By Stefan Acevski/ info@eurohoops.net
This Tuesday marks the start of the BCL Round of 16, following last week’s qualification of all teams advancing to this phase.
The group winners are joined by eight winners of the Play-in games, so we now know the teams battling for the trophy.
These 16 teams are divided into four groups of four, with an interesting detail: three out of four groups feature teams from the same countries – AEK Athens and AS Karditsa will play together in Group J, Joventut and Unicaja in Group K, while Gran Canaria and Tenerife are in Group L.
Round of 16
Group I: Rytas, Galatasaray MCT Technic, Hapoel Netanel Holon, Le Mans
Group J: ALBA Berlin, AEK, Karditsa Iaponiki, Tofas
Group K: Joventut Badalona, Unicaja, Elan Chalon, Wurzburg
Group L: La Laguna Tenerife, Dreamland Gran Canaria, ERA Nymburk, Trieste
This isn’t the first time teams from the same country have met in this phase, so it’s time to recall how it looked in the past.
Third year with three groups featuring teams from the same countries
This season will be the third in a row where teams from the same country will meet in the Round of 16 across three different groups.
In the 2024/25 season, all three groups experienced mixed outcomes – AEK topped Group I, while Promitheas was eliminated; Galatasaray advanced from Group J, whereas Manisa concluded its participation; similarly, in Group K, the Spanish teams had mixed fortunes with Tenerife advancing and Manresa being eliminated.
A similar situation occurred the previous year, but both Strasbourg and Cholet, two French teams in Group I, were eliminated due to a lower point difference compared to Tofas, while German representatives Bonn and Ludwigsburg progressed together from Group J.
In Group L, a different scenario unfolded compared to the previous year – Promitheas and AEK were again in the same group, but this time the team from Patras advanced, while the Athenians were eliminated.
Three teams in the same group and Tofas’ point difference
In the previous two seasons, we had very interesting situations in this phase of the competition. In the 2021/22 season, there were even three Spanish clubs together in Group L. Tenerife and Murcia advanced, while Bilbao was eliminated, along with Darussafaka, the outlier in the group.
The same year, Group I featured Israeli derbies. Hapoel Jerusalem advanced and eventually reached the final, while Hapoel Holon ended their participation in this round.
Regarding the 2021/22 season, there was only one group with two teams from the same country. Tofas and Darussafaka met in Group J, with Tofas advancing due to a better head-to-head score after both teams finished with four wins and two losses.
The 2020/21 season was the first with a group stage in the Round of 16, where Karsiyaka and Tofas, as well as Tenerife and San Pablo Burgos, had the chance to measure their strength.
In the end, the Spanish teams advanced together, while the Turkish teams had mixed results – Karsiyaka progressed, and the team from Bursa was eliminated.
Round of 16 knockout format
Before the introduction of the group stage, the 16 best teams competed in a knockout format. In the 2019/20 season, the last played under these rules, Turkish clubs Turk Telekom and Besiktas faced off, with Turk Telekom winning 2-0.
A year earlier, two Greek clubs clashed when AEK eliminated PAOK due to a better point difference (at that time, teams still played a total of two matches).
The 2017/18 season brought two matchups between teams from the same country. Ludwigsburg easily defeated Oldenburg, while Murcia, after drama and a comeback in the second leg, eliminated Tenerife.
Finally, in the inaugural BCL season of 2016/17, Karsiyaka was superior to Besiktas, and Venezia defeated Avellino.