1971–72 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup
# 1971–72 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup

The 1971–72 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup was the sixth edition of FIBA's 2nd-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, contested between national domestic cup champions, running from 4 November 1971, to 21 March 1972. It was contested by 21 teams, five less than in the previous edition, and it marked a reform in the competition's format; a 6-team group stage was introduced, replacing the quarterfinals.

Defending champion, Simmenthal Milano, defeated Crvena zvezda in the final, which returned to a single game format, to win its second trophy, becoming the first team to successfully defend its title. It was the third title in a row for an Italian League team. This season's FIBA European Champions Cup final, also featured Italian and Yugoslav League teams, with the same outcome.

## Participants

| Country | Teams | Clubs | Clubs |
| - | - | - | - |
| Italy | 2 | Fides Napoli | Simmenthal Milano |
| Albania | 1 | Partizani Tirana |
| Austria | 1 | Handelsministerium |
| Belgium | 1 | Racing Bell Mechelen |
| Bulgaria | 1 | Levski-Spartak |
| Czechoslovakia | 1 | Spartak ZJŠ Brno |
| Denmark | 1 | Gladsaxe |
| England | 1 | Sutton & Crystal Palace |
| Finland | 1 | Helsingin Kisa-Toverit |
| France | 1 | Denain Voltaire |
| Greece | 1 | AEK |
| Israel | 1 | Maccabi Haifa |
| Luxembourg | 1 | Arantia Larochette |
| Netherlands | 1 | Fiat Stars |
| Portugal | 1 | Coimbra |
| Spain | 1 | Juventud Schweppes |
| Syria | 1 | Ghouta |
| Turkey | 1 | Beşiktaş |
| West Germany | 1 | Mainz |
| Yugoslavia | 1 | Crvena zvezda |

## First round

| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Spartak ZJŠ Brno | 224–150 | Arantia Larochette | 111–65 | 113–85 |
| Fides Napoli | 164–120 | Mainz | 82–49 | 82–71 |
| Juventud Schweppes | 4–0* | Partizani Tirana | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Sutton & Crystal Palace | 171–118 | Gladsaxe | 83–68 | 88–50 |
| Maccabi Haifa | 158–200 | Denain Voltaire | 82–109 | 76–91 |
| Racing Bell Mechelen | 190–144 | Coimbra | 113–71 | 77–73 |
| Ghouta | 0–4* | Levski-Spartak | 0–2 | 0–2 |
| AEK | 139–111 | Beşiktaş | 72–45 | 67–66 |
| Handelsministerium | 4–0* | Fiat Stars | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Crvena zvezda | 196–139 | Helsingin Kisa-Toverit | 95–62 | 101–77 |

*Partizani Tirana (for political reasons), Ghouta and Blue Stars Amsterdam all withdrew before the first leg, and their rivals received a forfeit (2-0) in both games.

## Second round

| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Spartak ZJŠ Brno | 151–168 | Fides Napoli | 69–76 | 82–92 |
| Juventud Schweppes | 217–107 | Sutton & Crystal Palace | 120–62 | 97–45 |
| Denain Voltaire | 146–158 | Racing Bell Mechelen | 74–68 | 72–90 |
| Levski-Spartak | 170–184 | AEK | 103–69 | 67–115 |
| Handelsministerium | 158–205 | Crvena zvezda | 90–97 | 68–108 |

### Automatically qualified to the quarter-finals group stage

* Simmenthal Milano (title holder)

## Quarterfinals

The quarter finals were played with a round-robin system, in which every Two Game series (TGS) constituted as one game for the record.

Key to colors :

* Top two places in each group advance to semifinals

| Group A 1st leg 2nd leg Agg Fides Napoli – Racing Bell Mechelen 97-82 77-90 177-172 Juventud Schweppes – Fides Napoli 83-69 66-92 149-161 Racing Bell Mechelen – Juventud Schweppes 96-77 57-77 153-154 TeamPldPtsWLPFPAPD 1. Fides Napoli 2420335321+14 2. Juventud Schweppes 2311303314-11 3. Racing Bell Mechelen 2202325328-3 | Group B 1st leg 2nd leg Agg AEK – Simmenthal Milano 57-84 76-117 133-201 Crvena zvezda – AEK 100-63 76-100 176-163 Simmenthal Milano – Crvena zvezda 86-62 58-84 144-146 TeamPldPtsWLPFPAPD 1. Crvena zvezda 2420322307+15 2. Simmenthal Milano 2311345279+66 3. AEK 2202296377-81 |
| - | - |

## Semifinals

| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Fides Napoli | 152–161 | Simmenthal Milano | 69–85 | 83–76 |
| Juventud Schweppes | 153–160 | Crvena zvezda | 83–70 | 70–90 |

## Final

March 21, Alexandreio Melathron, Thessaloniki

| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| - | - | - |
| Simmenthal Milano | 74–70 | Crvena zvezda |

* 1971–72 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup Champions
* Simmenthal Milano 2nd title
