The 19th edition of the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament will tip-off in western Spain on Sunday with the ANGT Valencia the first of three qualifying tournaments in the 2020-21 season of Europe’s top U18 club competition.
Two former champs highlight ANGT Valencia field
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Two former continental champions are among the eight-team field at the ANGT Valencia, which will determine the first of three direct qualifying spots for the ANGT Finals to be played at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four from May 28-30, 2021 in Cologne, Germany.
The ANGT Valencia will be hosted by U18 Valencia Basket with the 2013 champion U18 Joventut Badalona and 2016 title-winner U18 FC Barcelona also among the teams. The other clubs are fellow Spanish sides U18 Herbalife Gran Canaria and U18 Unicaja Malaga, U18 ratiopharm Ulm of Germany and French clubs U18 Nanterre 92 and U18 LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne. The games will be played at L’Aqueria del Basket from December 27-29, 2020.
Barcelona tops Group A, which also includes Ulm, Nanterre and Gran Canaria. Barcelona, which also reached the ANGT Championship Game in 2008 and 2015, is playing at the ANGT Valencia for the third time. Last season, Barcelona won its first two games and then lost to Gran Canaria to miss out on the game for first place and ended up fourth. Ulm is appearing in the ANGT for the fourth time with all three previous showings at the ANGT Munich. The German side lost all four games last season in the event and took eighth place. Nanterre debuted last season at the ANGT Kaunas and went 2-1 to finish fourth overall. Gran Canaria returns to the ANGT Valencia, where it finished first last season in undefeated fashion and secured its second trip to the ANGT Finals following 2009.
Group B is made up of Valencia, Joventut, Unicaja and ASVEL. Valencia defended its home court in 2018-19 and won all four games and then won its first two games last season before losing to Unicaja and finishing third. Joventut was selected as the replacement for U18 Umana Reyer Venice, which pulled out of the competition. Joventut was 1-2 in the group stage at the ANGT Kaunas last season and finished third. Unicaja reached the ANGT Valencia first place game last season, but lost to Gran Canaria. The only non-Spanish team in Group B is ASVEL, which is competing in its fourth straight season. The French club was 2-1 in the ANGT Valencia group stage - including beating Gran Canaria - but ended up taking fifth place.
The other two qualifying tournaments are the ANGT Munich in southern Germany from January 22 to 24, 2021, and the ANGT Belgrade in the Serbian capital from February 21 to 23, 2021. The teams finishing first in those events will also book a direct ticket to the ANGT Finals. The other five teams will be chosen via wild cards.