MIES (Switzerland) - We have known it for more than a decade now: after Tuesday, there's always a Wednesday night of action in the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL.
Season 11's Group Stage has its Opening Round concluding with eight more exciting and intriguing matchups all over Europe. Let's discover 48 stats, facts, domestic results, and more about these 16 teams.
Trabzonspor vs. Nanterre 92 - Group A, 18:00 CET
Trabzonspor will debut in the BCL, becoming the 15th Turkish team to take part in the competition; 10 of the previous 14 Turkish teams have won their debut game in the BCL.
Nanterre are back for their fourth season in the BCL, and for the fourth time they will start playing on the road; however, only once have they won their opening game in a BCL season (81-72 at Nymburk in 2017-18).
Nanterre have made 39.8 percent of their attempted three-pointers in the BCL, the best three-point percentage in league history among the teams that have played 30+ games. However, they have made 10+ three-pointers in only one of their last 12 BCL games.
Troy Caupain is set to play for his fifth different BCL team, while only two other players have represented more different clubs in the competition (Tyrus McGee and Retin Obasohan, both six different clubs); he has already faced Nanterre in the BCL, scoring eight points in 22:25 minutes.
Paul Lacombe is heading to his sixth BCL season and the second with Nanterre; he has a total of 106 steals in the competition, while only two other players have tallied more than him in league history (Howard Sant-Roos, 125, and David Holston, 118).
Facing Besiktas on the road on Monday, Trabzonspor suffered the 90-81 defeat despite Troy Caupain and Isaiah Canaan both having a 14-point effort; in France, Nanterre also lost 93-83 away from home against Roanne despite Xavier Castaneda scoring 17 points.
AEK BC vs. Salon Vilpas - Group C, 18:00 CET
Salon Vilpas will become AEK BC’s 58th different opponent in BCL, while no other team has faced more different opponents in league history (also Tenerife, 58); AEK will become the only club to have competed in every BCL season since its first edition.
Vilpas are the second Finnish team to compete in the BCL, after Kataja in 2016-17; however, they will try to become the first team from Finland to win their first game in the competition.
AEK averaged 18.5 assists per game in the BCL 2025-26, more than in any of their previous nine seasons in the competition. They have made 20+ assists in four of their last seven Regular Season games.
AEK’s Frank Bartley is averaging 19.9 points per game when playing at home in the BCL and has scored 16 or more points in each of his last seven league fixtures at the SUNEL Arena; the MVP of Season X has made multiple three-pointers in each of his eight games at home in the BCL.
Leland Walker dropped 29+ points and has made 3+ shots from behind the arc in each of his three games with Vilpas during the qualifiers, ending with a 42-point performance in the final game against CSM CSU Raiffeisen Oradea.
Nelly Joseph pushed AEK to the 91-70 win against Maroussi with 18 points; Leland Walker flirted with a double-double (27 points and 9 assists) to inspire Vilpas' 97-79 road success over Tampereen Pyrinto.
SK Slavia Praha ERA NBK vs. ALBA BERLIN - Group G, 18:00 CET
ALBA BERLIN will face SK Slavia Praha ERA NBK for the third time in the BCL after completing a season double over them in 2025-26: the Berliners won both games by more than 12 points and averaged 91 points in those two games.
Slavia have won their first home game of a BCL season in five of their last six campaigns. ALBA won all three of their road games in the BCL Regular Season last time out, scoring 85+ points in each.
Slavia have averaged 41.1 rebounds per game in BCL history, the most of all teams. Slavia (14.8) and ALBA (13.8) had two of the three best averages of offensive rebounds per game last season (also Sabah, 13.8).
Vojtech Hruban has played in 117 games in BCL history, the third most of any player (Tim Abromaitis, 131, and Bruno Fitipaldo, 118); he has a total of 99 steals and might become the sixth player to reach 100+ steals in league history.
ALBA's Jack Kayil is averaging 15.9 points per game in his eight BCL appearances in 2026; he has scored a total of 167 points, but only three players have scored more in BCL history before turning 21 years old: Arnoldas Kulboka (172), Sehmus Hazer (230), and Keye van der Vuurst de Vries (265).
The red-and-white Czech side beat BK GAPA Hradec Kralove 101-75 away from their place; going up against another BCL representative from Germany, BMA365 Bamberg Baskets, ALBA lost 98-83 at home.
BC Juventus Utena vs. Unicaja - Group E, 19:00 CET
BC Juventus Utena are back in the BCL after competing in the first two seasons; they will tip off a league campaign at home for the second time, after winning their debut game in 2016-17 (91-84 vs. SIG Strasbourg).
Unicaja are going for their sixth consecutive season in the BCL and have won their opening game in each of their five previous campaigns, with four of those being on the road; this will be Unicaja’s second BCL game in Lithuania, after beating Rytas Vilnius by one point in March 2025 (83-82).
Unicaja averaged 20.1 points per game off turnovers in the BCL last season, the sixth-highest average of any team in a league campaign; in fact, three of the six highest averages of points from turnovers belong to Unicaja.
Cameron Reynolds, now at Juventus, took part in the BCL 2023-24 with Promitheas Patras BC and was in the Top 10 of three-pointers made that season (33) while making only 15 two-pointers. His last two games in the competition were against Unicaja, with two defeats in the Quarter-Finals.
Txus Vidorreta, now Unicaja’s head coach, has already faced Juventus twice in the BCL, winning both games by the exact same differential: +22 points; he has tallied more BCL victories by margins of 20 or more points only against three other opponents.
In Lithuania, Juventus won 93-77 at home against Taurage; Kendrick Perry had 23 points but couldn't prevent Unicaja's 80-75 home defeat against Txus Vidorreta's former team, Tenerife.
Windrose Giants Antwerp vs. Falco KC Szombathely - Group C, 20:00 CET
After competing in the BCL in 2018-19 and in 2019-20, Windrose Giants Antwerp are back in the league for their third run; this will be their first time opening a BCL season at home, but have been able to win their first home game of the season in each of their previous two campaigns.
After not competing in 2025-26, Falco KC Szombathely are back for their seventh BCL season; this will be their fourth time starting a league campaign on the road, winning their most recent such fixture (W1 L2).
Szombathely’s last 15 wins in the BCL have happened in games where their bench unit has scored more than 30 points; the Hungarians have won only four of their 24 BCL fixtures when their bench players have scored 30 or fewer points.
Kevin Tumba (Giants Antwerp) has already played 31 BCL games, but the last time he stepped on a BCL court was in March 2019, then with Murcia; he has grabbed 10+ rebounds in four of his 31 appearances in the competition.
Zoltan Perl has scored in double figures in each of his last 19 BCL games and might become only the second player in league history to do it in 20 or more straight games, after DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell (exactly 20 games)
Antwerp prevailed over Mons-Hainaut with a 37-point win (100-63) as everybody contributed on the scoresheet; Szombathely also had an impressive win, beating OSE Lions 98-74 led by the usual Zoltan Perl (19 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists).
Spartak Office Shoes vs. RASTA Vechta - Group F, 20:00 CET
Spartak Office Shoes are the first Serbian team competing in multiple BCL campaigns: they won two of their three games at home in the 2025-26 Regular Season, including their debut fixture in the competition (74-73 vs. Le Mans).
This is RASTA Vechta’s third season in the BCL and the second time starting a league campaign on the road (91-103 at Galatasaray in 2024-25); their sole victory that season happened away from home (86-78 at Promitheas).
Spartak averaged only 1.9 blocks per game in the BCL 2025-26, fewer than any other team. On the other side, Vechta averaged 6.2 blocks per game in their last BCL season, in 2024-25, a record for a team in a single campaign in the competition.
Stefan Lazarevic (Spartak) has played five games in the BCL in 2024-25 with FMP; he has scored 10+ points in two games and grabbed 10+ rebounds in two games, but he is yet to register a double-double in the competition.
Now with Vechta, Matt Lewis is going for his second BCL season after playing for Le Mans Sarthe Basket in 2023-24; he has scored more points per game on the road (14.0) than when playing at home (11.3) in the competition.
Spartak didn't have a successful weekend in the ABA League, losing 95-79 at home against Bosna Sarajevo; Vechta couldn't make it either, losing 79-71 in Jena despite Justin Edler-Davis' 20 points and 8 rebounds.
Telekom Baskets Bonn vs. FC Porto - Group H, 20:00 CET
Telekom Baskets Bonn are back for their seventh BCL season; they have won just one of their three games when starting a league campaign at home (85-71 vs. Basket Zaragoza in 2019-20).
FC Porto are the second Portuguese team to compete in the BCL and will try to repeat what SL Benfica did on their league debut back in October 2022: a road win (89-76 at VEF Riga).
Bonn have averaged 16.5 points per game from turnovers when playing at home over the last four BCL seasons, the fourth-highest average among all teams with 20+ games played in that period.
Jeff Garrett is set for his second BCL season after featuring for NINERS Chemnitz in 2024-25; he scored 18+ points in each of his last two BCL appearances, while his only win in the competition came against Portuguese opposition (7 pts vs. Benfica in October 2024).
James Woodard is Porto’s only player with BCL experience, winning a bronze medal with MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg in 2021-22 and then playing with King Szczecin in 2024-25; he has scored more than 10 points in four of his 17 appearances, with his side winning all those four games.
The two teams had opposite results during the weekend: Bonn lost 83-76 away from home in Wurzburg, while Porto beat Queluz 110-93 on the road with Thomas Bropleh putting up 25 points.
UCAM Murcia vs. Itelyum Varese - Group D, 20:30 CET
This will be UCAM Murcia’s sixth season in the BCL, with the Spanish outfit starting a league campaign at home for the fifth time: they have won three of the previous four such games, although they weren’t able to win their most recent such game (103-97 vs. Manisa in October 2024).
After taking part in the first BCL season ever, Itelyum Varese are back in the competition, with their 10-year gap between their two participations being the biggest of any team to have played multiple seasons in the BCL, alongside Cibona.
Murcia allowed just 7.3 made three-pointers per game in the BCL in their last season in the competition, back in 2024-25, the fewest of any team that season.
Dylan Ennis will play his 6th BCL season and the 3rd one with Murcia; he scored 10+ points in each of his 12 games in his last BCL season, in 2024-25, even averaging 16.8 points per home game in the process.
Hunter Hale (Varese) will play his third BCL season after 2023-24 with Promitheas and 2024-25 with AEK; he has played two games against Murcia in the competition, including 29 points at Palacio de los Deportes in January 2024, his joint-high in a BCL road game.
The team's captain, Jonah Radebaugh, had 16 points and 5 steals in Murcia's 100-94 huge win against Barcelona at home; moving to Italy, Varese also had a positive outcome as Hunter Hale shone with 25 points and 6 assists in the 85-77 road victory against Scafati.