1965–66 FIBA European Champions Cup

The 1965–66 FIBA European Champions Cup was the ninth season of the European top-tier level professional basketball club competition FIBA European Champions Cup (now called EuroLeague). It was won by Simmenthal Milano, for the first time in its history, the first of the club's three EuroLeague championships.

1965–66 FIBA European Champions Cup
LeagueFIBA European Champions Cup
SportBasketball
Final Four
ChampionsItaly Simmenthal Milano
  Runners-upCzechoslovakia Slavia VŠ Praha
FIBA European Champions Cup seasons

Simmenthal defeated Slavia VŠ Praha, by a score of 77–72, in the final of the first ever Champions Cup Final Four held in the EuroLeague competition, with two venues used: a venue in Milan, and the Palazzo dello sport arena in Bologna, Italy.[1] The Italian team, featuring future the Basketball Hall of Fame member Bill Bradley, defeated the favorites and former champs, CSKA Moscow, in the semifinal, by a score of 57–68.

Competition system

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26 teams. European national domestic league champions, plus the then current FIBA European Champions Cup title holders only, playing in a tournament system. The competition culminated in a Final Four.

First round

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Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg 3rd leg
Fenerbahçe   143–146   Dinamo București 85–71 58–75
Wiener   139–161   Vorwärts Leipzig 75–82 64–79
Gladsaxe Efterslægten   96–171   Slavia VŠ Praha 57–84 39–87
Gießen 46ers   150–191   Simmenthal Milano 77–88 73–103
Etzella   98–162   CSKA Cherveno zname 51–72 47–90
Collegians   84–152   Denain Voltaire 51–78 33–74
KR   109–149   Alvik 48–60 61–89
AEK   153–150   Wisła Kraków 72–71 81–79
Wydad AC   193–191*   Benfica 53–54 77–76 63-61
Aldershot Warriors   144–213   Racing Mechelen 83–113 61–100

*Series decided over a third game after having tied aggregate score after the two home-away games.

Second round

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Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg 3rd leg
Racing Mechelen   210–150   Helsingin Kisa-Toverit 116–79 99–74
Honvéd   143–182   Slavia VŠ Praha 62–100 81–82
Vorwärts Leipzig   123–175   CSKA Moscow 66–87 57–88
Wydad AC   172–238   AEK 96–113 76–125
Alvik   149–201   Real Madrid 88–113 61–91
Denain Voltaire   126–139   CSKA Cherveno zname 61–53 65–86
Hapoel Tel Aviv   118–187   Simmenthal Milano 65–80 53–87
Dinamo București   207–213*   Zadar 92–78 56–70 59-65

*Series decided over a third game after having tied aggregate score after the two home-away games.

Quarterfinals group stage

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For the first time in the competition history, the quarterfinals were played with a round-robin system, in which every Two Game series (TGS) constituted as one game for the record. A third decisive game was played if the aggregate score of the first two games was tied.

Key to colors for group standings
     Top two places in each group advance to Semifinals

Group A

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Games

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Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Slavia VŠ Praha   146-151   Real Madrid 83-71 63-80
Racing Mechelen   170-189   Simmenthal Milano 104-94 66-95
Racing Mechelen   203-196   Real Madrid 104-95 99-101
Simmenthal Milano   155-159   Slavia VŠ Praha 96-77 59-82
Real Madrid   147-159   Simmenthal Milano 71-66 76-93
Racing Mechelen   180-185   Slavia VŠ Praha 104-91 76-94

Standings

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Team Pld Pts W L PF PA PD
1.   Slavia VŠ Praha 3 5 2 1 490 486 +4
2.   Simmenthal Milano 3 5 2 1 503 476 +27
3.   Racing Mechelen 3 4 1 2 553 570 -17
4.   Real Madrid 3 4 1 2 494 508 -14

Group B

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Games

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Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg 3rd leg
CSKA Moscow   140-142   CSKA Cherveno zname 77-64 63-78
Zadar   140-147   AEK 69-71 71-76
Zadar   210-217   CSKA Cherveno zname 79-53 58-84 73-80
AEK   122-147   CSKA Moscow 74-66 48-81
CSKA Cherveno zname   139-144   AEK 94-69 45-75
CSKA Moscow   166-133   Zadar 79-49 87-84

Standings

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Team Pld Pts W L PF PA PD
1.   CSKA Moscow 3 5 2 1 453 397 +56
2.   AEK 3 5 2 1 413 426 -13
3.   CSKA Cherveno zname 3 5 2 1 498 494 +4
4.   Zadar 3 3 0 3 483 530 -47

Final four

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Semifinals

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March 31, Milan

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Slavia VŠ Praha   103–73   AEK

March 30, Palazzo dello sport, Bologna

Team 1  Score  Team 2
CSKA Moscow   57–68   Simmenthal Milano

3rd place game

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April 1, Milan

Team 1  Score  Team 2
AEK   62–85   CSKA Moscow

Final

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April 1, Palazzo dello sport, Bologna

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Simmenthal Milano   77–72   Slavia VŠ Praha
1965–66 FIBA European Champions Cup
Champions
 
Simmenthal Milano
1st Title

Final standings

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Team
    Simmenthal Milano
    Slavia VŠ Praha
    CSKA Moscow
  AEK

Awards

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References

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