The participants are divided into two groups. Group “A”: CSKA, “Lokomotiv-Kuban”, “Crvena Zvezda”. Group B: UNICS, Zenit, Besiktas. The best teams from each group will compete in the final on September 14.
Zenit St. Petersburg won the two previous Super Cups. They are still among the main contenders for the trophy. Yes, the St. Petersburg team parted ways with French star Thomas Ertel, but kept Spaniard Javier Pascual as coach. In addition, we made several targeted acquisitions. Zenit already won the Kondrashin Cup pre-season tournament at home the other day, beating UNICS in the final.
The reigning United League champions, CSKA, are also fully armed. The military team made the big signing of the summer by inviting Aleksa Avramovic, silver medallist of the 2023 World Cup and the 2024 Olympic Games, to join the Serbian national team. It will be interesting to see how he will fit into the new team.
The 2024 playoff finalist Kazan UNICS lost its main star, North Macedonian point guard Nenad Dimitrievic, in the offseason. It is interesting how Kazan’s Croatian coach Velimir Perasovic will close this gap. Among those who should come to the rescue is former Lokomotiv-Kuban leader Devon Akun-Purcell.
Lokomotiv-Kuban is perhaps the main mystery of the upcoming season. In the summer, the Krasnodar team unexpectedly parted ways with Slovenian Alexander Sekulic. The club president Andrei Vedischev took up the vacant coaching position and will now combine both positions. Andrei Vladimirovich has already expressed his commitment to his pupils. Let’s see how it works out in the Super Bowl.
In the two previous Super Cups, Zenit was the best.
Of the guests, the most interesting is the champion of the Andriatic League, Red Star Belgrade, a Euroleague participant. Among its members is 37-year-old Milos Teodosic. The virtuoso former CSKA point guard will return to Moscow after seven years. Previously, Serbian Dejan Davidovac and Russian center Joel Bolomboy also played for the military team.
As for Besiktas, they may not be the biggest Turkish brand, but they are a Euro-level team. In Moscow, the Istanbul residents will definitely not be the scapegoats.
Where will we see?
Wednesday, September 11, “Match TV”
17.00. UNICS – Besiktas. Live broadcast
“Match! Game”
20.00. CSKA – Lokomotiv-Kuban. Live broadcast
