By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Unpredictability filled last season right up until the moment when Real Madrid seized the trophy in the closing seconds of the Final Four. The new season promises even more drama with the addition of the new Play-In Showdown phase between the regular season and the playoffs.
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In less than three months, the EuroLeague will be back in full swing, with opening games set for the first week of October. There will be 34 rounds of round-robin action in which all teams play all others twice, home and away. Then comes the Play-In Showdown, followed by four best-of-five playoff series and then the world-renowned Final Four, to be held at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin, Germany.
The season arrives with a bang with Round 1 derbies, the first between FC Bayern Munich and ALBA Berlin on Thursday, October 5. A night later, one of the greatest rivalries in basketball, Panathinaikos Athens vs. Olympiacos Piraeus, last season’s runner-up, takes the stage. Less than a week later, in Round 2, get ready for the last two EuroLeague champions to lock horns as Anadolu Efes Istanbul hosts Real Madrid.
The first of eight double-round weeks runs from Tuesday, October 17 to Friday, October 20. Seven of those double-round weeks will fall by February 2, including an unprecedented two consecutively as all teams play four games between Tuesday, January 2 and Friday, January 12.
Be sure to circle Thursday, October 26 on your calendars, too. On that night, two of most passionate derbies anywhere are scheduled: Partizan Mozzart Bet vs. Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet meet in the Belgrade derby and Real hosts FC Barcelona the first Clasico of the season.
The Italian derby comes next as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan will visit Virtus Segafredo Bologna on Thursday, November 14. The Turkish derby will wait until the end of the first leg of the regular season, in Round 17, when Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul crosses the Bosphorus to face Efes on Thursday, December 29. One night later, the last scheduled game of 2023 and the first lap of the regular season pits Partizan against Virtus.
Between February 3 and the last date of the regular season, Friday, April 12, there will be just one more double-round week, from March 19 to 22. The next-to-last round features the last scheduled derby of the regular season as Efes visits Fenerbahce on Friday, April 5.
The new Play-In Showdown will take place from Tuesday, April 16 until Friday, April 19, and then the best-of-five playoffs get rolling on the following Tuesday, April 23. If any series reaches five games, the playoffs will end on Wednesday, May 8, setting the stage for the Final Four from Thursday, May 23 to Sunday, May 26 in the German capital.
It all adds up to a minimum of 326 games, more if all playoff series are not sweeps, and like always, every one matters — even more so thanks to the new Play-In Showdown.