© Stickel
This will be a premiere in two respects: with the away game at Hapoel Tel Aviv, Bayern Basketball not only begin the new EuroLeague season, but the Munich side will also be playing in Sofia for the very first time. Due to the political situation in the Middle East, the ambitious club from Israel will, until further notice, once again play its home games in the Bulgarian capital.
Tipoff is already at 6 p.m. German time, with MagentaSport broadcasting live. Just 43 hours later, after a travel day, Bayern will host Alba Berlin on Saturday afternoon (3:30 p.m./BMW Park) for the first BBL summit of the season.
Justus Hollatz and Bayern kick off the EuroLeague season against Hapoel | © Stickel
High-profile additions: LeDay, Satoransky and Coffey
Arena Sofia, a large multi-purpose venue, holds around 12,000 spectators; at Hapoel’s games last season, there were always about 3,000 to 4,000 fans in attendance. (The second leg this past January was played in Tel Aviv, where FCBB sprung a surprise with a 79:64 win.) The 2025 European Cup champions initially met their own expectations with a sixth-place finish in their EuroLeague debut last season, but then missed the targeted Final Four in the playoffs against Real Madrid (1:3).
The Final Eight remains the goal, which will be pursued with a squad of 22 professionals. Once again led by the league’s top earner, Serbian playmaker Vasa Micic, alongside whom the high-quality guards Antonio Blakeney (2025/26: 13.3 ppg, 40% 3PT) and Elijah Bryant (15.4), as well as center Dan Oturu (13.9), have been retained. There were also high-profile additions this summer, such as Zach LeDay (from Milan), Tomas Satoransky (Barcelona), and Amir Coffey from the NBA (Milwaukee, Phoenix).
Top scorer Micic
At the preseason tournament in Sardinia, Hapoel showcased its individual class in crunch time of a long tight game against Bayern in the final (77:85). The prestigious duel for the Israeli Super Cup, however, was lost a week ago to local rivals and national champions Maccabi, 83:101 (42:54). Micic (17/10 assists), Oturu, and Khadeen Carrington (11) were the top scorers. At home, only five imports are allowed — against Bayern, Hapoel will be at full strength.