2019 Basketball Champions League Final was the concluding game of the

2018–19 Basketball Champions League The 2018–19 Basketball Champions League was the third season of the Basketball Champions League (BCL), a European-wide professional basketball competition for clubs, that was launched by FIBA. The competition began in September 2018, with the qu ...

season, the 3rd season of

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

's premier basketball league in Europe. The final and the

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

were played in the

Sportpaleis The Antwerps Sportpaleis () (to be renamed to AFAS Dome effective 1 September, 2025), also called Sportpaleis Antwerpen, Sportpaleis Merksem or simply the Sportpaleis, is an arena in Antwerp, Belgium. It is a multipurpose hall used for organizin ...

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, Belgium. The game was held 5 May 2019.

Virtus Bologna Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...

from Italy won its first BCL title and its first European title in ten years. Canarias played in its second final and finished second.

Background

Virtus Bologna

Virtus' 2018–19 season began with the appointment of Alessandro Dalla Salda as new club's CEO and the hire of

Stefano Sacripanti Stefano "Pino" Sacripanti (born 15 May 1970 in Cantù, Italy) is an Italian professional basketball coach, he is the current head coach for Victoria Libertas Pesaro of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). Coaching career He is the coach of the ...

as new head coach. Aradori and Filippo Baldi Rossi were confirmed and the club signed, among others, Tony Taylor,

Kevin Punter Kevin Xavier Punter Jr. (born June 25, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for FC Barcelona of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. In addition to being a citizen of the United States, Punter also has Serbian citizenship. Af ...

Amath M'Baye Amadou-Amath M'Baye (born 14 December 1989) is a French professional basketball player for PBC CSKA Moscow, CSKA Moscow of the VTB United League. Standing at , he plays at the power forward (basketball), power forward position. Professional care ...

and

Brian Qvale Brian Arthur Qvale ( ; born November 3, 1988) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Toyotsu Fighting Eagles Nagoya of the Japan - B2 League. He played college basketball for the University of Montana before moving to Eu ...

, to participate in the

Basketball Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL), also commonly known as the FIBA Champions League, is an annual professional basketball competition for European sports club, clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the European professional club basketball system ...

, which was Virtus's first European competition after ten years. The team reached a record of seven wins in the first seven games of the continental competition, which had never been achieved before. In March 2019, the team signed

Mario Chalmers Almario Vernard Chalmers (born May 19, 1986) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Zamboanga Valientes of the Asian Tournament (TAT). He was selected as the 34th overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft by the Minnesota ...

, two-time

NBA champion The NBA Finals is the championship series for the National Basketball Association (NBA) held at the conclusion of its postseason. All NBA Finals have been played in a best-of-seven format, and are contested between the winners of the Easter ...

with the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

Canarias

Canarias, playing as Iberostar Tenerife for sponsorship reasons, had another successful BCL season.

Venue

Road to the final

Game details

References

{{2018–19 in European men's basketball

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Virtus Bologna CB 1939 Canarias