By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
The penultimate stage of the 2024-25 installment of the Basketball Champions League will set up the participants of the Final Four.
Before the eight remaining championship contenders step on the court to tip off their respective best-of-three series, Eurohoops scanned the Quarterfinals of the first eight years of the Champions League.
Which teams have been the most successful? Which countries have clinched the most berths?
Tenerife world
With the addition of three newcomers in the latest pack, a total of 34 teams have made the Quarterfinals at least once.
A constant across all nine seasons and a two-time champion in La Laguna Tenerife reached this stage for the eighth time in team history. Only the 2018 Quarterfinals did not feature the team based in the Canary Islands. The everlasting combination of Marcelinho Huertas with Giorgi Shermadini, alongside other brilliant displays under the guidance of Txus Vidorreta, keeps breaking records and is now looking to become the first team with three BCL championships.
Fellow lasting original and former champion, AEK Betsson, is in for the fifth time in team history. Defending champion Unicaja advanced to the Quarterfinals for the fourth time, joining MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg and SIG Strasbourg in third place of the all-time list. ERA Nymburk and Nanterre 92 returned for a third and second time, respectively. The incomers are Turkiye’s Galatasaray, plus Bertram Derthona Tortona and UnaHotels Reggio Emilia from Italy.
Certainly, demanding challenges all around Europe shaped the road so far, and progressing to the Quarterfinals stands as a huge success across the eight remaining contenders. Naturally, every single team wants to go further, extending the continental campaign into the Final Four. Rewind to Tenerife; their success rate in this stage is incredible.
List of teams in the Quarterfinals
| Team(s) | Quarterfinals berths | Semifinals berths | Success rate (as of 2024) |
| Burgos, Monaco, Zaragoza | 2 | 2 | 100 |
| Antwerp, Bamberg, Dijon, Peristeri, Venice, Virtus Bologna | 1 | 1 | 100 |
| La Laguna Tenerife | 8 | 5 | 71 |
| Unicaja | 4 | 2 | 67 |
| UCAM Murcia | 3 | 2 | 67 |
| AEK Betsson | 5 | 2 | 50 |
| MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg | 4 | 2 | 50 |
| Banvit, Bonn, Holon, Manresa | 2 | 1 | 50 |
| Jerusalem, Karsiyaka | 3 | 1 | 33 |
| SIG Strasbourg | 4 | 1 | 25 |
Spain controls nearly 30%
Backed by Tenerife setting the pace in the Champions League, teams from Spain’s Liga Endesa have clinched 21 berths in the Quarterfinals, a staggering 29.1% out of a total of 72.
Confirmed as the strongest domestic league in the Old Continent once more, the ACB has been represented by multiple teams over the last six years. It was at least three teams every season until the latest tally was reduced to Tenerife and Unicaja.
Qualified Reggio Emilia and Tortona displayed Italy as the sixth country with over one club in a single season. In addition to Spain, such favorable results were demonstrated by Germany and Turkiye twice, and France and Greece once.
With Nanterre resurfacing after a previous appearance in 2019, France retained a narrow lead over Turkiye in the second spot of the all-time list of countries with the most teams in the Quarterfinals.
List of countries by teams in the Quarterfinals
| Country | Quarterfinals berths |
| 1. Spain | 21 |
| 2. France | 10 |
| 3. Turkiye | 9 |
| 4. Germany | 8 |
| 5. Greece | 7 |
| 6. Israel | 5 |
| -. Italy | 5 |
| 8. Czechia | 3 |
| 9. Russia | 2 |
| 10. Belgium | 1 |
| -. Romania | 1 |
Quarterfinals 2025
BCL action resumes next Wednesday with Game 1 of the Quarterfinals.
Schedule
Game 1
ERA Nymburk – Galatasaray (9/4, 18:30 CET)
AEK Betsson – Nanterre 92 (9/4, 18:30 CET)
Unicaja – UnaHotels Reggio Emilia (9/4, 20:00 CET)
La Laguna Tenerife – Bertram Derthona Tortona (9/4, 21:45 CET)
Game 2
Galatasaray – ERA Nymburk (15/4, 18:00 CET)
UnaHotels Reggio Emilia – Unicaja (15/4, 20:00 CET)
Bertram Derthona Tortona – La Laguna Tenerife (16/4, 18:30 CET)
Nanterre 92 – AEK Betsson (16/4, 20:30 CET)
Game 3 (if necessary)
ERA Nymburk – Galatasaray (23/4, 18:30 CET)
AEK Betsson – Nanterre 92 (23/4, 18:30 CET)
Unicaja – UnaHotels Reggio Emilia (23/4, 20:00 CET)
La Laguna Tenerife – Betram Derthona Tortona (23/4, 21:45 CET)
Photo Credit: FIBA