Teams that can aim for the Euroleague’s Final4
A couple of days ago I wrote an article about the teams that in my opinion have no chance to win the Euroleague or even to make some noise next season. Many of them won’t catch even the playoff because their budget and their roster is average. Today, I will focus on the teams that can aim to reach a playoff spot, a Final4 presence of maybe to win the title. Of course, we have different levels that’s why I think there are 3 big categories:
a) FC Barcelona, Anadolu Efes, Armani Milan – clubs that are hungry for European titles. The first two on this list were the main favourites to win the Euroleague last season when Coronavirus ended the basketball activities in almost all the leagues of Europe. These two clubs made important investments and their expectation is very high: at least the finals. This summer Armani Milan has joined them, bringing in amazing players in order to attack the trophy. Under Ettore Messina’s lead, they could reach glory in the years to come.
b) CSKA Moscow and Real Madrid – these two clubs were a constant presence in the Final 4 of the Euroleague in the last years. Even now their budget is higher than the majority of the teams and their roster more than complete. The only thing is both clubs won two times the crown during the last 5 years, so they are more relaxed regarding this achievement.
c) the third category is composed of ambitious teams like Zenit Sankt-Petersburg, Valencia Basket, Khimki Moscow Region and Maccabi Tel Aviv that have a good chance to enter the Final4. These clubs have enough money compared with other basketball organizations affected by the economic crisis. I won’t be surprised if one or two of these teams will be present in the Final4 in May 2021.
Image: Euroleague
Gratian Cormos
