By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp
The 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season, Europe's top-tier club-level basketball contest, will begin with the ALBA Berlin vs. Panathinaikos AKTOR game in Germany on Thursday.
Led by Turkish head coach Ergin Ataman, Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens are the defending champions as the Greek club beat record holders Real Madrid 95-80 in the Berlin final in May.
Two-time EuroLeague champions Anadolu Efes, and Fenerbahce Beko, which won the 2017 title, will go on to represent Türkiye in the prestigious tournament.
Eighteen clubs will compete during the 2024-25 campaign, and will play their first games on Thursday and Friday.
Tiago Splitter's Paris Basket are set to make their EuroLeague debut after winning the second-tier EuroCup last season.
Spanish team Valencia Basket will not be in this season's EuroLeague and they will participate in the EuroCup.
The EuroLeague's 34-game regular season will end on April 11, 2025.
The best six teams in regular season standings will reach the playoffs. But the teams ranked seventh through 10th will advance to the single-game play-in, and they will fight for the rest two tickets for the playoffs.
The play-in matches will be played from April 15 to 18. Meanwhile the playoff stage will be held between April 25 and May 7.
The winners of the playoffs will book their places at the 2025 Final Four that will be played on May 23-25.
The semifinal losers will meet on May 25 in the third-place playoff. The winners of the semis will vie for the 2025 title on the same day.
- Real Madrid secure record 11 EuroLeague titles
Spanish giants Real Madrid are the EuroLeague's record holders with 11 titles.
The Whites have won the prestigious trophy in 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1974, 1978, 1980, 1995, 2015, 2018 and 2023.
CSKA Moscow are after Real Madrid as the Russian powerhouse secured eight EuroLeague titles. However, all Russian clubs including CSKA Moscow have been banned from the European competitions after Russia launched war on Ukraine in 2022.
Panathinaikos, the 2024 champions, won the EuroLeague title for seven times.
Serbian national Zeljko Obradovic is the best coach in the tournament's history as the 64-year-old won record nine EuroLeague titles with five different clubs.
Obradovic guided Panathinaikos to the EuroLeague victories in 2000, 2002, 2007, 2009, and 2011.
Then he helped Fenerbahce win the 2017 title, which was the Istanbul club's first and only EuroLeague success.
Obradovic, who coaches Serbia's Partizan, will enter his 28th EuroLeague season.
- 2 Turkish clubs win EuroLeague title in history
Anadolu Efes and Fenerbahce are the only Turkish clubs to have secured the EuroLeague championships in previous seasons.
In the Obradovic era, Fenerbahce won the 2017 EuroLeague title. The Yellow Canaries became the first ever Turkish club to lift the European trophy after they beat Olympiacos 80-64 in the Istanbul final.
Anadolu Efes won back-to-back EuroLeague titles in 2021 and 2022 while Ataman was their head coach.
Ataman, who bagged the 2024 title with Panathinaikos, is seeking his fourth EuroLeague championship.
- Round 1 in EuroLeague
Thursday:
ALBA Berlin (Germany) vs. Panathinaikos AKTOR (Greece)
Zalgiris Kaunas (Lithuania) vs. Barcelona (Spain)
Monaco (France) vs. EA7 Emporio Armani Milan (Italy)
Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain) vs. Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade (Serbia)
Bayern Munich (Germany) vs. Real Madrid (Spain)
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (Israel) vs. LDLC Asvel Villeurbanne (France)
Friday:
Fenerbahce Beko (Türkiye) vs. Olympiacos (Greece)
Virtus Segafredo Bologna (Italy) vs. Anadolu Efes (Türkiye)
Paris Basketball (France) vs. Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade (Serbia)