Andy West looks ahead to Round 25 of the 2025-26 EuroLeague season
At a glance: The Turkish derby highlights a three-day round
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Round 25 is headlined by a crosstown derby as a high-flier hosts a struggler, plus lots more games with major implications for the playoff battle. Here’s your guide to all 10 games.
Tuesday, January 27
Paris Basketball vs. Real Madrid (21:00 CET)
The action starts early with one Tuesday game, as Paris (7-16) welcomes Real (16-8). The host desperately needs to turn around its form after two comprehensive losses last week, whereas Real is flying high after winning six straight – although five of those were at home, and this is the start of a four-game stretch on the road. Theo Maledon is missing but Paris will need to control the playmaking abilities of Facu Campazzo, who combined 17 points with 10 assists in Thursday’s impressive win over Monaco, and the ball-hawking skills of Jared Rhoden will be vital after he snared six steals in the Round 24 loss to Dubai. December’s meeting in Madrid was tight, eventually taken 95-90 by the hosts, and Paris will just hope to keep this one as close.
Thursday, January 29
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul vs. Anadolu Efes Istanbul (18:45 CET)
The Istanbul derby will give co-leader Fenerbahce (16-7) the chance to pile more misery on struggling near neighbor Efes (6-18). The visitors have lost eight games in a row and needs to find an offensive spark after averaging just 70.8 points in the last four. Finding the necessary improvement against the league’s top-ranked defense will not be easy, and requires others to step up and support marathon man Nick Weiler-Babb, who has played more minutes than anyone else in the competition (30:55 per game). Fenerbahce has won four straight at home, with Talen Horton-Tucker emerging as a strong candidate for January's MVP of the Month award after averaging 17.2 points over the month's six games so far.
Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv vs. FC Bayern Munich (20:05 CET)
Hapoel (16-7) will defend its suddenly fragile position at the top of the standings as it receives a visit from dangerous Bayern (9-15). The German team boosted its confidence with an impressive victory over high-flying Valencia last time out, and will base its hopes of a road upset on the energy and leadership of Vladimir Lucic, who netted 19 points in that triumph. Hapoel needs to quickly erase memories of last week's shocking collapse against Partizan and will particularly look to take better care of the basketball after committing 17 turnovers in that collapse. In particular, Vasilije Micic will look to take charge of playmaking duties after a mixed performance – 19 points and 9 assists but 6 turnovers – last time out.
Olympiacos Piraeus vs. FC Barcelona (20:15 CET)
Red-hot Olympiacos (15-8) will look to keep on rolling in a battle of big guns against visiting Barcelona (16-8). The Greek giant has won seven of its last eight games, partly thanks to Sasha Vezenkov (19.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game) delivering MVP-level performances week after week. Barca won with a degree of comfort when the teams met in Round 15, but its top performer in that game was Will Clyburn, currently absent through injury. Olympiacos, which could give a debut to Cory Joseph, looks in much better shape now and will be eager to avenge that loss, but Barca is also flying high after surviving a tough road test at ASVEL last week where former Olympiacos shooter Kevin Punter demonstrated his usual scoring power by draining 31 points.
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan vs. Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade (20:30 CET)
Milan (11-13) will attempt to emerge from a slump with a visit from a resurgent Partizan (8-16) determined to keep climbing the standings. The Serbian team, which is missing the leadership of injured Vanja Marinkovic, will be full of confidence of the back of last week's outrageous comeback against Hapoel, and Arijan Lakic will hope for more opportunities to shine after enjoying breakout performance with 15 points and 8 rebounds, both career highs. Milan has lost three straight and must find more efficient offensive execution after committing 17 turnovers in its last game, a costly home defeat to Zalgiris. A key figure for the hosts will be power forward Zach LeDay as he matches up against his former team with the task of matching up against another player who combines power at the rim and three-point shooting, Isaac Bonga.
Valencia Basket vs. Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv (20:45 CET)
Maccabi (10-14) will attempt to continue pushing towards the top 10 with the tough task of a trip to Valencia (15-9). The hosts are coming off their worst run of the season after losing three of the last four, and will expect better accuracy from deep after making just 11 of its 41 three-pointers at Bayern last week. Maccabi ground out a vital victory over Panathinaikos in Round 24, and will look to maintain the defensive intensity which limited the Greens to just 71 points. That begins with stifling Valencia playmaker Jean Montero, who has averaged 7.0 assists in the last three games. The youthful potential of Montero against the proven experience of Iffe Lundberg (10.2 points and 3.8 assists per game) will be one of the keys to a game that both teams will regard as a must-win.
Friday, January 30
AS Monaco vs. Virtus Bologna (19:30 CET)
Monaco (15-9) needs to reignite its top-four challenge by bouncing back from a bad double-round week as it welcomes Virtus (11-13). Quickly recovering its defensive identity will be a focus for the hosts after they allowed Real to score 54 first-half points in Thursday’s loss in Madrid, while key scorer Elie Okobo will try to find his range after shooting 3-of-12 from the field in that loss. Virtus has fallen away from the playoff places with three losses out of four, and also needs a defensive improvement after shipping 102 points at home to Zvezda in Round 24. The visitors would like to make it the same kind of physical game which led to a 77-73 home win over Monaco in October, when Carsen Edwards led the way with 24 points and Mike James was restricted to 1-of-11 shooting from the field.
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade vs. Dubai Basketball (20:00 CET)
One team just inside the playoff zone will attempt to hold off another looking to climb there as Zvezda (14-10) welcomes Dubai (11-13). The visitors showed their potential last time out by rolling to a 20-point road win in Paris, largely thanks to big man Filip Petrusev producing a season-best display with 21 points and 9 assists – now he will look to repeat that level of performance against his former team. Dubai won comfortably when the teams met in November, and Zvezda will focus on slowing down an offense that delivered 24 assists on that occasion. The Serbian team lifted its spirits with two road victories last week, helped by Codi Miller-McIntyre dishing 12 assists with no turnovers to inspire Friday's win at Virtus, while Ebuka Izundu is coming off consecutive double-doubles with 15 offensive rebounds snared.
Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz vs. Zalgiris Kaunas (20:30 CET)
Zalgiris (14-10) will look to strengthen its top 10 position as it visits a Baskonia (8-16) team which is starting to run out of time. Buesa Arena will hold no fear for a Zalgiris team which won twice on the road last week, inspired by the usual heroics from Sylvain Francisco with 20 and 25 points. Zalgiris comfortably beat Baskonia in Kaunas in November, 82-67, and the Spanish team needs to keep an eye on Azuolas Tubelis after allowing him to grab 6 offensive rebounds. Baskonia is the league’s third most accurate two-point shooting team (58.7%), with big man Khalifa Diop among those offering great efficiency close to the rim. He has also taken 11 offensive rebounds in the last two games, so boxing out will be a key focus for both teams.
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne vs. Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens (20:45 CET)
Narrowing the gap on the top four is the task for Panathinaikos (14-10) as it travels to face ASVEL (6-18). The Greens are looking to bounce back from last week’s loss at Maccabi, and playmaker Kostas Sloukas will be determined to recover his usual standards after recording 0 points and just 1 assist in that game. ASVEL fought hard before ultimately falling short against Barcelona last week and that has been the story of the season for Pierric Poupet's team, which must try to summon the energy and consistency to compete for the full 40 minutes if it wants to claim a major scalp. Braian Angola had an excellent debut with 16 points and 5 assists in that game, and Panathinaikos will also need to handle the threat of Glynn Watson, who has a streak of six straight double-digit scoring nights.