The competition begins with 22 teams. Framed in six groups, the champion of each group will qualify for the final league. Group A formed by Bosna Sarajevo, Levski Sofia and Al-Zamalek Cairo experienced a tough battle between the first two, finally Bosna qualified thanks to the average
GROUP A
1. BOSNA SARAJEVO (3-1)
2. LEVSKI SOFIA (3-1)
3. TO ZAMALEK (1-3)
In group B there was a clear dominator, the Bologna Virtus. The Italians won all their matches, their group rivals Slovfnat Bratislava and Bertrange Luxembourg could do nothing to qualify.
GROUP B
1. VIRTUS BOLONIA (4-0)
2. SLOVFNAT BRATISLAVA (2-2)
3. BERTRANGE (0-4)
Group C includes Real Madrid. The whites also had no rival to get into the group. They didn’t lose a match and that’s not what they did, but they won them all with big margins. The English Crystal Palace, 04 Leverkusen and Stevnsgade completed the group.
GROUP C
1. REAL MADRID (6-0)
2. CRYSTAL PALACE (4-2)
3. 04 LEVERKUSEN (2-4)
4. STEVNSGADE (0-6)
In Group D we find the most fearsome rival, Maccabi Tel Aviv. The Israelites only lost one match, it was against the brave Aris of Thessaloniki and after extra time. In spite of it the yellow ones qualified easily. Aris, Dynamo Bucharest and Efes Pilsen completed the group.
GROUP D
1. MACCABI TEL AVIV (5-1)
2. BUCAREST DYNAMO (3-3)
3. ARIS SALONICA (3-3)
4. EPHESUS PILSEN (1-5)
In group E we experienced a great duel for first place between Partizan Belgrade and Partizani Tirana (Albania). It was a hand to hand that finally took the Yugoslavs. Budapest’s Honved and Syria’s Al-Ittihad never had a chance to qualify.
GROUP E
1. SPLIT (5-1)
2. PARTIZANI (4-2)
3. HONVED (2-4)
4. TO ITTIHAD (1-5)
We’re finally done with group F. It was the most evenly matched group by far, finally all were tied at three wins and only the combination of the average decided the lead. Dutch Den Bosch, Austrian Wien, Le Mans SC Moderne and Belgian Anderlecht fought to the end but only the Dutch managed to qualify.
GROUP F
1. DEN BOSCH (3-3)
2. WIEN (3-3)
3. SC MODERNE (3-3)
4. ANDERLECHT (3-3)
After the qualifiers we entered the regular league of the competition formed by the six teams that finished top of each previous group, KK Bosna, Virtus Bologna, Real Madrid, Maccabi tel Aviv, Partizan and Den Bosch. Ten rounds in which they will all face each other, the first two qualifying directly for the continental final. Real Madrid fought hand in hand with Maccabi and KK Bosna, between these three it was decided the final. Maccabi finished the league with a balance of (7-3) finishing leading. The last day was a heart attack because both Real Madrid and KK Bosna were tied in both the balance and average, victory was mandatory. The Sarajevo lost to Virtus Bologna and Madrid although suffering beat Den Bosch. With this victory Real Madrid also with (7-3) completes the final.
REGULAR LEAGUE
1. MACCABI TEL AVIV (7-3)
2. REAL MADRID (7-3)
3. KK BOSNA (6-4)
4. VIRTUS BOLONIA (5-5)
5. DEN BOSCH (4-6)
6. PARTIZAN (1-9)
That’s how we got to the grand final of the European Cup held this year in Berlin. Where we saw the seventh European Cup for Real Madrid, in an atmosphere of total domination in the stands by Israeli fans. Despite the fact that Maccabi appeared in the final with the title of favourite, the madridistas achieved a deserved victory after dominating the game and the scoreboard during the whole match.
Both sides began the match with individual defence, although Lolo Sainz had reserved for his colleague Klein a tactical surprise that the experienced Israeli coach was slow to assimilate. It was an alternative defence from individual to zone according to what had happened in the previous attack. If Real Madrid scored through one of their pivots (Rullan or Meister) or if the attack failed, maintained in their balance sheet an individual defense, but if the scorer was one of the outside men (Corbalan, Brabender or Walter) automatically went to defend in the pressure zone. This complicated strategy made Maccabi miss more than once, and when he wanted to react he was already very low on the scoreboard (26-14, min. 11). Although Klein tried to counter the Real Madrid game with numerous changes, the macabea defence was a real sieve, especially in the area, where Rullan and Meister penetrated again and again into the basket. Aroesti, Silver and an unknown Berkowitz had hardly any offensive contribution, and in defense helped little to their pivots. Against this backdrop, the Madrid outfit withdrew at half-time with a clear advantage over their rivals (48-40).
After the restart, Real Madrid continued with their scoring streak, and three minutes into the second half they achieved their maximum advantage until that moment (55-42). However, the personals began to take their toll on the madridistas, who had to diminish the intensity of their individual defense. In addition, the Maccabi changed to a zone 2-3 that began to choke the whites, and the players of the Israeli team began to intone in attack. Despite the fact that in the 31st minute Real Madrid still clearly dominated the scoreboard (75-61), the successive eliminations of Corbalan and Meister made the Maccabees approach dangerously (83-80 with 4’13» to go). However, Perry’s elimination left Maccabi lame in the rebound, and the substitutes of the Madrid side knew how to keep the type and calm until the final whistle.
REAL MADRID 89
*Corbalán – 9p, 3a.
*Brabender – 12p, 2r.
*Szczerbiak – 16p, 4r.
*Rullan – 27p, 8r.
*Meister – 21p, 11r.
Llorente – 2p, 2a.
Querejeta – 2p, 3r.
Prada – 0p.
Maccabi Electra
MACCABI TEL AVIV 85
*Aroesti – 0p, 3a.
*Berkowitz – 10p, 1r.
*Silver – 0p, 4r.
*Perry – 22p, 13r.
*Williams – 31p, 7r.
Boatwright – 22p, 5r.
Zysman – 0p.
Keren – 0p, 1r.
Schwartz – 0p.
