Panathinaikos cruise to victory in Belgrade, then lose at home three days later. Zalgiris win in Barcelona before suffering consecutive defeats. Crvena Zvezda, Virtus Bologna and Real Madrid transform their fortunes within a few rounds. Welcome to EuroLeague.
In EuroLeague, your last performance guarantees nothing about your next one. You can play outstanding basketball on Tuesday and find yourself searching for answers on Friday. You can start with consecutive defeats and completely change the conversation around your team before October is even over. The opening six rounds have already provided plenty of examples.
Panathinaikos and Hapoel: Three days change the picture
On Tuesday, Panathinaikos left Belgrade with an emphatic 72-55 victory over Partizan, controlling the game through their defence and improving to 5-0. On Friday, they conceded 91 points at Telekom Center Athens and suffered their first defeat, falling 81-91 to Hapoel Tel Aviv. Within three days, the same team that had restricted Partizan to 55 points found itself facing a completely different challenge.
And Hapoel? This is the team that lost its home opener to Bayern Munich, 84-86. A few rounds later, it travelled to Athens and stopped the previously unbeaten Panathinaikos. An opening home defeat and a major away victory can comfortably belong to the same season. Even to the same month.
Zalgiris and Efes: From a statement win to a sharp reality check
Just a week earlier, Zalgiris had left Barcelona with an outstanding 88-81 victory, overturning a ten-point deficit in the final quarter. But the double week brought two defeats: 99-80 against Fenerbahce in Istanbul and 70-85 against Efes in Kaunas. That big result at the Palau did not produce sustained momentum, while returning home did not automatically deliver a response.
Efes make the story even more striking. On Wednesday, they conceded 101 points in a 93-101 home defeat to Bayern. Two days later, they held Zalgiris to 70 and won by 15 in Lithuania. Forty-eight hours were enough to produce a very different defensive performance.
Crvena Zvezda: From 0-2 to 4-2
Crvena Zvezda started with two defeats and now have four consecutive victories. Their 90-81 win over Paris lifted them to 4-2, following an 84-82 victory away at ASVEL. Within a few rounds, the Serbian side turned a difficult opening into a winning streak. That is the danger of early verdicts: two bad nights can easily carry more weight than such a small sample deserves.
Virtus: Four straight wins change the outlook
Virtus Bologna have followed exactly the same path in the standings. From 0-2, they have climbed to 4-2 with four consecutive victories. During the double week, they won 96-94 in Paris before beating Baskonia 86-78. The Italian side are collecting results and building confidence, showing how quickly a team’s position can change. Having initially chased their first victory, they now have four in a row.
Real Madrid: From 0-3 to three consecutive victories
Real Madrid provide another example. They opened with three defeats but responded with three straight wins to reach 3-3. During the double week, they won 98-89 in Milan before beating ASVEL 111-92, with Andres Feliz scoring 26 points on 8-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc. Madrid now have results to build on and a very different starting point for the next stretch of the season.
The opening six rounds have already delivered major victories, sharp reality checks and swift recoveries. Every night adds evidence, but the next one often forces everyone to reconsider what they thought they knew. That is a huge part of this competition’s appeal: before you can settle on a firm conclusion, the next game is already tipping off.
