Los Blancos go into the NextGen EuroLeague Munich as heavy favorites
Reigning champ Real Madrid starts defense of NextGen title in Munich
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The second stop of the 2024-25 Adidas NextGen EuroLeague tips off on Friday, January 17, and the reigning continental champion U18 Real Madrid arrives at the NextGen Munich tournament as the heavy favorite for the much-coveted ticket to the NextGen Finals. Real has won the European crown the last two seasons and a record five times since 2015.
Los Blancos will have a major target on its back for the other seven teams competing in Munich's BMW Park from January 17 to 19 – host U18 FC Bayern Munich, U18 Aris Midea Thessaloniki, U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, U18 SC Derby Podgorica, U18 Valencia Basket, U18 Virtus Segafredo Bologna, and U18 Next Gen Team Munich.
The tournament winner will book a spot in the season finale at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in May. The first spot has already been handed out as two-time continental champion U18 Mega MIS Belgrade took first place at the NextGen Istanbul event last December.
The eight teams in Munich are broken down into two groups of four. Each team will face the others in its group in a round-robin fashion. The top teams in each group will then square 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 Bayern, Aris, Cedevita and Valencia, while Group B is topped by Real and also includes Derby, NextGen Munich and Virtus.
Evaluating Group A
Bayern will be hosting a qualifying tournament for the fifth time following 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2023. Bayern is competing for the 10th time and took fourth place last season at the NextGen Podgorica and lost to Real in the 2019-20 NextGen Munich first-place game.
Aris is back in the competition for a second season after making its debut at NextGen Dubai last year and taking sixth place.
Cedevita is appearing for the 19th time, including the last seven and 17 of the last 18 seasons. The club went 1-3 at the NextGen Podgorica tournament last season and took seventh place.
This will be Valencia’s 11th showing – and seventh in a row – after it took fifth place at the NextGen Dubai event last season.
Looking into Group B teams
Real has been the dominant force at the NextGen competition with a record five titles while also reaching the NextGen EuroLeague Championship Game in 2014. Real competes in the event for the 18th straight season and has won its qualifying tournament in each of the last 11 campaigns. The Spanish powerhouse needed a major comeback in the NextGen Podgorica first place game last season to knock off the NextGen Team. Real went on to claim last season’s crown at the NextGen Finals in Berlin. Real has won its last 17 NextGen games, dating back to the NextGen Finals in 2022 in Belgrade.
Montenegro side Derby is making its second appearance in the competition after it debuted last season as host in the NextGen Podgorica and finished third with a 3-1 record.
Virtus for its part is back for its ninth season and second in a row after claiming seventh place at the NextGen Dubai last year. That was the Italian club’s first time playing in the event since 2019.
The NextGen selection team is in participating for a fourth season, with Dogus Balbay coaching the team this season.