By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv and Hapoel Midtown Jerusalem will take on Anadolu Efes and Bahcesehir Koleji in neutral venues.
On Monday, Euroleague Basketball officially relocated the respective EuroLeague and BKT EuroCup contests to the capitals of Bulgaria and Serbia.
Per the press release: “The EuroLeague Round 23 game between Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv and Anadolu Efes Istanbul will be played at ARENA 8888 in Sofia, Bulgaria as per the local authorities’ recommendations. The game will be played on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, at 19:30 local time (17:30 GMT).
The BKT EuroCup Round 15 game between Hapoel Midtown Jerusalem and Bahcesehir College Istanbul will be played at Hala Sportova Ranko Zeravica in Belgrade, Serbia as per the local authorities’ recommendations. The game will be played on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, at 19:00 local time (18:00 GMT).”
Heading to Round 18 of the EuroLeague Regular Season, with Hapoel visiting FC Bayern Munich in SAP Garden and Efes facing LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne in LDLC Arena on Tuesday, the team coached by Dimitris Itoudis carries a 12-5 W-L tally and shares first place on the table with FC Barcelona. Behind a 6-11 record, Pablo Laso’s side is 3.5 games away from the Play-In Showdown zone.
In Group A of the EuroCup Regular Season, the fellow Israeli and Turkish clubs resume their continental campaigns at home next Tuesday, December 30, with BAXI Manresa in Jerusalem’s Pais Arena and Veolia Towers Hamburg in Istanbul’s Sinan Erdem Dome, respectively. At 9-2, Hapoel leads the standings, with Bahcesehir tied in second place with Cedevita Olimpija on a 7-4 tally.