CSKA stopped De Colo. The series began with a victory over Fener.

CSKA stopped De Colo. The series began with a victory over Fener.

The rivalry between the two super clubs from Moscow and Istanbul is perhaps the most intriguing at this stage of the main European basketball tournament. Let both CSKA and Fenerbahce now, for objective reasons, are going through hard times. But the army team has not missed the Final Four for eight seasons in a row, and during this time they won them twice, including the last of the completed ones. Fener has made at least five semi-finals in a row and became the champion in 2017. Now someone will have to interrupt their streak and leave their fans without the usual end of the season. By the will of fate, CSKA has been living in the status of the reigning champion of the Euroleague for almost two years. But, of course, now this is not the same team that took the title in the capital of the Basque Country, bollywood india Vitoria. And not even the team that started the regular season in the fall. The reasons are well known - the difficult nature of Mike James led to the expulsion of the army's top scorer from the team, the injury forced Nikola Milutinov to end the season ahead of schedule, and Joel Bolomboy is in the infirmary with him. Therefore, the return of Daniel Hackett, who plays an important role in defense, was great news for CSKA headquarters and fans.