VARESE (Basketball Champions League) – What are trophies made of? Pallacanestro Varese is a club that knows the answer to that question better than most in the world, because they have a vast number of shiny metal objects in their possession.

"I don’t know our end destination, I don’t know how long and beautiful our road will be in the Basketball Champions League but I am very happy and I know it is fair for us to be here." - Paolo Moretti

But a prize is not always something tangible and, sometimes, prizes that have no physical shape and are entirely abstract can hold much more importance to the recipient than even the most valuable trophy in a vast impressive collection.

“This is the fair prize for us and for our fans,” Varese head coach Paolo Moretti said following the end of his team’s second-leg clash with SL Benfica on Thursday night. It ended in a 72-70 home loss for his team, but the Italian side advanced to the Regular Season of the Basketball Champions League by virtue of their 75-72 victory in the reverse fixture in Portugal.

“I am very happy because because we have achieved a fair reward for everything we did in Europe last season and for the great job the club did this summer,” Moretti added, referring to his team’s run to the final of the 2015/15 FIBA Europe Cup.

One of these summer arrivals Moretti mentioned is shooting guard Melvin Johnson, who on Thursday played his first official game in front of the Varese fans and was left marvelling at the experience.

“This is the happiest I have ever been after a loss, I was even smiling,” Johnson said. “Typically, when you lose you are sad but that was a big game, the fans were amazing, it was a really good atmosphere and I am happy for advancing. I had heard the fans were really good, I had heard that it gets really loud, but experiencing the first game and playing in front of fans that push you to win was a pleasure. We just want to win, be it in Italian league or in the Basketball Champions League.”

The next chance Johnson and his team-mates get to experience this European atmosphere is on a big occasion on the opening night of Group C action, when Varese play host to French champions ASVEL.