The most successful basketball teams in Europe

Here are the teams dominating the orange ball game on the Old Continent

Basketball Europe has its giants. Grands that dominate the local and continental scene. In the following lines, we will introduce you to the teams that have won the most trophies from the strongest championships on the Old Continent, as well as the Euroleague created at the beginning of the century and its predecessors from 1958, which determine the champion of Europe.

We can't help but start with the record holder for titles on the Old Continent - Real Madrid. With 10 titles, the giant from the Spanish capital was absolutely dominant in the 1960s and 1970s in Europe, but after the creation of the Euroleague there were only two successes - in 2015 and 2018. However, Real continues to be number one, but not on the home stage. No matter how shocking it sounds, after the creation of the Spanish championship in 1983, the "royal club" has won 13 awards - 3 less than the great rival - Barcelona. However, the Catalans are far from the leader in Europe, where they have 2 awards, but since the creation of the Euroleague. Barca also lags behind in the number of King's Cups won - 26 for the "Blaugranas" and 28 for Real Madrid. With their seven Super Cups in the country, the Whites even catch up on the domestic trophy deficit with Barcelona, who has 5. However, the Catalans are currently first in the ranking of European club teams, while Real is only in fourth position.

Between them are the teams of Anadolu Efes and CSKA Moscow, which will be discussed. And we can't help but start with the "Moscow soldiers". Absolute dominant on the home stage with 24 titles of the Soviet Union, 27 of Russia and 11 more since the creation of the VTB league. From a total of 12 seasons, CSKA won the title 11 times, second only to Khimki in the 2010/11 campaign. In Europe, CSKA also has a significant history - 8 times champion. Half of those honors have come since the creation of the EuroLeague, with the last coming in the 2018/19 season. The penultimate champion before Anadolu in 2021, but for the Turks shortly.

Now we are heading to Israel - a country that is politically not in Europe, but, as we know from football, the club and national teams are part of the competitions of the Old Continent. The team won the European title 6 times and was the last champion before the creation of the Euroleague, which it won three times. With 55 titles, Israel is, however, a total dominator on the local scene, with as many as 50 honors more than the second-placed Apoel Tel Aviv.

Neighboring Greece also has a lot to brag about - the rivalry between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos has been carried over to Europe in recent years. However, Panathinaikos has become the champion of Europe 6 times, twice as many as the team from Piraeus. On top of that, 4 of the six triumphs are in the Euroleague, and Olympiakos 2 of the 3 titles are in the tournament created at the beginning of the century. In the Greek championship, the difference is even greater – 39 titles for PAO against only 12 for the team, whose star at the moment is Alexander Vezenkov.

The time has come for the Turks and the last champion in the Euroleague - Anadolu. However, this was only the second title for a team from this country, after Fenerbahçe won the competition in 2017. In the local championship, Anadolu has 6 titles more than the "Faners" - 15 to 9.

At the end, we will also mention the Bulgarian Academician, who played in two European finals in the already distant 1958 and 1959. The first years in which a European champion was broadcast, but both finals were lost to Rigas, then part of the USSR.

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