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Euroleague Basketball Wiki Information
The Euroleague
(EL), also known as Euroleague Basketball
is the highest level and most important professional basketball competition in Europe, with teams from up to 18 different European countries. The competition is operated by ULEB, a Europe-wide consortium of leading professional basketball leagues. Clubs from Israel, entirely within Asia, are also part of the system.
The league usually, but not always, includes domestic champions from the leading countries. Depending on the country, places in the Euroleague may be awarded on the basis of:
- Performance in the previous season's domestic league.
- Performance over the previous two or three domestic seasons.
- Contracts with ULEB.
- In addition, the winner of the previous season's Eurocup receives a place.
For example, two 2007-08 domestic champions from ULEB member countries did not compete in the 2008-09 Euroleague—Zadar (Croatia) and Hapoel Holon (Israel). Zadar played in the second-level Eurocup in 2008-09. Hapoel Holon, however, did not compete in any
of the three European continental club competitions—not even the third-tier EuroChallenge (which is run by FIBA Europe instead of ULEB).
Starting with the 2009–10 season, the entrance criteria have changed:
- Thirteen clubs, chosen via a formula based on competitive performance, television revenues, and home attendance, receive "A Licences", giving them automatic entry into the Euroleague Regular Season phase. A Licences are awarded for three years, meaning that the next adjustment of A Licences will not take place until 2012–13.
- Eight clubs receive one-year "B Licences" into the Euroleague Regular Season. Seven of them are directly based on the ranking of the domestic league in which the club competes. The eighth is a three-year "wildcard" licence based on similar factors to the A Licences; the first such licence was awarded to ASVEL Basket of France.
- The winner of the previous year's Eurocup receives a one-year "C Licence" into the Euroleague Regular Season. If the club qualifies for a direct B Licence into the Regular Season via its domestic league, the C Licence will be awarded to the club not already qualified for the Regular Season that is highest on the Euroleague entry list.
- Eight other clubs receive one-year "B Licences" into the Euroleague qualifying rounds, with two advancing into the Regular Season.
For more info see:
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EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL TICKETS
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European Champions' Cup Teams Divided
The Euroleague (or historically called, the European Champions' Cup
) was originally established by FIBA and it operated under its umbrella from 1958 until the summer of 2000, including the 1999/2000 season. That was when ULEB, short for the Union of European Leagues of Basketball, was created by the 24 richest club teams, most of them from Spain, Italy and Greece.
Amazingly, FIBA had never trademarked the Euroleague name and ULEB simply used it without any legal ramifications because FIBA had no legal recourse to do anything about it, so they had to find a new name for their league. Thus, the following 2000/2001 season started with 2 separate top European basketball competitions: the FIBA Suproleague (known as the FIBA Euroleague up to that point) and the brand new ULEB Euroleague.
The rift in European club basketball initially showed no signs of letting up. Top clubs were also split between the two leagues: Panathinaikos, Maccabi Tel Aviv, CSKA Moscow and Efes Pilsen stayed with FIBA, while Olympiacos Piraeus, Kinder Bologna, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Baskonia and Benetton Treviso joined ULEB.
In May 2001, Europe had two continental champions, Maccabi of the FIBA Suproleague and Kinder Bologna of the ULEB Euroleague. The leaders of both organizations realized the need to come up with a new single competition. Negotiating from the position of strength, ULEB dictated proceedings and FIBA essentially had no choice but to agree to their terms. As a result, the Euroleague was fully integrated under ULEB's umbrella and teams that competed in the FIBA Suproleague during the 2000/2001 season joined it as well.
In essence, the authority in European basketball was divided over club-country lines. FIBA stayed in charge of national team competitions (like the European Championships, World Championships, and the Olympics) while ULEB took over the professional club competitions. From that point on, FIBA's Korac Cup and Saporta Cup competitions lasted only one more season before folding, which was when ULEB launched the ULEB Cup, now known as the Eurocup.
Euroleague Format
Beginning with the 2009–10 season, the Euroleague's first phase will be the Qualifying Rounds
, which involve eight clubs bracketed into a knockout tournament consisting of two-legged matches. The four survivors of the First Qualifying Round are paired against one another for the Second Qualifying Round, with the two winners continuing in the Euroleague. All losing clubs in the Qualifying Rounds parachute into ULEB's second-tier Eurocup.
The next phase is the Regular Season
, in which 24 teams participate; from 2009–10, the participants will include 22 clubs automatically entered into the Regular Season plus the two Qualifying Round winners. Each team plays two games (home-and-away) against every other team in its group. At the end of the Regular Season, the field is cut from 24 to 16. Before 2008–09, the teams were divided into three groups of eight teams each, with the top five teams in each group plus the top sixth-place finisher advancing. Now, the Regular Season involves four groups with six teams each, with the first four teams in each group advancing.
The second phase, known as the Top 16
, then begins, featuring the 16 survivors of the Regular Season, drawn into four-team groups. As in the Regular Season, each Top 16 group is contested in a double round-robin format.
The third phase, the Quarterfinal round
, has been played since the 2004-05 season. Before, only the group winners advanced to the Final Four (see below). Now, the first- and second-place teams from each group advance. In the quarterfinal round, the first-place team from each group is matched against a second-place team from another group in a playoff series. Through the 2007-08 season, the series was best-of-three, and expanded to best-of-five for 2008-09. Home advantage in the series goes to the first-place team.
The Final Four
, held at a predetermined site, features the winners of the four quarterfinal series in one-off knockout matches. The semifinal losers play for third place; the winners play for the championship.
The 2009 Final Four was held on May 1-3 at the O2 World in Berlin. The 2010 Final Four will be held at Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris.
Finals
For finals not played on a single match, *
precedes the score of the team playing at home.
| Year
| Host City
| Champion
| Runner Up
| 1st match
/ Final
| 2nd match
| 3rd match
| 4th match
| 5th match
|
1957/58
Details
| Riga & Sofia
| ASK Riga
| Akademik Sofia
| *86-81
| 84-*71
| -
|
1958/59
Details
| Riga & Sofia
| ASK Riga
| Akademik Sofia
| *79-58
| 69-*67
| -
|
1959/60
Details
| Tbilisi & Riga
| ASK Riga
| Dinamo Tbilisi
| 61-*51
| *69-62
| -
|
1960/61
Details
| Riga & Moscow
| CSKA Moscow
| ASK Riga
| *61-66
| 87-*62
| -
|
1961/62
Details
| Geneva
| Dinamo Tbilisi
| Real Madrid
| 90-83
| -
|
1963/63
Details
| Madrid & Moscow
| CSKA Moscow
| Real Madrid
| 69-*86
| *91-74
| *99-80
| -
|
1963/64
Details
| Brno & Madrid
| Real Madrid
| Spartak Brno
| 99-*110
| *84-64
| -
|
1964/65
Details
| Moscow & Madrid
| Real Madrid
| CSKA Moscow
| 81-*88
| *76-62
| -
|
| Final-Four
|
1965/66
Details
| Bologna
| Simmenthal Milan
| USK Slavia Prague
| 77-72
| -
|
1966/67
Details
| Madrid
| Real Madrid
| Simmenthal Milan
| 91-83
| -
|
| Finals since 1968
| >
1967/68
Details
| Lyon
| Real Madrid
| Spartak Brno
| 98-95
| -
|
1968/69
Details
| Barcelona
| CSKA Moscow
| Real Madrid
| 103-99 (2OT)
| -
|
1969/70
Details
| Sarajevo
| Ignis Varèse
| CSKA Moscow
| 79-74
| -
|
1970/71
Details
| Antwerp
| CSKA Moscow
| Ignis Varèse
| 67-53
| -
|
1971/72
Details
| Tel Aviv
| Ignis Varèse
| Jugoplastika Split
| 70-69
| -
|
1972/73
Details
| Liège
| Ignis Varèse
| CSKA Moscow
| 71-66
| -
|
1973/74
Details
| Nantes
| Real Madrid
| Ignis Varèse
| 84-82
| -
|
1974/75
Details
| Antwerp
| Ignis Varèse
| Real Madrid
| 79-66
| -
|
1975/76
Details
| Geneva
| Mobilgirgi Varese
| Real Madrid
| 81-74
| -
|
1976/77
Details
| Belgrade
| Maccabi Tel Aviv
| Mobilgirgi Varese
| 78-77
| -
|
1977/78
Details
| Munich
| Real Madrid
| Mobilgirgi Varese
| 75-67
| -
|
1978/79
Details
| Grenoble
| Bosna Sarajevo
| Emerson Varese
| 96-93
| -
|
1979/80
Details
| West Berlin
| Real Madrid
| Maccabi Tel Aviv
| 89-85
| -
|
1980/81
Details
| Strasbourg
| Maccabi Tel Aviv
| Synudine Bologna
| 80-79
| -
|
1981/82
Details
| Cologne
| Squibb Cantù
| Maccabi Tel Aviv
| 86-80
| -
|
1982/83
Details
| Grenoble
| Ford Cantù
| Billy Milan
| 69-68
| -
|
1983/84
Details
| Geneva
| Banco di Roma
| FC Barcelona
| 79-73
| -
|
1984/85
Details
| Athens
| Cibona Zagreb
| Real Madrid
| 87-78
| -
|
1985/86
Details
| Budapest
| Cibona Zagreb
| Žalgiris Kaunas
| 94-82
| -
|
1986/87
Details
| Lausanne
| Tracer Milan
| Maccabi Tel Aviv
| 71-69
| -
|
1987/88
Details
| Ghent
| Tracer Milan
| Maccabi Tel Aviv
| 90-84
| -
|
1988/89
Details
| Munich
| Jugoplastika Split
| Maccabi Tel Aviv
| 75-69
| -
|
1989/90
Details
| Zaragoza
| Jugoplastika Split
| FC Barcelona
| 72-67
| -
|
1990/91
Details
| Paris
| Pop 84 Split
| FC Barcelona
| 70-65
| -
|
1991/92
Details
| Istanbul
| Partizan
| Joventut Badalona
| 71-70
| -
|
1992/93
Details
| Athens
| CSP Limoges
| Benetton Treviso
| 59-55
| -
|
1993/94
Details
| Tel Aviv
| Joventut Badalona
| Olympiacos
| 59-57
| -
|
1994/95
Details
| Zaragoza
| Real Madrid
| Olympiacos
| 73-61
| -
|
1995/96
Details
| Paris
| Panathinaikos
| FC Barcelona
| 67-66
| -
|
1996/97
Details
| Rome
| Olympiacos
| FC Barcelona
| 73-58
| -
|
1997/98
Details
| Barcelona
| Kinder Bologna
| AEK Athens
| 58-44
| -
|
1998/99
Details
| Munich
| Žalgiris Kaunas
| Kinder Bologna
| 82-74
| -
|
1999/00
Details
| Thessaloniki
| Panathinaikos
| Maccabi Tel Aviv
| 73-67
| -
|
2000/01
Details
Details
*
| Paris
| Maccabi Tel Aviv
| Panathinaikos
| 81-67
| -
|
| Bologna & Vitoria-Gasteiz
| Kinder Bologna
| Baskonia
| *68-85
| *94-73
| 80-*60
| 79-*96
| *82-74
|
2001/02
Details
| Bologna
| Panathinaikos
| Kinder Bologna
| 89-83
| -
|
2002/03
Details
| Barcelona
| FC Barcelona
| Benetton Treviso
| 76-65
| -
|
2003/04
Details
| Tel Aviv
| Maccabi Tel Aviv
| Skipper Bologna
| 118-74
| -
|
2004/05
Details
| Moscow
| Maccabi Tel Aviv
| Baskonia
| 90-78
| -
|
2005/06
Details
| Prague
| CSKA Moscow
| Maccabi Tel Aviv
| 73-69
| -
|
2006/07
Details
| Athens
| Panathinaikos
| CSKA Moscow
| 93-91
| -
|
2007/08
Details
| Madrid
| CSKA Moscow
| Maccabi Tel Aviv
| 91-77
| -
|
2008/09
Details
| Berlin
| Panathinaikos
| CSKA Moscow
| 73-71
| -
|
2009/10
Details
| Paris
|
|
|
| -
|
*''2001 was a transition year, with the best European teams split into two major leagues ( Suproleague held by FIBA, Euroleague
by ULEB).
Titles
By club
| Team
| Winners
| Runners-Up
| Years Won
| Years Runner-Up
|
| Real Madrid
| 8
| 6
| 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1974, 1978, 1980, 1995
| 1962, 1963, 1969, 1975, 1976, 1985
|
| CSKA Moscow
| 6
| 5
| 1961, 1963, 1969, 1971, 2006, 2008
| 1965, 1970, 1973, 2007, 2009
|
| Maccabi Tel Aviv
| 5
| 8
| 1977, 1981, 2001, 2004, 2005
| 1980, 1982, 1987, 1988, 1989, 2000, 2006, 2008
|
| Pallacanestro Varese
| 5
| 5
| 1970, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976
| 1971, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1979
|
| Panathinaikos
| 5
| 1
| 1996, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2009
| 2001
|
| Olimpia Milano
| 3
| 2
| 1966, 1987, 1988
| 1967, 1983
|
| ASK Riga
| 3
| 1
| 1958, 1959, 1960
| 1961
|
| Split
| 3
| 1
| 1989, 1990, 1991
| 1972
|
| Virtus Bologna
| 2
| 3
| 1998, 2001
| 1981, 1999, 2002
|
| Pallacanestro Cantù
| 2
| –
| 1982, 1983
| –
|
| Cibona Zagreb
| 2
| –
| 1985, 1986
| –
|
| Barcelona
| 1
| 5
| 2003
| 1984, 1990, 1991, 1996, 1997
|
| Olympiacos Piraeus
| 1
| 2
| 1997
| 1994, 1995
|
| Dinamo Tbilisi
| 1
| 1
| 1962
| 1960
|
| Joventut Badalona
| 1
| 1
| 1994
| 1992
|
| Žalgiris Kaunas
| 1
| 1
| 1999
| 1986
|
| Bosna Sarajevo
| 1
| –
| 1979
| –
|
| Virtus Roma
| 1
| –
| 1984
| –
|
| Partizan Belgrade
| 1
| –
| 1992
| –
|
| CSP Limoges
| 1
| –
| 1993
| –
|
| Academic Sofia
| –
| 2
| –
| 1958, 1959
|
| Spartak Brno
| –
| 2
| –
| 1964, 1968
|
| Benetton Treviso
| –
| 2
| –
| 1993, 2003
|
| Baskonia
| –
| 2
| –
| 2001, 2005
|
| Slavia Prague
| –
| 1
| –
| 1966
|
| Fortitudo Bologna
| –
| 1
| –
| 2004
|
- Maccabi Tel Aviv beat Panathinaikos in the 2000/2001 FIBA Suproleague final. The league did not contain all of the European champions.
- Kinder Bologna (Virtus) beat TAU Cerámica (Baskonia) in the 2000/2001 ULEB Euroleague final. The league did not contain all of the European champions.
- See also: Triple Crown in Basketball
By nation
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