1972–73 FIBA European Champions Cup
# 1972–73 FIBA European Champions Cup

The 1972–73 FIBA European Champions Cup was the 16th installment of the European top-tier level professional basketball club competition FIBA European Champions Cup (now called EuroLeague). The Final was held at the Country Hall du Sart Tilman, in Liège, Belgium, on March 22, 1973. It was won by Ignis Varese for the second time in a row. They defeated CSKA Moscow in the finals, by a result of 71–66.

## Competition system

* 27 teams (European national domestic league champions, plus the then current title holders), playing in a tournament system, played knock-out rounds on a home and away basis. The aggregate score of both games decided the winner.
* The eight teams qualified for the quarterfinals were divided into two groups of four. Every team played against the other three in its group in consecutive home-and-away matches, so that every two of these games counted as a single win or defeat (point difference being a decisive factor there). In case of a tie between two or more teams after the group stage, the following criteria were used: 1) one-to-one games between the teams; 2) basket average; 3) individual wins and defeats.
* The group winners and the runners-up of the Quarterfinal Group Stage qualified for the semifinals. The final was played at a predetermined venue.

## First round

| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| TuS 04 Leverkusen | 160–165 | Simmenthal Milano | 73–75 | 87–90 |
| Wienerberger | 137–126 | İTÜ | 81–68 | 56–58 |
| Etzella | 152–160 | Epping Avenue | 81–91 | 71–69 |
| Íþróttafélag Reykjavíkur | 102–210 | Real Madrid | 65–117 | 37–93 |
| Alvik | 144–190 | Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv | 74–103 | 70–87 |
| Honvéd | 144–169 | Bus Fruit Lier | 85–77 | 59–92 |
| FUS Rabat | 139–193 | ASVEL | 65–82 | 74–111 |
| FC Porto | 149–202 | Slavia VŠ Praha | 81–93 | 68–109 |
| Jeunesse Sportivo Alep | 0–4* | Partizani Tirana | 0–2 | 0–2 |
| Levi's Flamingo's | 164–179 | Crvena zvezda | 88–72 | 74–107 |
| Dinamo București | 172–132 | Knorr Stars Honka | 95–58 | 77–74 |
| Academic | 154–141 | Panathinaikos | 76–57 | 78–84 |

*Jeunesse Sportivo Alep withdrew before the first leg and Partizani Tirana received a forfeit (2–0) in both games.

## Second round

| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Stade Français Genève | 172–242 | CSKA Moscow | 92–121 | 80–121 |
| Simmenthal Milano | 175–156 | Wienerberger | 93–76 | 82–80 |
| Epping Avenue | 109–229 | Real Madrid | 62–119 | 47–110 |
| Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv | 162–146 | Bus Fruit Lier | 97–74 | 65–72 |
| ASVEL | 148–153 | Slavia VŠ Praha | 66–63 | 82–90 |
| Partizani Tirana | 157–193 | Crvena zvezda | 83–94 | 74–99 |
| Dinamo București | 141–133 | Academic | 72–75 | 69–58 |

### Automatically qualified to the group stage

* Ignis Varese (title holder)

## Quarterfinals group stage

The quarterfinals 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 TeamPldPtsWLPFPAPD 1. Simmenthal Milano 3630552512+40 2. Crvena zvezda 3521521533-12 3. Real Madrid 3412485487-2 4. Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv 3303550576-26 | Group B TeamPldPtsWLPFPAPD 1. CSKA Moscow 3630510453+57 2. Ignis Varese 3521503475+28 3. Dinamo București 3412469505-36 4. Slavia VŠ Praha 3303489538-49 |
| - | - |

## Semifinals

| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Simmenthal Milano | 169–212 | Ignis Varese | 72–97 | 100–115 |
| Crvena zvezda | 173–198 | CSKA Moscow | 90–98 | 83–100 |

## Final

March 22, Country Hall du Sart Tilman, Liège

| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| - | - | - |
| Ignis Varese | 71–66 | CSKA Moscow |

* 1972–73 FIBA European Champions Cup Champions
* Ignis Varese 3rd Title

## Awards

### FIBA European Champions Cup Finals Top Scorer

* Sergei Belov ( CSKA Moscow)
