out against Odysseus in the semi-finals, the French club responded strongly in the bronze-medal match, defeating Pro Scogli 8–2.

The final men's ranking saw Odysseus first ahead of Málaga and Avranches, with Pro Scogli fourth. Host nation Italy placed CC Napoli fifth, while Berlin, Corbeil and Ulster completed the top eight.

There was no change at the top of the women's competition, where MKC Duisburg once again demonstrated their strength at European club level.

The German side entered Milan as defending champions and completed another successful campaign with a convincing 4–0 victory over Spanish club Burriana in the final.

Duisburg had already produced several commanding performances during the Championships, including an 8–2 win against Pont-d'Ouilly, a 7–0 victory over Zürich and a 5–1 success against Neptun.

Their biggest test came in Sunday's semi-final. Facing Alaquàs, Duisburg had to fight for a 4–3 victory to secure their place in the title match.

Burriana reached the final after defeating another German club, RM Essen, 5–2 in the other semi-final.

But Duisburg proved too strong in the decisive match, keeping a clean sheet and scoring four times to retain the Paddle Europe European Club Championship title.

RM Essen ensured that Germany finished with two teams on the women's podium.

After their semi-final defeat to Burriana, Essen bounced back in the bronze-medal match with a 5–2 victory over Alaquàs.

The final women's standings therefore saw MKC Duisburg take gold ahead of Burriana, with RM Essen third and Alaquàs fourth.

Italian club Rovigo finished fifth, followed by Zürich in sixth. Avranches and Pont-d'Ouilly completed the top eight.

For Burriana, the silver medal represented an excellent tournament for Spanish canoe polo, with Spanish clubs reaching both the men's and women's finals through Málaga and Burriana.

The 2026 Championships brought together 302 registered athletes across the two categories – 192 in the men's competition and 110 in the women's – and delivered a packed programme at the Idroscalo.

A total of 108 men's matches and 60 women's matches were contested during the three days.

The competition also produced 985 goals, with 562 scored in the men's tournament and 423 in the women's competition.

With clubs from across Europe competing simultaneously on four pitches, Milan once again provided the setting for one of the busiest and most dynamic events on the Paddle Europe calendar.

After three days of competition, The Netherlands and Germany leave Milan with the two European trophies: Odysseus as the new men's champions and MKC Duisburg once again at the top of the women's game.

Article picture by: Hans Janssen