Andy West previews Round 21 of the 2025-26 EuroLeague season
At a glance: The playoff race continues to heat up in Round 21
Game Preview
7 Mins read
The first double-round week of 2026 concludes with a selection of direct matchups in the race for the playoffs. Here’s your guide to Thursday and Friday’s nine games, with Paris’s trip to Hapoel rescheduled for March 3.
Thursday, January 8
Dubai Basketball vs. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul (17:00 CET)
Reigning champ Fenerbahce (13-6) is targeting a perfect double-round week as it travels to home-court experts Dubai (9-11). The competition newcomer boasts an outstanding 7-2 record at home, but is coming off a rotten night at Hapoel when its offense never got started and only scored 60 points. Long-range shooting was a particular problem with only 4 triples converted, and Dwayne Bacon and Dairis Bertans will look to recover their usual accuracy after going for 1-of-7 combined. But Fenerbahce – which has nine wins out of 10 – is growing in confidence all the time, with offensive leader Wade Baldwin in fantastic form after pairing 17 points and 11 assists in Tuesday’s win over Olympiacos. Talen Horton-Tucker is also playing at a high level, averaging 19.0 points in the last six games.
Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens vs. Virtus Bologna (20:15 CET)
After suffering consecutive home losses, Panathinaikos (12-10) needs a return to form with the visit of motivated Virtus (10-10). The Italian team climbed within one win of the top 10 by edging out Zalgiris earlier this week, and will look for more heroics from Derek Alston after he scored 20 points in two games straight. Carsen Edwards is ready to resume his scoring duel with Greens star Kendrick Nunn – the former came out on top when the teams last met in October, pouring in 22 points to power his team to a 92-75 victory. Panathinaikos needs to take better care of the basketball after committing 17 turnovers in Tuesday’s loss to Milan, and would be well served by following the model of consistency provided by veteran Kostas Sloukas (10 assists with 1 turnover last time out).
Valencia Basket vs. AS Monaco (20:30 CET)
Two high-scoring high-fliers go head-to-head for a mouth-watering matchup as co-leader Valencia (14-6) welcomes Monaco (13-7). The visiting team has won four straight after comfortably downing Partizan earlier in the week, with its multi-faceted offense featuring six different double-digit scorers. Valencia is also on a hot three-game win streak after triumphing at Zvezda on Tuesday, and is now the league’s joint second-highest scoring team with 90.1 points per game – behind only Monaco (91.2). One key matchup will see rising star Jean Montero (25 points in Belgrade) face all-time competition scoring leader Mike James (16.6 points and 6.4 assists per night), and get ready for an all-action confrontation between dynamic duo Omari Moore (10.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game) and Alpha Diallo (12.3 points, 4.1 boards and a league-high 1.7 steals per night).
Real Madrid vs. Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv (20:45 CET)
Real (12-8) will look to complete a perfect week as it welcomes faltering Maccabi (8-12). Real big man Walter Tavares will take center stage on the night that could see him become the EuroLeague’s all-time leading rebounder – he needs 6 to overtake Paulius Jankunas. Maccabi will try to counter his dominance of the paint through the hustle of Jaylen Hoard, who had 15 points and 5 rebounds in Tuesday’s loss at Barcelona. That game also featured 17 points and 9 assists from Tamir Blatt, who will attempt to take that form into his backcourt battle with Real’s undersized playmaker, Facu Campazzo (20.0 points per game in the last three outings). Blatt’s game-winning three-pointer decided a thriller when the teams met in October, but Real – 8-1 at home – is a different proposition in Madrid.
Friday, January 9
Zalgiris Kaunas vs. Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade (19:00 CET)
A pair of direct rivals fighting to stay in the all-important top 10 meet in Kaunas as Zalgiris (11-9) welcomes Zvezda (11-9). Both teams have struggled to maintain their outstanding early-season form, with Zalgiris suffering its latest loss at Virtus on Tuesday despite another strong game from Azuolas Tubelis (22 points, 5 rebounds). He faces a big battle with Zvezda’s stretch four Chima Moneke, whose 15 points and 9 boards were not enough to prevent a fifth defeat in seven games against Valencia earlier this week. The home team defense will have to deal with Jordan Nwora, who has netted 24 and 22 points in the last two games, while Zvezda’s defensive focus is disrupting the playmaking of league leading distributor Sylvain Francisco (7.0 assists per game).
Olympiacos Piraeus vs. FC Bayern Munich (20:15 CET)
Olympiacos (11-8) faces a tough test on its home floor from rejuvenated Bayern (7-13). The German team made it two wins out of two by scoring 36 fourth-quarter points to down Baskonia on Wednesday, with Andreas Obst serving another reminder of his scoring abilities (37 points). Olympiacos is looking to rebound from a defeat at Fenerbahce, when the usual heroics from Sasha Vezenkov (24 points) were not enough to overcome poor long-range shooting (5-of-23). The Reds hope to have Nikola Milutinov back from injury – if not, more responsibility will be placed on the shoulders of Donta Hall, who had a double-double (16 points, 11 boards) in Istanbul. Bayern has added backcourt depth with the addition of Nenad Dimitrijevic, who made a solid debut with 8 points and 4 assists on Wednesday night.
FC Barcelona vs. Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade (20:30 CET)
It is a night of reunions at the Palau Blaugrana as Barcelona (13-7) welcomes free-falling Partizan (6-14). The visiting team will be led by former Barca coach Joan Penarroya, who will look for big contributions from a pair of players in equally familiar surroundings: playmaker Nick Calathes and shooter Jabari Parker. The game will be preceded by December’s MVP presentation to home star Kevin Punter who – like teammate Jan Vesely – will try to pile more pain onto his former club. Partizan slipped to a fifth straight loss at Monaco earlier this week while Barca got back into winning ways by downing Maccabi, with big man Toko Shengelia making a successful return from injury as he powered to 22 points. Finding defensive resistance to repel him, Punter and fit-again Nico Laprovittola is Partizan’s challenge.
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan vs. Anadolu Efes Istanbul (20:30 CET)
Milan (10-10) will look to keep pushing towards the top 10 by downing struggling Efes (6-14). The Italian team showed its potential with an impressive road victory over Panathinaikos on Tuesday, led by the usual long-range scoring heroics of Armoni Brooks (24 points on 5-of-9 three-point shooting). The visitors, who have lost four in a row, will hope to get a boost from new backcourt signing Saben Lee, and would greatly welcome Vincent Poirier’s presence if the big man can return from injury – if he is absent, Efes could struggle to contain the threat of Milan powerhouse Josh Nebo, who has averaged 15.3 points and 5.3 boards in the last three games. Milan won 93-97 when the teams met in Istanbul in October, and will fancy its chances of completing a sweep on Friday.
Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz vs. LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne (20:30 CET)
Two teams fighting to escape last place meet in Vitoria as Baskonia (6-14) hosts ASVEL (6-14). Baskonia needs to overcome the disappointment of a fourth-quarter collapse at Bayern on Wednesday, and hopes to welcome back former ASVEL star Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and fellow shooter Markus Howard after they were unavailable in Round 20. The French team will lean heavily on the backcourt duo of ex-Baskonia playmaker Thomas Heurtel and Glynn Watson, while new frontcourt signing Paul Eboua will hope to continue his integration with significant minutes. ASVEL has not won on the road all season but can take confidence from beating Baskonia in Round 2, when 23 points from Zac Seljaas, including 5 triples, secured a 102-95 win. Seljaas has gone 0-of-9 from deep in the last two games, so a return to form would be welcome.