By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
The 2025-26 edition of the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL, the tenth season since the introduction to European club continental competitions, opened with three Qualification Tournaments and continues with the Regular Season. Sixteen games on Tuesday and Wednesday, all around Europe, begin a six-game double-legged round-robin schedule across eight groups of four teams each. Battles for a ticket to the Round of 16 will continue through the next few months.
Back-to-back defending champion, recently crowned FIBA Intercontinental Cup champion for a second year in a row, Unicaja is certainly on a roll, but starts equal to the remaining 31 Season X participants. In Group G, the first game is against Mersin Spor in Malaga. Among three lasting originals, Filou Oostende is at home against newcomer Karditsa Iaponiki.
La Laguna Tenerife, Unicaja’s domestic opponent in the ACB and fellow lasting original, visits Trapani Shark to rise in Group D, with Aaron Doornekamp on the verge of becoming the fifth player with 100 BCL appearances, the first with one single team. Elsewhere in the four-team group, Tofas and Bnei PenLink Herzliya meet in Samokov.
Last season’s runner-up, Galatasaray MCT Technic, bounces back into continental action by taking on Igokea m:tel in Istanbul’s Turkcell Basketball Development Center. The other Group E fixture is in tectake Arena, with Fitness First Wurzburg versus Trieste.
Sitting in Group F, AEK tips off its tenth Champions League campaign on the road versus VEF Riga. Also, NHSZ-Szolnoki Olajbanyasz welcomes the first team from Slovakia in the Regular Season, Patrioti Levice.
In Group B, ALBA Berlin starts the BCL journey with Elan Chalon in Uber Arena. The ninth year of ERA Nymburk meets the first team from Azerbaijan, BC Sabah.
An intriguing Group H clash sets SL Benfica and Dreamland Gran Canaria in Lisbon. On the other side of the schedule, Spartak Office Shoes hosts Le Mans in Subotica.
Moving to Gameday 1 of Group C, Joventut Badalona and Ricky Rubio start at home against Cholet. Also, Hapoel Netanel Holon and Bursaspor face each other in Szombathely.
Group A action is in Vilnius and Patras, with Rytas opposite MLP Academics Heidelberg and Promitheas Vikos Cola taking on Legia Warszawa.
Week 1 schedule
Group A
Promitheas Vikos Cola – MLP Academics Heidelberg (7/10, 18:00 CET)
Rytas – Legia Warszawa (7/10, 19:00 CET)
Group B
ERA Nymburk – Sabah (7/10, 18:30 CET)
ALBA Berlin – Elan Chalon (8/10, 20:00 CET)
Group C
Joventut Badalona – Cholet (7/10, 20:30 CET)
Hapoel Netanel Holon – Bursaspor (8/10, 17:00 CET)
Group D
Tofas – Bnei PenLink Herzliya (8/10, 19:00 CET)
Trapani Shark – La Laguna Tenerife (8/10, 20:30 CET)
Group E
Fitness First Wurzburg Baskets – Trieste (7/10, 18:30 CET)
Galatasaray MCT Technic – Igokea m:tel (7/10, 19:00 CET)
Group F
VEF Riga – AEK (7/10, 20:00 CET)
NHSZ-Szolnoki Olajbanyasz – Patrioti Levice (8/10, 18:00 CET)
Group G
Unicaja – Mersin Spor (8/10, 20:30 CET)
Filou Oostende – Karditsa Iaponiki (8/10, 20:30 CET)
Group H
SL Benfica – Dreamland Gran Canaria (7/10, 21:30 CET)
Spartak Office Shoes – Le Mans (8/10, 20:00 CET)
-The top seed from each group advances to the Round of 16
-Second and third seeds advance to the Play-Ins