Cedevita Olimpija starts 2021-22 7DAYS EuroCup season in Group B

The Cedevita Olimpija players got their rivals in the regular part of the European 7DAYS EuroCup competition on Friday. The group draw for the new season of the European Cup took place in Barcelona.

In the regular part of the season, which Cedevita Olimpija will start in Group B, the Dragons will face Valencia Basket (Spain), Promitheas Patras (Greece), Gran Canaria (Spain), Budućnost VOLI (Montenegro), Virtus Segafredo Bologna (Italy), JL Bourg en Bresse (France), ratiopharm ULM (Germany), Frutti Extra Bursaspor (Turkey) and Umana Reyer Venezia (Italy).

Already in the group part of the competition, the selected players of the head coach Jurica Golemec will meet quite a few well-known faces. With Virtus, Budućnost VOLI and JL Bourg, the Ljubljana team competed in the second part of the European season in the 2020/21 season, while Promitheas, Gran Canaria and Frutti Extra Bursaspor faced Cedevita Olimpija in the first part of the season. Valencia, which played in the elite Euroleague last season, will find it even harder for Group B, and this time it will be chasing its fifth European Cup title.

In the new season, the 7DAYS EuroCup will take place in a changed format. In the European Cup, we will be able to follow 20 teams, which will be divided into two groups of 10 teams. In the second part of the competition eight teams from each group will advance to the elimination fights, which will compete in a system where only one match will decide the breakthrough into the next round. The team that will have a better result of wins and losses in the regular part of the season will have the advantage of the home field.

“The new season of the 7DAYS EuroCup is ahead of us and we are looking forward to it. The new format of the competition will definitely increase the interest of fans to watch the games in the coming seasons. The draw determined Group B for us, and we will face nine very attractive teams. We met Valencia several times when Cedevita was still in Zagreb and played in the Euroleague last season. It is an ambitious and strong environment. Here is also the Italian national champion, Virtus Segafredo Bologna, who had one of the strongest teams in the 7DAYS EuroCup last season. Already Valencia and Virtus are a strong and attractive opponents in itself, which gives extra weight to our group, and of course other very strong clubs are also present,” said Cedevita Olimpija director, Davor Užbinec. “We have a very interesting season ahead of us. I think we have a chance to be able to fight for a high ranking, and we are entering the new season even more ambitious than the previous season, when we fought a place among the TOP 16 teams in the competitions. Our wish is to compete for as long as possible, above all it is our wish that the matches can be played in front of the fans in the arenas. We hope that the coronavirus pandemic will end so that sports enthusiasts can watch the matches live. I am sure that top basketball performances await us in all games. I am pleased that the 7DAYS EuroCup will take place in a changed format, which gives a new dimension to the competition, and at the same time I am sure that the matches will be even more watched than before. I wish all the teams good luck and health, and I am looking forwards towards October, when the regular season will start.”

As early as Thursday, the shareholders of ECA confirmed that the regular part of the 7DAYS EuroCup will begin on October 20, 2021. The final fights will begin on April 19 and 20, 2022 with the reckoning of the best 16 teams. The quarterfinals will follow on April 26 and 27, 2022, and both semifinals on May 3 and 4, 2022. The date and location of the final match for the 2021/22 season will be determined soon.

The 7DAYS EuroCup champion for the 2021/22 season will qualify for the Euroleague, and play in it in the 2022/23 season. The same goes for the team that will make it to the finals in the 2021/22 season, but only if Monaco and Unics Kazan do not qualify for the Euroleague finals next season.

Recall, Cedevita Olimpija recorded ten victories in 16 matches last season of the 7DAYS EuroCup and was only one success away from the quarterfinals of the competition.