By Alex Molina/ info@eurohoops.net
Securing the top seed of the Regular Season is far from the equivalent of postseason success in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. After the round-robin double-legged format took over covering the entire schedule until the Playoffs in 2016, the regular-season champion always falls short of lifting the trophy.
This season it was FC Barcelona topping the regular-season standings. The Catalonia powerhouse will play archrival Real Madrid on Thursday, while the other Semifinal of the Final Four features defending EuroLeague champion Anadolu Efes versus Olympiacos. Belgrade’s Stark Arena is the host of the Final Four.
Here is a closer look at all regular-season champions:
2016-17
The league format replacing the Regular Season and Top 16 groups ended up with Real Madrid banking in a league-high 23 wins. The team coached by Pablo Laso went 23-7 in the Regular Season and went on to eliminate Darussafaka Dogus in four games to reach the Final Four. The spotlight shifted to Fenerbahce in the championship-crowning stage. In Istanbul, Fener got the best of Los Blancos in the semis and beat Olympiacos for its first continental title.
2017-18
Dancing to a 24-6 record, CSKA dominated the Regular Season. Second-placed Fenerbahce trailed by three wins. In the Playoffs, the Moscow outlet knocked out fellow Russian club Khimki Moscow Region in Game 4 of the best-of-five series. Similar to the previous Final Four, the regular-season champion was thrown out in the Semifinals in Belgrade. Madrid went from victim to victor and from there edged Fenerbahce to win the EuroLeague for the tenth time in team history.
2018-19
More of the same in the next season. Fenerbahce Beko build up a 25-5 tally and eliminated Zalgiris in four games to make the Final Four once again. Moving to Vitoria-Gasteiz, Fener was on the receiving end of a convincing display for Turkish rival Anadolu Efes. However, Ergin Ataman’s side failed to carry momentum and itself fell to CSKA in the championship game.
2019-20
The Regular Season was suspended after 28 rounds and the season was eventually abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Powered by the backcourt duo of Vasilije Micic and Shane Larkin, Efes was in the driver’s seat carrying a 24-4 W-L tally and the odds-on favorite to win it all. But we will never know for sure.
