1965–66 FIBA European Champions Cup

The 1965–66 FIBA European Champions Cup was the ninth season of the European top-tier level professional basketball club competition FIBA European Champions Cup (now called EuroLeague). It was won by Simmenthal Milano, for the first time in its history, the first of the club's three EuroLeague championships.

1965–66 FIBA European Champions Cup
League	FIBA European Champions Cup
Sport	Basketball
Final Four
Champions	Simmenthal Milano
Runners-up	Slavia VŠ Praha
FIBA European Champions Cup seasons
← 1964–65 1966–67 →

Simmenthal defeated Slavia VŠ Praha, by a score of 77–72, in the final of the first ever Champions Cup Final Four held in the EuroLeague competition, with two venues used: a venue in Milan, and the Palazzo dello sport arena in Bologna, Italy.^[1] The Italian team, featuring future the Basketball Hall of Fame member Bill Bradley, defeated the favorites and former champs, CSKA Moscow, in the semifinal, by a score of 57–68.

Competition system

26 teams. European national domestic league champions, plus the then current FIBA European Champions Cup title holders only, playing in a tournament system. The competition culminated in a Final Four.

First round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg	3rd leg
Fenerbahçe	143–146	Dinamo București	85–71	58–75
Wiener	139–161	Vorwärts Leipzig	75–82	64–79
Gladsaxe Efterslægten	96–171	Slavia VŠ Praha	57–84	39–87
Gießen 46ers	150–191	Simmenthal Milano	77–88	73–103
Etzella	98–162	CSKA Cherveno zname	51–72	47–90
Collegians	84–152	Denain Voltaire	51–78	33–74
KR	109–149	Alvik	48–60	61–89
AEK	153–150	Wisła Kraków	72–71	81–79
Wydad Casablanca	193–191*	Benfica	53–54	77–76	63-61
Aldershot Warriors	144–213	Racing Mechelen	83–113	61–100

*Series decided over a third game after having tied aggregate score after the two home-away games.

Second round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg	3rd leg
Racing Mechelen	210–150	Helsingin Kisa-Toverit	116–79	99–74
Honvéd	143–182	Slavia VŠ Praha	62–100	81–82
Vorwärts Leipzig	123–175	CSKA Moscow	66–87	57–88
Wydad Casablanca	172–238	AEK	96–113	76–125
Alvik	149–201	Real Madrid	88–113	61–91
Denain Voltaire	126–139	CSKA Cherveno zname	61–53	65–86
Hapoel Tel Aviv	118–187	Simmenthal Milano	65–80	53–87
Dinamo București	207–213*	Zadar	92–78	56–70	59-65

*Series decided over a third game after having tied aggregate score after the two home-away games.

Quarterfinals group stage

For the first time in the competition history, the quarterfinals were played with a round-robin system, in which every Two Game series (TGS) constituted as one game for the record. A third decisive game was played if the aggregate score of the first two games was tied.

Key to colors for group standings

Top two places in each group advance to Semifinals

Group A Games Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg Slavia VŠ Praha   146-151   Real Madrid 83-71 63-80 Racing Mechelen   170-189   Simmenthal Milano 104-94 66-95 Racing Mechelen   203-196   Real Madrid 104-95 99-101 Simmenthal Milano   155-159   Slavia VŠ Praha 96-77 59-82 Real Madrid   147-159   Simmenthal Milano 71-66 76-93 Racing Mechelen   180-185   Slavia VŠ Praha 104-91 76-94 Standings Team Pld Pts W L PF PA PD 1.   Slavia VŠ Praha 3 5 2 1 490 486 +4 2.   Simmenthal Milano 3 5 2 1 503 476 +27 3.   Racing Mechelen 3 4 1 2 553 570 -17 4.   Real Madrid 3 4 1 2 494 508 -14

Group B Games Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg 3rd leg CSKA Moscow   140-142   CSKA Cherveno zname 77-64 63-78 Zadar   140-147   AEK 69-71 71-76 Zadar   210-217   CSKA Cherveno zname 79-53 58-84 73-80 AEK   122-147   CSKA Moscow 74-66 48-81 CSKA Cherveno zname   139-144   AEK 94-69 45-75 CSKA Moscow   166-133   Zadar 79-49 87-84 Standings Team Pld Pts W L PF PA PD 1.   CSKA Moscow 3 5 2 1 453 397 +56 2.   AEK 3 5 2 1 413 426 -13 3.   CSKA Cherveno zname 3 5 2 1 498 494 +4 4.   Zadar 3 3 0 3 483 530 -47

Final four

Main article: 1966 FIBA European Champions Cup Final Four

Semifinals

March 29, Milan

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Slavia VŠ Praha	103–73	AEK

March 29, Palazzo dello sport, Bologna

Team 1	Score	Team 2
CSKA Moscow	57–68	Simmenthal Milano

3rd place game

April 1, Milan

Team 1	Score	Team 2
AEK	62–85	CSKA Moscow

Final

April 1, Palazzo dello sport, Bologna

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Simmenthal Milano	77–72	Slavia VŠ Praha

1965–66 FIBA European Champions Cup Champions
Simmenthal Milano 1st Title

Final standings

	Team
	Simmenthal Milano
	Slavia VŠ Praha
	CSKA Moscow
	AEK

Awards

FIBA European Champions Cup Finals Top Scorer

•   Jiří Zídek Sr. (  Slavia VŠ Praha)

References

1. Champions Cup 1965–66

External links

• 1965–66 FIBA European Champions Cup 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
• 1965–66 FIBA European Champions Cup
• Real Madrid game Details
• Champions Cup 1965–66 Line-ups and Stats