What a start to the season, what an opening program in October: The EuroLeague season 2022/2023 begins for the Bayern basketball team on Thursday, October 6 (20:30.) with a highlight game at the Audi Dome against Turkish heavyweight Fenerbahce Istanbul. A new era has begun at the ambitious Turkish champions with the signing of successful coach Dimitris Itoudis (2014 - 2022 at ZSKA Moscow) and top guard Scottie Wilbekin (from Maccabi).
A week later, the FCBB have to play a tough away game at EuroCup winners Virtus Bologna, who are making their EuroLeague comeback after 14 years. The second home game on Tuesday, October 18, against the eternal title favorites and Munich playoff opponents FC Barcelona led by Nikola Mirotic is also a cracker - before the visit of Armani Milan just two days later (October 20) completes the first Double Week in spectacular fashion.
Read Madrid on December 13th
The BBL season begins for the FCBB on October 1. Season tickets for both competitions are already available in the Bayern ticket store, and tickets will be released soon. The draw for the Cup Round of 16 (October 15/16) will take place next Tuesday, 15:00.
October, with the three top games at the Audi Dome against Fener, Barça and Milan plus the Cup, is therefore a busy month for head coach Andrea Trinchieri's team. In addition to these first highlights, EuroLeague fans should also mark on their calendars the Munich appearances of back-to-back champions Efes Istanbul (Nov. 3), Final Four participant Olympiakos Piraeus (Nov. 17), Real Madrid (Dec. 13) and the two Belgrade teams Partizan (Feb. 9-23) and Red Star (March 2) . The first German rivalry game against Alba Berlin is on the road (November 10), the return game in Munich on March 17.
18 Teams with Partizan, Bologna & Valencia
Compared to last year, the 18-team field in the top flight includes three new, big-name clubs, for each of whom it is a return to the top flight. The 13 A-license clubs, including FCBB, Adriatic champion Red Star, playoff participant AS Monaco and wildcard holder Berlin, are joined in the continental elite league by Italian EuroCup winner Virtus, traditional Serbian club Partizan and former Spanish champion Valencia Basket. The Russian clubs remain excluded.
Legend, Obradovic
Next season, attractive duels with old acquaintances await the Munich team: Co-captain Vladimir Lucic, Ognjen Jaramaz both come from the Belgrade club Partizan; guard Corey Walden and coach Trinchieri also have a Partizan past. The return of coaching legend Zeljko Obradovic (nine EuroLeague titles) a year ago kicked off Partizan's comeback to the EuroLeague. The 1992 European Cup winners last played in the EuroLeague in 2013/2014. They have just acquired ex-NBA pro Dante Exum from FC Barcelona.
Renaissance in Bologna
Virtus Bologna has triumphed twice in Europe's top competition (1998, 2001) and has made huge financial efforts in recent years for a renaissance. By winning the third highest competition in 2019, the Fiba Champions League, and acquiring an armada of notable additions (Milos Teodosic, Marco Belinelli, Tornike Shengelia and currently Jordan Mickey), the 16-time Italian champion led by Spain's world champion coach Sergio Scariolo is back to its old level.
Valencia Basket has been one of the top teams in Europe's strongest national league, Spain's ACB, for years. Valencia has already won the EuroCup four times and thus also had the right to start in the EuroLeague, most recently in 2019. In 2017, they celebrated the ACB title, and a new arena is being built in the city. This season, the team around center Bojan Dublevic had to admit defeat in the EuroCup semifinals to the eventual winner Virtus. Vladimir Lucic will also see familiar faces here again; he played in Valencia from 2013 to 2016 before moving to Munich.
EuroLeague-Teams 2022/2023:
Alba Berlin, Anadolu Efes Istanbul (TV), AS Monaco, Olimpia Armani Mailand, Baskonia Vítoria-Gasteiz, Roter Stern Belgrad, FC Barcelona, FC Bayern Basketball, Fenerbahce Istanbul, Asvel Villeurbanne-Lyon, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Olympiakos Piräus, Panathinaikos Athen, Partizan Belgrad, Real Madrid, Valencia Basket, Virtus Bologna und Zalgiris Kaunas.