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2025 EuroLeague Final Four

The 2025 EuroLeague Final Four was the concluding EuroLeague Final Four tournament of the 2024–25 EuroLeague season, the 68th season of Europe's premier club basketball tournament, and the 25th season since it was first organised by Euroleague Basketball. It was the 38th Final Four of the modern EuroLeague Final Four era (1988–present), and the 40th time overall that the competition has concluded with a final four format. Euroleague Basketball announced that the Final Four would be played at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on 23–25 May 2025, marking the first time that the EuroLeague's Final Four was held outside of Europe since 2004. This was the last Final Four to include third place play-off match, since it's getting excluded starting from 2026.

Background
On 28 January 2025, the EuroLeague, the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism, and Etihad Arena reached an agreement that the Final Four would be played at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on 23–25 May 2025, Thousands of Turkish and Greek basketball fans traveled to Abu Dhabi out of personal expense to cheer on their favorite teams. Critics argued that the move prioritized financial gains over fan engagement. Abu Dhabi reportedly paid €50 million to host the event, a sum that helped trigger a contract extension between EuroLeague and IMG until 2036. Former EuroLeague CEO Jordi Bertomeu acknowledged the decision as "risky" emphasizing the importance of fan experience. Journalist Faustino Sáez of Cadena SER described the move as emblematic of sports becoming "purely a business that overlooks emotions", undermining the competition's foundations. Fans also faced logistical challenges due to the distance and cost of traveling to Abu Dhabi. The city's limited public transport and higher expenses compared to European hosts like Belgrade or Barcelona were highlighted as deterrents. Technical issues during ticket sales further frustrated supporters, with many unable to purchase tickets due to platform errors. To boost attendance, organizers resorted to incentives like daily car raffles and free tickets. The venue choice also raised questions about the EuroLeague's European identity. With no EuroLeague teams based in the Middle East, critics viewed the move as brand dilution. Only Real Madrid and Olympiacos openly opposed the decision, expressing concerns about the maturity of the Arabian market and the potential alienation of core European fans. Others, including Žalgiris coach Andrea Trinchieri, saw potential benefits in expanding basketball's reach, the consensus among critics was that the move compromised the competition's integrity and accessibility in favor of commercial interests. ==Teams==
Semifinals
Semifinal A scored a EuroLeague career-high 31 points in the loss. Olympiacos' Evan Fournier scored a EuroLeague career-high 31 points, but his team still lost to Monaco 78–68. Nigel Williams-Goss was the only other Olympiacos player to reach double figures in scoring, with 12 points. Sasha Vezenkov had a difficult game offensively, with only 7 points and 8 rebounds; he also missed all six of his three-point field goal attempts. Aside from Fournier, Olympiacos was 1 of 19 on three-pointers. Several key baskets to open the third quarter from Monaco's Daniel Theis, Diallo, and Jaron Blossomgame pushed their lead to twelve, but Olympiacos' Fournier answered with his own scoring surge to cut Monaco's lead down to four (55–51). Fournier alone had trouble keeping up, as he received little scoring help from teammates in the fourth quarter, while Monaco expanded their lead into double digits highlighted by Mike James dishing out crowd-pleasing assists. As a result of the victory, Monaco became the first French team in 32 years to play in the final of the European highest level league, and only the second team to reach the stage, following Limoges CSP in the 1992–93 FIBA European League. Semifinal B played in his first game after sitting out 150 days due to a broken leg.|upright Fenerbahçe won 82–76 over Panathinaikos, who lacked consistency on both offense and defense, and struggled with little to no scoring from several key players: Juancho Hernangómez (5 points), Ömer Yurtseven (2), Kostas Sloukas (2), and Dinos Mitoglou (0). For offensive help, they relied on Cedi Osman and Jerian Grant, who scored 22 and 15 points respectively, though these two players alone had difficulty establishing momentum for the team. Fenerbahçe won the game with proficient three point shooting and timely scoring runs, as well as successfully executing plays during clutch moments. Panathinaikos' guards being outmatched by Fenerbahçe's was another deciding factor in the game's outcome. A turning point came when Kendrick Nunn of Panathinaikos, the game's top scorer at the time with 19 points, fouled out with 5:45 remaining; his consistent scoring output had kept the game close. Without their main scoring threat, Panathinaikos was subsequently unable to overcome Fenerbahçe's high-percentage three-point shooting, which had persisted all game long. Clutch perimeter shots from Devon Hall and Errick McCollum following Nunn's disqualification maintained the lead for Fenerbahçe until game's end. The game marked the return of Mathias Lessort, the Panathinaikos center who had sat out the preceding 150 days due to a broken left leg; he had 14 minutes of action and scored seven points. ==Third place game==
Third place game
broke the Final Four single-game team record for most assists with 34, led by Luca Vildoza who had nine.|upright The third place game was contested between two Greek rivals, with Olympiacos defeating Panathinaikos 97–93. Fans of the two clubs clashed before the game, though these incidents were quelled by security forces prior to the opening tip-off. Olympiacos was ahead the entire game; Peters led all scorers with 32 points, tying a tournament record. Olympiacos displayed proficient ball movement and offensive efficiency with 25 assists in the first 25 minutes. ==Final==
Final
Summary was awarded the EuroLeague Final Four MVP.|upright Turkish squad Fenerbahçe claimed the championship by defeating French team Monaco 81–70. The title game began with intense defense from both teams, though Monaco hit several buckets (led by Mike James) to build early leads of 13–4 and 16–8. Production from the Fenerbahçe bench by Wade Baldwin, Tarik Biberović, and Nicolò Melli reduced this gap down to a two-point 20–18 lead for Monaco by first quarter's end. Additional clutch offensive performances from Hayes-Davis and Hall increased and preserved Fenerbahçe's lead which they did not relinquish. won his first EuroLeague championship as head coach.|upright Hayes-Davis was awarded the Final Four MVP. In the championship game, he did not shoot well, making only 4 of 13 field goal attempts, but went a perfect 14 of 14 from the free throw line. He was the game's leading scorer and rebounder, with 23 points and nine rebounds respectively, and also had two steals, a block, and an assist. Monaco head coach Vassilis Spanoulis said, "We didn't distribute the ball properly. They hit some important shots, we played good defense, but their offense was better." This was the second EuroLeague championship for Fenerbahçe, following their 2017 title, and the first for Šarūnas Jasikevičius as a head coach. Championship game • Team captains (C): Melih Mahmutoğlu (Fenerbahçe) and Mike James (Monaco) ==References==
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