By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
The big news of the Euroleague draw for the 2013-14 season was not the draw itself, but the announcement of the city that will host the next Final Four. Despite many talks about Kaunas, Belgrade, Vitoria, even Amstardam, the choice is Milan, Italy (15-18 Μay). It’s not a surprise that Euroleague said goodbye to London, but Milan is still a controversial choice. The city is great, has a long basketball tradition, but the “Forum”, the gym that will host the event is the oldest and smallest (12.500 seats) in recent Euroleague history.
As for the draw, the regular season Group A consists of Barcelona, CSKA Moscow, Fenerbahce/ Ulker, Budivelnik, Partizan and Nanterre, Group B, the toughest of them all, includes Real Madrid, Anadolu Efes, Zalgiris Kaunas, Brose Baskets, EA7 Milano and Strasbourg, Group C has defending champions Olympiacos, Siena, Unicaja Malaga, Galatasaray, Zielona Gora and Bayern Munich and Group D encompass Panathinaikos, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Laboral Kutxa, Lokomotiv Kuban, Crvena Zvezda and the qualifying round winner.
On the qualifying round Cimberio Varese will face EWE Oldenburg, Lietuvos Rytas will play VEF Riga and on the other side of the board Nymburk will compete against Banvit and Khimki, the big favorite, is the opponent of Ostend.