Euroleague favourites Real Madrid and traditional rivals Barcelona made winning starts in the competition’s best-of-five quarter-finals after emphatic performances on Wednesday.
Real, winners of a record eight titles, defeated Anadolu Efes Istanbul 80-71 and twice former champions Barcelona beat Olympiakos 73-57 in a physical game.
Both sides will again be at home in Game 2 on Friday before the series move next week to Turkey and Greece.
Barcelona never looked back after a 17-2 run gave the Catalan giants a 22-8 lead early in the second quarter as they dominated a subdued Olympiakos in all departments.
Barca nailed 10-of-21 three point attempts against only 6-of-22 by their rivals and collected 44 rebounds, 17 more than the Greek side.
Not a single visiting player finished in double-scoring digits while the competition’s all-time leading scorer Juan Carlos Navarro and Slovenian forward Bostjan Nachbar netted 10 each at the other end.
“We are very happy to have made the first step but it will be a more difficult match on Friday and we will have to prepare ourselves for a different game of basketball,” Barcelona’s Polish centre Maciej Lampe told Euroleague television.
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“We missed some easy shots early on but played excellent defence all game long and controlled the boards,” said coach Xavi Pasqual.
Mario Hezonja, widely assumed to be a likely top-10 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, scored five points on 2-of-6 shooting in 17 minutes, adding three rebounds, two blocks and an assist.
Real gave their fans a scare when they trailed plucky Istanbul side Anadolu Efes by eight points at half-time but turned the tide after the interval as American KC Rivers produced his best performance of the season.
The forward, who averaged 4.9 points in the group stages, amassed a game-high 21 and Mexican centre Gustavo Ayon added 14 to put their team in the driving seat.
CSKA Moscow beat Panathinaikos and Fenerbahce edged holders Maccabi Tel Aviv in the other two play-off series which kicked off on Tuesday and continue on Thursday.
Jan Vesely, the 7ft 0in sixth pick of the 2011 NBA Draft, who spent parts of three NBA seasons with Washington Wizards and Denver Nuggets, supplied Fenerbahce with a team-high 23 points on 11-of-14 shooting and seven rebounds.
Milos Teodosic, a star at the 2014 Fiba World Cup for runners-up Serbia last September, led CSKA Moscow with 18 points and dished eight assists.
The quarter-final winners will advance to the May 15-17 final four in Madrid.
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Guide to intelligent investing
- Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
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The BIO:
He became the first Emirati to climb Mount Everest in 2011, from the south section in Nepal
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By 2015, he had completed the Explorers Grand Slam
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Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
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Director: Tom Tykwer
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League A:
Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, France, England, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Iceland, Croatia, Netherlands
League B:
Austria, Wales, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine, Republic of Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Turkey
League C:
Hungary, Romania, Scotland, Slovenia, Greece, Serbia, Albania, Norway, Montenegro, Israel, Bulgaria, Finland, Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania
League D:
Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Latvia, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Liechtenstein, Malta, Andorra, Kosovo, San Marino, Gibraltar
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- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
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Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
How to vote
Canadians living in the UAE can register to vote online and be added to the International Register of Electors.
They'll then be sent a special ballot voting kit by mail either to their address, the Consulate General of Canada to the UAE in Dubai or The Embassy of Canada in Abu Dhabi
Registered voters mark the ballot with their choice and must send it back by 6pm Eastern time on October 21 (2am next Friday)
About Tenderd
Started: May 2018
Founder: Arjun Mohan
Based: Dubai
Size: 23 employees
Funding: Raised $5.8m in a seed fund round in December 2018. Backers include Y Combinator, Beco Capital, Venturesouq, Paul Graham, Peter Thiel, Paul Buchheit, Justin Mateen, Matt Mickiewicz, SOMA, Dynamo and Global Founders Capital
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Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
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5. Sorghum
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Mina Cup winners
Under 12 – Minerva Academy
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● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
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Sukuk are Sharia-compliant financial certificates issued by governments, corporates and other entities. While as an asset class they resemble conventional bonds, there are some significant differences. As interest is prohibited under Sharia, sukuk must contain an underlying transaction, for example a leaseback agreement, and the income that is paid to investors is generated by the underlying asset. Investors must also be prepared to share in both the profits and losses of an enterprise. Nevertheless, sukuk are similar to conventional bonds in that they provide regular payments, and are considered less risky than equities. Most investors would not buy sukuk directly due to high minimum subscriptions, but invest via funds.
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Launched: March 2017 on UAE Mother’s Day
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T20 World Cup Qualifier A, Muscat
Friday, February 18: 10am - Oman v Nepal, Canada v Philippines; 2pm - Ireland v UAE, Germany v Bahrain
Saturday, February 19: 10am - Oman v Canada, Nepal v Philippines; 2pm - UAE v Germany, Ireland v Bahrain
Monday, February 21: 10am - Ireland v Germany, UAE v Bahrain; 2pm - Nepal v Canada, Oman v Philippines
Tuesday, February 22: 2pm – semi-finals
Thursday, February 24: 2pm – final
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Dr Nawal Al-Hosany: Why more women should be on the frontlines of climate action
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Samar Elmnhrawy: How companies in the Middle East can catch up on gender equality
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