Greek basketball champions Olympiacos will enter the Sinan Erden Dome, in Constantinople Friday at 6.30pm (Greek time) to face off against CSKA Moscow in the first semi-final of the 2016-17 Final Four for a berth in the final.

Both teams share 10 titles in Europe’s top tier competition between them, with Olympiacos having won the coveted trophy 3 times and CSKA another 7 times, 4 of which before the competition adopted its current format. The match promises to be an entertaining encounter, as both sides met twice in the regular season with CSKA barely coming on top on both ocassions.
The two teams have plenty of history in the Final Four, with most of it being recent.
In 2012, they met in the final and Olympiacos stole the game in the last second with Georgios Printezis knocking down one of his signature quick release short corner floaters. The teams also came head to head in the Final Four in 2013 as well, this time in the semifinals where Olympiacos handled CSKA easily, winning the game 69-52 and going on to win their second straight Euroleague title. Then in 2015, the two teams met in the semifinal again and CSKA choked away a nine-point lead with five minutes left all at the hands of Vassilis Spanoulis, but managed to prevail.

This might be a battle between a Greek and a Russian side on the court, but it will be an all-Greek fight on the benches, as both Dimitris Sfairopoulos of Olympiacos and Dimitris Itoudis of CSKA are known for their meticulous planning and scouting skills. The winner of the clash will face either Turkish side Fenerbahce or Spanish giants Real Madrid, who meet in the other semi-final at 9.30pm (Greek time). Keep up to date on the score on our site.