Name: EuroLeague 25 Moments: CSKA breaks the curse
Channel: Euroleague Basketball

Hear from Andrey Vatutuin, Dimitris Itoudis and Nando De Colo as they discuss CSKA Moscow's 2015 championship game victory in Berlin in the fourth episode of the EuroLeague 25 Moments series.

EuroLeague 25 Moments: CSKA breaks the curse

No team of its era went to more EuroLeague Final Fours than [CSKA Moscow](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/cska-moscow/csk/). And no team suffered more heartbreaking losses.

After winning the crown in 2008, CSKA continued knocking on the door for eight years, but was unable to capture another crown.

In 2014, CSKA management decided to go in a new direction in building the team under coach Dimitris Itoudis, who had yet to be a head of bench in the EuroLeague. In their second season together, CSKA seemed like a team on a mission as they won their regular season and Top 16 groups and swept Crvena Zvezda Belgrade in the playoffs.

By halftime of the championship game against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, CSKA led 50-30 in what Andrey Vatutin, CSKA Moscow CEO, calls "one of the best 20-minute stretches of basketball of not just CSKA, but overall."

And then Fenerbahce rallied. Slowly the doubts were creeping into the minds of Vatutin and the club's fans. Fenerbahce tied it on a Bobby Dixon three-pointer and took the lead on Kostas Sloukas free throws.

CSKA had a final possession in which [Milos Teodosic](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/milos-teodosic/jdr/) almost lost the ball and [Nando De Colo](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/nando-de-colo/002100/) badly misfired. It seemed that the curse was on… until [Victor Khryapa](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/victor-khryapa/bcq/) soared to put De Colo's miss in and force overtime, where CSKA found its mojo, captured the title and made Vatutin proud.

"It looks like the story is about the successful Victor Khryapa putback. Obviously, it's a legendary moment that will be remembered after years and decades," Vatutin says. "But for me it’s about eight years of hard work, eight years of waiting, eight years of patience and belief that some time it's gonna happen. The title in Berlin is an award for the patience and self-belief."

Hear more from Vatutuin, Itoudis and De Colo about CSKA's ride and the victory in Berlin in the latest episode of the EuroLeague 25 Moments series.

You can also watch [episode one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTOQS-w-PNs&t=86s), [episode two](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHqpRVU6VVs&t=518s) and [episode three](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QutvKk9HswQ) now.

Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul v CSKA Moscow (2015-05-17T15:00:00.000Z)