The stage is set for a classic Greek-Turkish battle in the 2016-17 Euroleague basketball final (9pm Greek time), in Istanbul at the Sinan Erdem Dome.
Both teams are at full strength and Olympiakos will be trying to bring home their 4th Euroleague trophy, while Fenerbache are attempting to pick up their first ever title in Europe’s top basketball competition (no Turkish team has won a Euroleague title). The stadium will be packed with the home crowd expected to create a fiery atmosphere. Olympiakos will have the support of over 1.500 fans.

The Greek team have the upper hand in the head to head encounters with their opponent, as they have won 12 of their 20 matches, but will be facing their final-4 nemesis in the form of Fenerbache coach Zeljko Obradovic, who has never lost in either a semi-final of final against the team from Piraeus. Obradovic has recorded two wins in a final and one in a semi-final against the Greek team. In 1994 Obradovic’s Joventut Badalona defeated Olympiakos in the final (59-57), while he repeated his feat in the following year’s final as coach of Real Madrid (73-61) against the reds. In the 2009 semi-final Obradovic came on top again, this time as coach of Olympiakos’s Greek arch rivals Panathinaikos (84-82).

An interesting statistic is the fact that the Greek champions have prevailed in 7 of their 10 matches on Turkish soil. A Turkish team has never lifted the most coveted trophy in European club basketball, while Greece has a total of 9 Euroleague titles with Panathinaikos having conquered it 6 times and Olympiakos 3.

According to some reports, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be attending the match.