Barça basketball now know who their rivals will be in the first phase of the 2014/15 Euroleague. The draw, made this Thursday in Barcelona, has made it pretty tough for Barça, with top level teams in the group, all champions of their respective leagues. Panathinaikos coached by Dusko Ivanovic, Zeljko Obradovic’s Fenerbahçe, Emporio Armani Milan, Svetislav Pesic’s Bayern Munich, and the Polish side Turow Zgorzelec are Barça’s opponents. It’s worth remembering that the top four in each group go through to the second phase, the top 16.
So, two former Barça coaches will be returning to the Palau Blaugrana. Svetislav Pesic, current coach of Bayern, was Barça coach in the first edition of the Euroleague, whilst Dusko Ivanovic, who recently signed for Panathinaikos, was first team coach between 2005 and 2008.
The competition will start on 16th of October and the first phase will go on until 19th of December. The Top 16 will run between 30th of December and 10th of April. The play-offs will be between 14th and 28th of April, and the Final Four, which will be played in Madrid, will be between 14th and 17th of May.
The rest of the groups are as follows:
Grup A: Real Madrid, Efes Pilsen, Zalgiris, Nihzny Novgorod, Sardenya, and the winner of the qualification phase
Grup B: CSKA Moscou, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Unicaja, Alba Berlin, Cedevita Zagreb and Limoges
Grup D: Olympiacos, Valencia Basket, Laboral Kutxa, Estrella Roja and Neptunas Klapeida
