RSV Lahn-Dill will be playing Cantu, Besiktas, and Porto Torres
With the results of the EuroLeague, IWBF Europe announced the preliminary groups for Champions League, which will be taking place from the 6th to the 8th of May in Zwickau. The six-fold Champions are in a group with Cantu, Besiktas Istanbul and Porto Torres.
Group A will consist of hosting team BSC-Rollers Zwickau, RSV’s opposition in last year’s final CD Ilunion Madrid, and five-fold Champions Cup winners Galatasaray Istanbul. It came as a surprise that neither BG Baskets Hamburg nor RSB Thuringia Bulls managed to qualify. Both teams were defeated in EuroLeague 1, where they qualified for Andre-Vergauwen-Cup, which will take place from the 21st until the 23rd of April in Valladolid.
"We can be happy about our group." said RSV Head Coach Nicolai Zeltinger optimistically. The Middle Hesse team have their international experience with all three teams. RSV won against Porto Torres 2004 in Izmir and 2015 in Porto Torres, and defeated Besiktas Istanbul 2010 in Bordeaux. Cantu has been the Wetzlar opposition three times so far: a 60:70-defeat in 2006 was followed by a 78:57 win in Madrid 2014 and a 76:65 win in Giulianova 2015.
The aim for the six-fold winners in this competition is the semi final, which they have managed eleven times in the last twelve years. Last year this meant a German-German duel for RSV, which went positively for them in overtime.