By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Two new entries to the Game 5 history of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs emerge on Tuesday.
From a straightforward story with the home team getting the job done in 19 straight do-or-die contests starting from 2009, the streak was snapped in the 2024 Playoffs.
In OAKA Altion, defending champion Panathinaikos Aktor and Anadolu Efes are set to break a 2-2 tie. A similar situation in Salle Gaston Medecin with AS Monaco welcoming FC Barcelona.
The four remaining contenders for a spot in the 2025 Final Four, to be played in Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena between May 23 and 25, carry plenty of team experience in win-or-go-home settings, including La Roca Team featuring a rookie head coach but a Game 5 expert as a player, Vassilis Spanoulis. Intriguingly, Monaco was on the wrong end of the first penetrations to the safe zone of the hosts.
The streak ends
Revisiting history books, Panathinaikos and Monaco find the same situation, but roles have reversed for Barcelona, compared to the 2024 Playoffs.
Last season, the team coached by Ergin Ataman emerged as the fourth team to be crowned champion after surviving a Game 5 challenge. The Turkish tactician also went from Game 5 to the top of the EuroLeague with Efes in 2021. The other examples were Olympiacos in 2013 and Real Madrid in 2023.
Back to May 7, 2024, the Greens edged out Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv in OAKA Altion and extended the winning streak for the hosts to 19 games, en route to a seventh continental championship in team history.
One day later, May 8, Fenerbahce Beko outlasted Monaco in overtime, and Olympiacos beat Barcelona in a low-scoring affair, marking the first two wins for the away sides in Game 5.
The streak was gone, providing hope for future guests, namely Barca and Efes.
Usual suspects
FC Barcelona Regal defeating Tau Ceramica in 2009 was the first Game 5 in Europe’s premier club continental competition. Forward 16 years, the Catalonia giant is heading to a record-breaking eighth appearance.
The team guided by Spanoulis is also making history as the first team with a fourth straight Game 5, including the maiden Final Four trip in 2023.
In a fifth showing for Panathinaikos and Efes, they are coming in with identical 2-2 tallies.
EuroLeague Playoffs Game 5 history
| Year | Winner | Loser |
| 2009 | FC Barcelona Regal | Tau Ceramica |
| 2011 | Real Madrid | Power Electronics Valencia |
| 2012 | Panathinaikos | Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv |
| 2013 | Olympiacos | Anadolu Efes |
| 2013 | FC Barcelona Regal | Panathinaikos |
| 2014 | Real Madrid | Olympiacos |
| 2014 | CSKA | Panathinaikos |
| 2016 | Lokomotiv Kuban | FC Barcelona Lassa |
| 2017 | Olympiacos | Anadolu Efes |
| 2019 | Anadolu Efes | FC Barcelona Lassa |
| 2021 | FC Barcelona | Zenit |
| 2021 | Anadolu Efes | Real Madrid |
| 2021 | AX Armani Exchange Milan | FC Bayern Munich |
| 2022 | FC Barcelona | FC Bayern Munich |
| 2022 | Olympiacos | AS Monaco |
| 2023 | Olympiacos | Fenerbahce Beko |
| 2023 | AS Monaco | Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv |
| 2023 | Real Madrid | Partizan Mozzart Bet |
| 2024 | Panathinaikos Aktor | Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv |
| 2024 | Fenerbahce Beko* | AS Monaco |
| 2024 | Olympiacos* | FC Barcelona |
* Visitors on Game 5