This Friday and Sunday, Europe awaits a basketball holiday at the Zalgiris Arena in Lithuania – the Euroleague final – of the four most prestigious club tournaments in the Old World. Olympiacos, Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid and Monaco will fight for the title of continental champions in one-game playoffs.

Let’s take a closer look at each team and also talk about the semi-final doubles of the tournament.

Olympiacos

The regular season winners are undefeated in the local arena as they reach the semi-finals and confidently lead the season’s main favorites trio in the Euroleague. True, the defeats of opponents such as Milan, Partizan and Red Star at the finish line of the regular season somewhat blurred the sense of invincibility for the Greek team.

Leader

Sloukas and Papanicolaou form the local core of the team, representing its spirit. However, the leader in terms of time on the court and most importantly points scored is Aleksandar Vezenkov (average of 17.2 points per game). By the way, in this indicator he is the leader of the group stage.

Vezenkov was recognized as the player of the tour 6 times during the regular season. Basically – at the start (for the first 10 games of the season – 4 individual splits). The Bulgarian player was the MVP of the month twice. He also made his first symbolic All-EuroLeague team. Vezenkov is perhaps the best basketball player in the Old World. The final four are your chance to prove it.

Trainer

Georgios Bartzokas has been working with the team for the third year. During this time he won everything in Greece. He was also named Euroleague’s best coach twice in a row. In 2013, a native Athenian was already lifting the most prestigious club trophy over his head. By the way, only with Olympiacos. And Real Madrid lost in the final. Is it time to repeat history?

optimum composition

Sloukas – Voukap – Papanikolaou – Vezenkov – Soul

Barcelona

Blue Garnet warmed up considerably to the outsiders of the tournament, with five wins in the last six games of the Euroleague group stage. However, before that, he had problems with Fenerbahçe and Olympiacos. True, this was enough for the second place in the European Cup, and the team is also confidently fighting on the second front, leading the Spanish championship.

Leader

With Vesely, Laprovittola and Satoranski playing on the same team, it’s hard to choose one. But current Euroleague MVP Nikola Mirotic manages to stand out even in such a company. He leads his team in points (15.9), rebounds (4.6), steals (0.9) and performance rating (17.1).

Trainer

Sarunas Jasikevicius lives for basketball and strives to win every game. Especially in the Euroleague. Especially in Kaunas, which is very dear to him, you can be sure that the locals will say his name and support his club.

optimum composition

Satoranski – Laprovittola – Abrines – Mirotic – Vesely

Real

The team that wins the tournament most frequently is on the verge of success again. Real Madrid obviously sat closer to the decisive phase of the season, both in the European arena and in the domestic championship. The losses to Barça, Partizan, Baskonia (twice in the Spanish Championship), Efes, Rio (Spanish Championship) and Maccabi make you wonder if Madrid can make a definitive breakthrough?

Leader

Walter Tavares is only third on the team, but first in efficiency (17.3) and best on both sides of the court in terms of contributing to team success. He was once MVP of the Tour and once Player of the Month.

Trainer

Jesus Mateo won the Euroleague twice as an assistant. He has been in the Real Madrid system for 9 years. He also coached Madrid for 5 more years in different age categories. First year as head coach. That’s why the team was in heat at the beginning and end of the regular seasons, both in the Euroleague and in Spain. But behind the coach is 30 years of experience in this activity. And he can assemble a team at a crucial moment, as he has done recently.

optimum composition

Rodriguez – Moses – December – Yabuzele – Tavares

Monaco

The Monegasques played in the Euroleague playoffs last year, where they lost to Olympiacos. Now they are here again. But already in the semi-finals. Club with Ukrainian flavor. Sergei Gladyr performed there for a long time and successfully. The director is Ukrainian Oleksiy Efimov and the vice president is Ukrainian Sergey Dyachenko. How would you like the team to cheer for the final four?

Leader

Monaco BC Mike James

The Monegasques are led by former Brooklyn Nets’ Mike James and backed by Jordan Lloyd and local star Eli Okobo. Mike received the MVP of the Month award in October. And in the decisive match, he scored 21 points in the Maccabi ring.

Trainer

Sasha Obradovic, known to Ukrainian fans, has been working in the Principality for the second year in a row and for the third year overall. A strong tactician who, after the results of the regular season, created Europe’s fourth team from the weakest players and received the title “Maccabi”. The next test is Olympiacos.

optimum composition

James – Okobo – Lloyd – Diallo – Brown

semi final couples

Olympiacos – Monaco

Titles: 3-0

Face-to-face conflicts: 0-2

Play: 19.05 18:00

regular season

The Monegasques beat their opponents twice in the final quarter of the regular season, where James was charming and Vezenkov was not himself. Both coaches know how to defend. But the Greeks at that time did not particularly think about defeat. They walked the Euroleague distance as a whole. Also, not a single defeat was recorded.

Quarterfinals

Monaco beat the pretty strong Maccabi in five games. Overall, this year’s quarterfinals were pretty even, with one exception. Mike James and Jordan Lloyd performed well (record efficiency in the second round).

Olympiakos had an unexpectedly difficult time dealing with eighth-seeded Fenerbahce. The teams alternately exchanged wins. And in the decisive match, Slukas, Vezenkov and Papanikolaou advanced to the next round with 53 points in three.

Summary

The Greeks seem more solid. And Monaco is more modern. It will be a game of two different styles: smart, athletic, fast, very “American” from representatives of the European and French championships led by Bartzokas. Moreover, many of Obradovic’s tutors have experience playing overseas. It’s what gives this confrontation a special flavor.

Barcelona – Real

Titles: 2-10

Face-to-face conflicts: 1-1

Play: 19.05 21:00

regular season

After the results of the regular season in Euroleague, the teams parted ways by winning at home. Dec performed well for Madrid, collecting 21 and 23 points in these matches. Barça hoped for good form from Satoranski, who was accordingly the most efficient.

Quarterfinals

Sharunas Jasikyavichyus passed his hometown Zalgiris 3-0 quite easily and naturally. Thus, providing a calm anticipation of the next opponent. Real Madrid lost both home games to Partizan and were relegated from the tournament. However, the Madrid basketball players found the strength to change the course of the series and won the match 3-2. Struggle, experience, thanks to the teacher. But they go even further.

Summary

The “true” leader always and everywhere. And don’t be fooled by the team’s uncertain performances at the Spanish Championship and its tense streak with the Serbs. One-game skirmishes are their element. Royal Club made 19 appearances in the competition’s finals and is on track to appear here for the 20th time. Also last year, Real Madrid defeated Barcelona in the semi-finals. But now the final four are in Lithuania. Barcelona has reached this stage of the competition three times in a row. And his last title was in 2010. The struggle with the ball in the hands of the two giants of the game is always irresistible. “El Clasico” in the last four is a real decoration of basketball.

Vyacheslav Shevchenko