Turkish Airlines EuroLeague to return to action on Thursday

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) – Curtain will be raised for the 2022-23 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season on Thursday.

The Europe's top-tier basketball league will start with five games.

In the first round, France's LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne will take on Italian club EA7 Emporio Armani Milan at its home court Astroballe.

Meanwhile Greek club Panathinaikos will play against Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid at Athens' Oaka Altion on the same day.

Both games will start at 1800GMT.

There will be three more matches to tip off after 1800GMT.

The Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv vs. Zalgiris Kaunas, Valencia Basket vs. Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, and Bayern Munich vs. Fenerbahce Beko games will be held on Thursday.

Back-to-back EuroLeague champions Anadolu Efes will start the season in Istanbul on Friday as the Turkish club will play against Serbia's Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade at Sinan Erdem Sports Hall.

There will be 34 rounds in the regular season, which will be followed by knockout stages in the 2023 spring.

- Record holders Real Madrid seeking 1st title since 2018

Real Madrid, the record champions with 10 titles, will begin the season in Greece on Thursday.

The Spanish team are looking for their first EuroLeague title since 2018.

The 2019 champions were CSKA Moscow. The 2019-2020 season was first disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and then was canceled.

Anadolu Efes won the EuroLeague in 2021 and 2022, and Real Madrid were the 2022 finalists.

- No Russian teams in EuroLeague

In February, all Russian clubs were suspended by the EuroLeague Basketball due to Russia’s war on Ukraine.

The ban was extended in July, so the Russian teams were barred from the 2022-23 EuroLeague campaign.

Russia's CSKA Moscow, Zenit Saint Petersburg, and BC UNICS, which were in the 2021-22 EuroLeague before the ban, cannot play the game this season.

- Round 1

Thursday

LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne - EA7 Emporio Armani Milan

Panathinaikos - Real Madrid

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv - Zalgiris Kaunas

Valencia Basket - Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz

Bayern Munich - Fenerbahce Beko

Friday

Anadolu Efes - Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade

ALBA Berlin - Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade

Virtus Segafredo Bologna - AS Monaco

Barcelona - Olympiacos