2016 winner Barcelona and two-time champ Zalgiris headline third qualifying event this season
NextGen EuroLeague makes its Ulm debut with two former champs
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The Adidas NextGen EuroLeague returns for its third stop of the 2024-25 season and makes its debut in Ulm, Germany, with BKT EuroCup club ratiopharm Ulm hosting the event for the first time. The February 7-9 qualifying tournament features former champions U18 FC Barcelona and U18 Zalgiris Kaunas, which headline a loaded eight-team field looking to lock up a ticket to the NextGen Finals.
The 2016 continental champion Barcelona and 2003 and 2007 winner Zalgiris will face a tough challenge. Host U18 ratiopharm Ulm hopes to make more history in front of its home fans while U18 LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne and U18 Next Gen Team Ulm have an argument to make as well. And don’t count out U18 ALBA Berlin, U18 Dubai Basketball or U18 Olympiacos Piraeus.
The tournament winner will book a spot in the season finale at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four from May 23-25 in Abu Dhabi. The first berth went to two-time continental champion U18 Mega MIS Belgrade after taking first place at the NextGen Istanbul event in December. U18 Next Gen Team Munich won the qualifying tournament in Munich in January but was not eligible to secure a NextGen Finals ticket.
The eight teams in Ulm are broken down into two groups of four. Each team plays the others in its group in a round-robin fashion. The top teams in each group will then face off in Sunday’s first-place game, with the winner of that matchup securing a spot at the NextGen Finals.
The breakdown of the eight teams is as follows: Group A has host Ulm, ASVEL, Dubai and Zalgiris while Group B features Barcelona, ALBA, Next Gen Ulm and Olympiacos.
Ulm will be hosting a NextGen event for the first time and that comes after the team made history by taking first place at the NextGen Dubai tournament last season. Ulm became the first German club to win a qualifying tournament and lock up a spot at the NextGen Finals, where it went 0-3. Ulm is competing in the competition for the eighth straight time since 2018. ASVEL also has a streak of eight straight appearances and 11 in total. The French side won the Belgrade 2022 tournament and then lost in the first place game in Patras 2023. Last season ASVEL went 2-2 in Dubai for fourth place.
Dubai will be making its second appearance after debuting as host in 2024, where it went 1-3 for eighth place - with the historic first victory coming against eventual tournament winner Ulm. Zalgiris has never missed the competition - taking part in all 23 seasons. In addiiton to the Lithuanian powerhouse's two continental titles, Zalgiris took second place in 2005, 2006 and 2011. Last season, Zalgiris lost to Ulm in the Dubai 2024 first place game.
Barcelona won the 2016 NextGen crown and reached the championship game in 2008, 2013 and 2021. The Spanish giant is making its 20th appearance and 18th in a row. Barcelona has won its last two qualifying tournaments - Zadar in 2023 and Belgrade in 2024. ALBA is on board for the 15th time, including the 11th time in the last 12 seasons. The German side went 1-3 to finish fifth at the NextGen Podgorica and then 0-3 at the Finals as host club.
Olympiacos was given a spot for the ninth time and seventh in the last eight years. The Reds went 2-2 and finished fifth in Paris last season. The Next Gen Team Ulm will try to match what the Munich selection group did and become the third team picked by Adidas to win a qualifying event.
