Olympic-title holders Croatia will battle world and European champions Serbia in the final of the men's water polo competition on Saturday (20 August) in the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.

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Serbia are seeking their first Olympic gold medal, while their neighbours Croatia will join Great Britain, Hungary and the former Yugoslavia as the only teams to win successive men's water polo titles if they manage to beat the favourites.

Since finishing third at London 2012, Serbia have dominated the international water polo scene, winning six of the seven major events staged. They have also been crowned European champions twice (2014 and 2016) and the only medal missing from their collection is the one they aim to win on Saturday: Olympic gold.

Before the tournament, Serbia coach Dejan Savic said: "We will only be satisfied with winning the gold medal. We have won everything else, now we want this. Every competition before Rio was one step closer to this goal."

Serbia to face local rivals Croatia in men's water polo final

After two draws and an embarrassing loss to Brazil in the group stage, Serbia were on the brink of a shock elimination but wins against Australia and Japan saw them scrape through to the knoc-kout rounds where they were back to their best as they beat Spain10-7 in the quarter-finals and then Italy 10-8 to reach the gold medal match.

"This is just one more final. We don't want to be under pressure so we will just enjoy the game," Serbia's Filip Filipovic said. "For us, it's a final like every other, nothing else. I think it will really be a spectacular final."

Filip Filopovic is one of the main stars in an all-conquering Serbian side (Photo: Getty Images/Clive Rose)

The most recent clash between Croatia and Serbia in a competitive match was on 10 January 2016, when Serbia beat Croatia 13-6 at the European championship in the group stage. The two also met in the 2015 world championship final in Kazan, Russia, where Serbia triumphed 11-4.

Croatia coach Ivica Tucak was the assistant to Ratko Rudic when Croatia won gold four years ago in London. The only blemishes during his team's march to the final in Rio have been defeats to Spain and France in the group stage.

A key player for Croatia in the final will be Marko Bijac, who has taken the London 2012 Most Valuable Player Josip Pavic's place as starting goalkeeper. Bijac has proved crucial to Croatia's success in the knockout stages, saving two penalties against Brazil and saving 10 of the 18 shots fired at him by Montenegro.

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