With the recent basketball Euroleague Final Four having just taken place (and where both Greek teams have managed to fail miserably) I remembered the one I had attended 15 years ago. We started experiencing this competition back in the late 80's when another Greek team, Aris from Salonica, would take part for several consecutive years. They never got past the semi final though and they usually even lost at the 3rd place play-off game, ending up in 4th place. Then, in 1993, it took place in Athens, with another team from Salonica qualifying, PAOK. They were eliminated in the semi final as well. And that was the year when I noticed how difficult it was to get tickets for that competition, even though it was taking place in my own country. In 1994, it took place in Tel Aviv and that's when we knew that a Greek team would finally make it to the final. Two Greek teams, Olympiacos and Panathinaikos qualified and they would play in the semi final. Olympiacos won, but then lost in the final. The exact same thing happened the following year, in 1995 in Saragossa. It seemed that for a Greek team to win this trophy they would have to qualify alone. And that's what happened the following two years when Panathinaikos won in 1996 in Paris and Olympiacos won in 1997 in Rome. AEK qualified in 1998 but lost in the final. Panathinaikos would go on to win several of these trophies in the next decace (starting with 2000 in Salonica), while Olympiacos would win two back-to-back tournaments in 2012 and 2013 in Istanbul and London respectively.
The main reason I wanted to attend one of these tournaments was its format: With one ticket you get to watch 4 games over a period of three days. Two semi finals on the first day, then a day off and on the third day, the 3rd place play off and the final. But it was always so difficult to get tickets. So, in 2010, in Paris, I applied for tickets before I knew which teams would qualify. As it happened, Olympiacos qualified. I received the tickets via courier and was surprised to see that had I received 4 instead of the one I had ordered. I didn't take any notice though at that time.
When the day came I got on my first of two flights. I would go via Rome because it was even difficult to find a flight on that day. What's more, the second flight from Rome to Paris was delayed and there was a lot of traffic on the runway both in Rome and in Paris delaying us even further. So I was a bit late for the first semi final between Barcelona and CSKA Moscow. And even more late when they wouldn't let me in. They sent me to the box office where my 4 original tickets were exchanged with the correct one. So I finally got in and watched Barcelona beat CSKA 64-54.
From that very first game it seemed that one of the main features of the tournament were the cheerleaders. I had posted several videos of them on YouTube and didn't receive many favourable moments. They were characterized as naked pole dancers.
During the break between the two semi finals I decided to wander inside Palais Omnisports De Bercy. The organizers had made sure that we could not mingle with fans from the other three teams. (I was placed with the Olympiacos supporters even though I had applied for a ticket as an independent). I headed to the bar where I realized that the cheapest thing I could buy was 5 euros and all other prices were divisible by 5. The reason for this was that we would not be given any coins which we weren't allowed to have with us anyway. This is because of a habit mainly Greek fans have: throwing coins at the referee and the players of their opponents.
The second semi final between Partizan and Olympiacos seemed to be going Partizan's way for most of the game, but Olympiacos won literally at the last minute 80-83 and qualified for the final.
The following day was a day off. I spent it by visiting the only major Paris attraction I gad yet to see: Disneyland. This visit is documented in one of my early posts, written in Greek here. I hope I will soon translate it in English.
Then came Sunday, the day of the finals. By this time many of the fans whose team has lost prefer to sell their tickets to the winning teams. I would not have done the same even if Olympiacos had lost. I love basketball and would not have missed a European final, no matter who was playing!
The first match was the 3rd place play off where CSKA beat Partizan 90-88. It was disrupted for a while when Russian fans erected a sign about an incident that had taken place 15 years earlier in 1995 when the water given to the Russian players at a match between hosts Olympiacos and CSKA wewre allegedly poisoned.
And then it was time for the final. Barcelona played Olympiacos. Even though Olympiacos had won their first European trophy back in 1997 against Barcelona with the widest margin at that time, this time there was no contest. Barcelona won 86-68.
That was the end of a wonderful weekend. Two more flights were waiting for me. For the hurney back, I would go via Munich. This gave me a chance to eat Pretzels and Weisswurst for breakfast. Before I left however, I took a photo of my seat, which was my home for these two days.
And as I got out I took a photo of the venue which listed the concerts that were going to take place there.
I would see Eric Clapton (with Steve Winwood) in Insatnbul the following month, and a week after that I would see Aerosmith in Athens. I would see Bon Jovi in Athens as well, the following year. Lady GaGa would have to wait until 2014...
I would be back at Palais Omnisports De Bercy though, three years later to see The Who (after having seen Bruce Springsteen in the same city...)
RESULTS;
Semi Finals:
Barcelona - CSKA 64-54
Partizan - Olympiacos 80-83
3rd Place Play Off:
CSKA - Partizan 90-88
Final:
Barcelona - Olympiacos 86-68
