EuroLeague 2026/27 — Who Made the Biggest Statement in Week 1

Four months after lifting the trophy inside Athens' Telekom Center, Olympiacos began the defense of their fourth EuroLeague crown exactly as champions should. The Reds, who beat Real Madrid 92-85 back in May after Evan Fournier's blistering, Final Four MVP-winning displays, traveled to Vitoria and dropped 106 points on Baskonia, with Tyler Dorsey scoring 25, and Sasha Vezenkov adding 22 in just 19 minutes.

Back in that same Athens arena, Panathinaikos opened Zeljko Obradovic's second tenure in charge with a 91-72 dismantling of Paris. Mathias Lessort, finally clear of two injury-wrecked seasons, produced 15 points, nine rebounds, three blocks, and two steals in under 22 minutes, while Tyson Etienne's 17 points were the brightest spot for the visitors. And in Sofia, Bayern needed nerve: Hapoel Tel Aviv erased an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit before Johannes Voigtmann's three with 34.3 seconds left settled an 86-84 thriller in the Bavarians' favor.

The heavyweights behaved like heavyweights, proving exactly why they find themselves at the top of the betting charts for EuroLeague glory this term. The latest odds from Lucky Rebel Sportsbook make the two Athens giants the clear 3/1 joint-favorites to lift the famous trophy at the end of the campaign, with their next closest threat way out at 7/1. But in the EuroLeague's return, three other teams stole the show and indeed the headlines.

Zalgiris

Belgrade Arena rarely forgives visitors, and a loud full house was waiting for Zalgiris on September 24th. It didn't matter. Tomas Masiulis's side raced to a 21-11 lead, absorbed the inevitable response through a physical, back-and-forth middle, and then Nigel Williams-Goss buried a three with three minutes left for a 75-72 advantage that the Lithuanians never surrendered.

The 83-77 road win was their seventh in eight meetings with Crvena Zvezda. Jonas Valanciunas, back in the competition for the first time since 2010-11 after 14 NBA seasons, delivered 13 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks while playing through a bloodied nose and Johnathan Motley was held to two points on 1-of-7 shooting by an interior that won the glass 46-39.

What does it say about Zalgiris's ambitions that winning in Belgrade, with a new center still getting to know his teammates, felt like a statement rather than a fluke? The 1999 champions finished fifth last season at 23-15, completed a Lithuanian League and Cup double, and dragged holders Fenerbahce to overtime in Game 4 before falling 3-1.

Sylvain Francisco has since left for Panathinaikos; Valanciunas, Carsen Edwards and Sterling Brown arrived on a record €28.8 million budget. The catch? Williams-Goss now faces roughly two weeks out with a hamstring injury. Even so, this looked less like a dark horse and more like a side measuring itself for the Final Four.

Valencia

Heading into the fourth quarter of Valencia's trip to a raucous Istanbul to face Besiktas, Los Che's new era looked comfortably launched. Then Conor Morgan found his range. The Besiktas captain hit five threes as the hosts, playing their first EuroLeague home game in 13 years, turned an 81-69 deficit into a 91-86 lead.

It took TJ Shorts to rescue the night, with 26 points on his EuroLeague debut for the club and the layup that broke a 94-94 tie with 76 seconds left. Jaylen Nowell's three at the buzzer rimmed out. Nikola Mirotic added 13, enough to pass Kostas Sloukas for fourth on the competition's all-time scoring list.

Is there a cleaner illustration of Valencia's resilience than losing its Coach of the Year, its Playoffs MVP, and three more rotation regulars in one offseason, and still winning on the road? Last season was historic for a club long defined by its EuroCup pedigree: 25-13 and second place, a 3-2 series win over Panathinaikos that delivered a first-ever Final Four in the Roig Arena's debut year, a semifinal loss to Real Madrid, then a Liga ACB title won against Barcelona.

Pedro Martinez left for Madrid, Jean Montero for Olympiacos; Brancou Badio, Jaime Pradilla, and Braxton Key followed. Former assistant Xavi Albert inherits Mirotic, Shorts, Armoni Brooks, and Mario Saint-Supery. Week 1 suggested the drop-off may be smaller than feared and that Shorts, not Mirotic, will define how far it goes.

Dubai

Six days before their curtain raiser, Real Madrid had beaten Dubai in overtime in the SuperCup semifinal. With five minutes left on September 24th, the sequel seemed scripted: a 10-0 Madrid run, nearly four scoreless minutes for the hosts, and a 72-65 deficit at Coca-Cola Arena.

Instead, Dubai won the closing five minutes 13-5 and scored the game's last seven points. McKinley Wright's three inside the final minute made it 78-77, and Andres Feliz couldn't finish at the other end. Dwayne Bacon was relentless throughout, scoring 24 points on 9-of-11 two-point shooting for a game-high 31 PIR.

Can a club founded in 2023, and only admitted to the EuroLeague in 2025, really be considered a playoff contender after beating last season's runners-up, or was this one good night against a team still settling under a new coach? Last season brought an 11th-place finish, one spot outside the play-in, alongside an ABA League title.

Then came Xavi Pascual, the 2010 EuroLeague-winning coach, on a deal through 2029, plus Toko Shengelia, Thomas Walkup, Elie Okobo, and Jaron Blossomgame joining Bacon who averaged 16.2 points last season and Filip Petrusev. The shift from competing to progressing is already visible.