The competition begins with 27 teams, which were left in 8 teams that after two previous rounds go to the regular group
In the previous round
The Varese eliminated the Leverkusen
The Liege eliminated the Maccabi
The Akademik eliminated the Bucharest Dynamo
Prague eliminated Istanbul
Real Madrid eliminated Al-Zamalek
The Olympics eliminated Wroclaw
Antibes eliminated the AEK
CSKA Moscow eliminated the Honved
After the two previous rounds 8 teams played the regular league. They were divided into two groups of four teams of which at the end the first two from each group would go directly to the semi-finals. The competition system played everyone against everyone in a round robin match and the winner by points scored a victory.
GROUP A
VARESE (3-0)
PRAGUE (2-1)
CLEANSING (1-2)
ANTIBES (0-3)
GROUP B
CSKA MOSCOW (3-0)
REAL MADRID (2-1)
AKADEMIK (1-2)
LIEGE (0-3)
Once the regular league was over, the semi-finals were played, with VARESE facing REAL MADRID and CSKA MOSCOW facing PRAGUE in a round-robin format.
SEMIFINALS
IGNIS VARESE eliminated REAL MADRID (82-59); (74-66)
CSKA MOSCOW eliminated PRAGUE (83-68); (94-67)
The final between Ignis and CSKA in Antwerp was a remarkably defensive one, although it was always the Soviets who set the tempo of the match. The baseman Sergej Belov – an «American» player by technique and personality – was undoubtedly the great catalyst for the victory of the Moscow team. Although he didn’t jump on the court in the first five minutes to fulfil his improvised coaching role, when Belov finally got into the game in the eighth minute of the first half he started his particular exhibition, with fantasy plays and baskets of all colours, until he became the top scorer of the match (24 points, 18 of them achieved in the second half).
After a few first bars of slight Italian dominance on the scoreboard (4-10, min. 2), with strong individual defenses by both teams, in the 6th minute CSKA’s first lead (12-10) came and the panorama changed completely. With fast counterattacks, the Russians began to open differences, although the exit of track of the crossbar Zharmukhamedov – an authentic wall under the hoop – returned to approach in the marker to the Ignis until leaving it in a 28-26 to the rest.
At the restart, however, the game began to swing clearly to the Soviet side. Kul’kov, Edeshko, Belov, Kovyrkin and Zharmukhamedov (CSKA’s starting five in this second half) began to give a performance, with the base-base Belov as the star player, using the weapons that could least be expected from the traditionally rigid and mechanised Soviet basketball: imagination, speed and fantasy. At the Ignis, meanwhile, nothing seemed to work. Nikolić seated an unknown Raga (just 3 points) and Meneghin (the one with the sword of Damocles from the personals). When the Italian pivot returned to the track, Belov skillfully sought him out and took the fifth personal foul. From that moment on, the Italian squad was completely at the mercy of CSKA, which was dedicated to letting the minutes go by until the end.
CSKA MOSCOW 67
*Kulkov – 4p, 2r.
*Iljuk – 6p, 1r.
*Kapranov – 4p, 3r.
*Kovyrkin – 4p, 5r.
*Zharmukhamedov – 14p, 7r.
Belov – 24p, 4r.
Edeshko – 5p, 2r.
Kovalenko – 6p, 1br.
Gilgner – 0p.
IGNIS VARESE 53
*Ossola – 4p, 2r.
*Raga – 3p, 3r.
*Fultz – 22p, 5r.
*Flaborea – 6p, 6r.
*Meneghin – 8p, 4r.
Bisson – 4p, 5r.
Rusconi – 4p, 3r.
Vittori – 2p.
