Real Madrid gained a little bit of revenge on Olympiacos Piraeus at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, as the Spanish giants lifted the first ever EuroLeague SuperCup on Saturday night.
Madrid started hot, opening up a 24-15 first quarter lead before riding out a few tough moments to seal a 93-89 triumph in front of a packed crowd, including former Real Madrid stars Gareth Bale and Marcelo, at Yas Island's Etihad Arena.
Walter Tavares was named the MVP of the tournament. He scored six points and added seven rebounds in the final.
Last May, things had gone differently in Athens, when it was Olympiacos who had edged out Madrid in the EuroLeague's 2025/26 championship final.
Madrid's winning coach Pedro Martinez said he was delighted with his team's mentality, and to have laid down a marker for the new season.
“Congratulations to my players,” he said. “They believed. We had a horrible moment in the third quarter when Olympiacos played incredible, they suffocated us with their defence.
“But we survived this very bad moment. In the last quarter, personality … maybe we didn't play very good because we didn't move the ball, but it's preseason, we need to improve and to know each other much better. Mentality is more important than tactics.”
Madrid were led by Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, who added 12 points, four rebounds and two assists.
Despite only scoring seven points, Facundo Campazzo grabbed five rebounds and laid on nine assists. The Argentine, 35, was delighted with the result, saying: “I think everyone wants to win it, and everyone who played the SuperCup wanted to win it. We played with a lot of hierarchy, with a good level of basketball, so we are happy.
“I think we did a great two games with high-level basketball. We played not that good in the first half in this game, but we improved during the game, really good in the second half. It's always good starting with winning a cup. We were working so hard to get this cup. We have a lot of confidence, we are in good shape, so we are going to keep improving as a team.”
Earlier in the day, Fenerbahce took third spot by beating Dubai Basketball 85-77.
The Turkish team enjoyed a strong second quarter to build an eight-point half-time lead. However, Dubai came out fired up in the third, outscoring Fener by nine points, which put them up by one up heading into the final stretch.
It was a big effort, though, and another swing in momentum saw a Wade Baldwin-inspired Fener storm back to seal an eight-point success. The winners were led by Talen Horton-Tucker who scored 23 points and grabbed three rebounds.
NBA talks continuing
Meanwhile, EuroLeague CEO Chus Bueno provided an update on a long-discussed potential collaboration with the NBA.
Bueno said that the EuroLeague has not received any formal proposal from the NBA outlining what such a partnership could look like. NBA commissioner Adam Silver has been working on the NBA Europe proposal for some time, and this week described a link-up with the EuroLeague as a “once-in-forever” opportunity. Reports in the US have suggested the NBA could purchase a majority stake.
But, Bueno told The Athletic: “As of today, we have not received anything from the NBA about what a potential partnership or collaboration could look like.
“Also, we have signed [non-disclosure agreements] in place, so we will not comment on anything if we share any documents until we both decide together we have something to share,” he added.
Bueno added that EuroLeague remains open to any concrete proposal that may arrive from the NBA.
He said: “If an offer or a concrete proposal comes from the NBA, we would evaluate it carefully and, as appropriate, present it to our owners. More broadly, we are always open to exploring collaboration with the NBA or with any other relevant property that can contribute to the growth of the EuroLeague and European basketball.”
Bueno repeated that both sides had already made their position public on numerous occasions.
“We have both publicly stated that we believe collaboration is the best way to grow basketball in Europe,” Bueno added. “I think there is a shared understanding that the European basketball ecosystem can create more value by working together rather than fragmenting the market.”
