Futsal Champions League finals contenders: Cartagena vs Sporting CP, Palma vs Etoile Lavalloise

The UEFA Futsal Champions League finals will be played at Pesaro Futsal Arena, Italy on 8 to 10 May.

In the semi-final draw on 17 March, Cartagena Costa Cálida were paired with Sporting CP and holders Illes Balears Palma pitted against Etoile Lavalloise. The contenders came through the two-legged quarter-final round and round of 16, with this new-look knockout stage having replaced the old elite round.

Last season Palma took the title and Cartagena (on debut) beat Sporting for bronze in Le Mans, for which Etoile Lavalloise (in the finals for the first time this year) were the official host club.

CARTAGENA COSTA CÁLIDA VS SPORTING CP

• Cartagena beat Sporting on penalties in Le Mans to take bronze on debut in 2024/25.

Cartagena Costa Cálida (ESP)

Main round
Group 1 winners (played in Gliwice): 5-0 vs Kauno Žalgiris, 4-0 vs Sporting Anderlecht, 0-0 vs Piast Gliwice

Round of 16
14-2agg vs Luxol St. Andrews (9-1 a, 5-1 h)

Quarter-finals
9-5agg vs Kairat Almaty (2-1 a, 7-4 h)

Top scorer: Waltinho 7
Previous best: Third place
2024/25: Third place

Semi-final record: W0 L1

Previous final tournament appearances
2025: Third place

• Claimed bronze as debutants last season, and this January won their third straight Spanish Super Cup, beating Palma 5-2 after extra time at San Moix.
• In the quarter-finals they avenged their 2024/25 semi defeat by Kairat, coming from behind with two goals in ten seconds in the away first leg; the only team to reach the finals unbeaten over 40 minutes.
• Cartagena coach Duda was previously in charge of Murcia FS, leading them to the 2008 final where they lost on penalties to Ekaterinburg.

Sporting CP (POR)

Main round
Group 4 winners (played in Makarska): 19-1 vs Prishtina 01, 7-2 vs Kairat Almaty, 4-0 vs Novo Vrijeme Makarska

Round of 16
19-3agg vs AEK Futsal (11-0 a, 8-3 h)

Quarter-finals
10-8agg vs Benfica (3-4 a, 7-4 h)

Top scorer: Bruno Pinto 11
Previous best: Winners x 2 (2018/19, 2020/21)
2024/25: Fourth place

Semi-final record: W7 L5

Previous final tournament appearances
2025: Fourth place
2024: Fourth place
2023: Runners-up (1-1aet, 3-5pens vs Palma, Palma de Mallorca)
2022: Runners-up (0-4 vs Barça, Riga)
2021: Winners (4-3 vs Barça, Zadar, eight-team finals)
2019: Winners (2-1 vs Kairat, Almaty)
2018: Runners-up (2-5 vs Inter FS, Zaragoza)
2017: Runners-up (0-7 vs Inter FS, Almaty)
2015: Third place, hosts
2012: Fourth place
2011: Runners-up (2-5 vs Montesilvano, Almaty)
2002: Semi-finalists, hosts (eight-team finals)

• Sporting CP have reached the finals for a record 13th time – 12 in the post-2006/07 format and, before that, as hosts of the eight-team final tournament that concluded the inaugural 2001/02 campaign. They are in the finals for a sixth straight season, beating the record of five set by Barça between 2017/18 and 2021/22.
• João Matos' record competition appearance tally is now up to 96, and in the quarter-finals Nuno Dias overtook Jesús Velasco's total of 80 UEFA futsal club matches coached, moving on to 82.
• Bruno Pinto with 11 goals is the competition's current top scorer over the season alongside Soufian Charraoui of Tigers Roermond.

ILLES BALEARS PALMA VS ETOILE LAVALLOISE

• Palma, hosting the main round mini-tournament, began their title defence this season with a 2-1 win against Etoile despite trailing at half-time.

Illes Balears Palma (ESP, holders)

Main round
Group 2 winners (played in Palma de Mallorca): 2-1 vs Etoile Lavalloise, 3-1 vs Chrudim, 7-4 vs Semey

Round of 16
6-4agg vs Hit Kyiv (2-2 a, 4-2 h)

Quarter-final
7-5agg vs Riga Futsal Club (7-4 h, 0-1 a)

Top scorer: Alisson 8
Previous best: Winners x 3 (2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25)
2024/25: Winners

Semi-final record: W3 L0

Previous final tournament appearances
2025: Winners (9-4 vs Kairat Almaty, Le Mans)
2024: Winners (5-1 vs Barça, Yerevan)
2023: Winners (1-1aet, 5-3pens vs Sporting CP, Palma de Mallorca), hosts

• Last season Palma became the first club to win the trophy three years in a row, doing so in their first three entries. They can become the first team to reach the final four seasons running.
• Mario Rivillos could become the first player to win five finals after victories with Inter FS in 2016/17 and now Palma in the last three seasons. Goalkeepers Carlos Barrón and Luan Muller have also been part of all three Palma triumphs; only Sergio Lozano has previously lifted the trophy four times with the same club (Barça).
• Their second-leg loss at Riga was their first defeat in any match in this competition, in their 31st fixture. Palma's 30-game unbeaten streak fell one short of the overall UEFA club competition record of OL Lyonnes, set in the UEFA Women's Champions League between 2017 and 2021 (though 30 is a record for any team from their first match in UEFA competition).

Etoile Lavalloise (FRA)

Main round
Group 2 runners-up (played in Palma de Mallorca): 1-2 vs Illes Balears Palma, 4-3 vs Semey, 6-1 vs Chrudim

Round of 16
11-5agg vs Hjørring (4-1 a, 7-4 h)

Quarter-finals
8-6agg vs Semey (5-4 h, 3-2 a)

Semi-final record: First finals appearance

Top scorer: Bilal Bakkali 8
Previous best: Elite round
2024/25: Elite round

• The second French side to qualify for the finals after ACCS Asnières Villeneuve 92 in 2021/22.
• Etoile's Souheil Mouhoudine and Nelson Lutin were in that ACCS team; Mouhoudine also helped Cartagena to bronze last season.
• In their quarter-final first leg against Semey they came back from three goals down to win, as they had done versus the same club in the main round. Bilal Bakkali hit late winners in all three defeats of Semey (and six goals across those three matches).