Cibona learns its opponents for the FIBA Basketball Champions League group stage

The draw for the 11th season of the FIBA Basketball Champions League took place in Mies, Switzerland, with Cibona among the participating clubs after securing its place by winning the Croatian national championship. The Zagreb club returns to the competition for the first time in a decade.

This marks Cibona's second consecutive season on the European stage, having competed in the FIBA Europe Cup last season.

Cibona has been drawn into Group B, where it will face Legia Warsaw (Poland), Strasbourg (France) and Galatasaray (Turkey). Interestingly, Cibona also met Strasbourg ten years ago in the group stage, with the two sides facing off in November 2016 and January 2017. Those encounters ended with one win and one defeat for the Croatian club.

Cibona will play at least six games in the group stage, including three in front of its home fans. The group winner will advance directly to the Round of 16, while the second and third-placed teams will continue their European campaign through the Play-ins.

"First of all, I have to say that we are very happy and excited to be back in the Basketball Champions League after such a long time. We have been drawn into a very interesting group. Galatasaray appears to be the group's top seed – a well-known basketball club with a rich tradition. They are a club with a very serious budget, and we are looking forward to hosting them. Strasbourg is also a respected and well-established team in European basketball. They finished eighth in the French league last season, and we all know how strong the French championship is. Legia Warsaw are the Polish champions and a team with plenty of European experience. We are in for some exciting games. At the same time, we are still in the process of building our roster, but we are confident we will be highly competitive and hope to achieve positive results", said Cibona sports director Marin Rozić.

The Basketball Champions League regular season is scheduled to tip-off in early October, while the detailed fixture list for Cibona group-stage games will be announced at a later date.

In addition to competing in the Basketball Champions League, Cibona will also take part in the ABA League and the Croatian national championship this season, with the domestic campaign expected to begin in late September.