Olympiacos is the all-time European Champion for 2026. A dream run, with a complete basketball game on defense and offense by Giorgos Bartzokas’ players, was completed in the best and most special way in the Euroleague. With a 92-85 victory over Real Madrid in the final at the Telekom Center Athens and the red and white jersey… the fourth star is already being sewn on the red and white jersey. Olympiacos also “broke” the curse that wanted the first team in the regular season to never win the title. With a total of 31 wins – 12 losses, the Piraeus team confirmed the predictions and climbed the highest step again after 13 years. Rome 1997, Istanbul 2012, London 2013 and Athens 2026… history was made. As was the fact that Olympiakos closed to 3-2 in finals against Real Madrid of 11 titles!
With a partial score of 31-20 in the 4th quarter, Evan Fournier being named MVP with 20 points (3/7 3-pointers), Alec Peters a solid value with 16 points and 7 rebounds, with Vezenkov providing 12 points and 4 rebounds and Thomas Walkap scoring 10 points, Olympiacos, after disappointments in 4 consecutive Final Fours (Belgrade 2022, Kaunas 2023, Berlin 2024 and Abu Dhabi 2025), in the 5th series…. he made it. Real, even without their big men Eddie Tavares, Usman Garouba and Alex Len, managed to take a +12 lead in the 1st quarter, and stayed in the game until the end, thanks to 13/35 3-pointers and an incredible Trey Liles (24 points, with 5/6 3-pointers and 8 rebounds). Mario Hezonja gave Real 19 points, but missed critical threes at the end, as did Facundo Cabazzo, who had 0/4 threes, and Gabriel Deke (4 points on 0/4 threes).
But Olympiacos’ 42 rebounds (26 by the “queen” made the difference), even if Tyler Dorsey wasn’t having a good day, and Vezenkov wasn’t the scorer Olympiacos is used to.
Jiorgos Bartzokas became the 2nd Greek coach with 2 Euroleague titles (2013, 2026), along with Dimitris Itoudis (2016, 2019).
Kostas Papanikolaou became the only player who has won three Euroleague titles with Olympiacos (2012, 2013 and 2026). Vassilis Spanoulis has three Euroleague titles, but his first one was with Panathinaikos in 2009 and the other two (2012, 2013) with Olympiacos. Only one Greek player has two titles with Olympiacos, Giorgos Printezis, since Thodoris Papaloukas won two titles, but with CSKA Moscow (2006 and 2008).
Vezenkov became the second player in history to win a Euroleague title, while also becoming the Euroleague MVP of the season and Final Four, as well as the top scorer of a season in the Euroleague. The only person to have achieved this to date (24/5/2026) was Nando De Colo with CSKA Moscow in the 2015-16 season. In this Final Four (Athens 2026), Nando de Colo played for Fenerbahce, who were eliminated, although title holders (2025 Abu Dhabi) by Olympiacos in the semi-final. This was Nando De Colo’s last Euroleague match, as he announced he was “hanging up his shoes.”
Olympiacos captain Kostas Papanikolaou is first in Euroleague history in games in which he started as a starter. In the final against Real Madrid in this year’s Final Four, he started for the 360th time as a starter! He is followed by Nick Calathes with 323 games as a starter.
Until tonight, Papanikolaou and Alec Peters were both the only two Olympiacos players who had won the Euroleague title. Papanikolaou now has 3 titles with Olympiacos (2012, 2013 and 2026), Vassilis Spanoulis also has 3 titles. Peters had won the trophy in 2019 with CSKA Moscow and coached by Dimitris Itoudis.
Tyson Ward became the 25th player to win a Euroleague title and a Eurocup title. He had won the Eurocup with Paris in 2024. Among those 25 players are Nando De Colo, Rudy Fernandez, Ricky Rubio, Tyrese Rice and Milos Teodosic.
The quarters: 19-26, 46-44, 61-65, 92-85
Olympiacos entered the final with Walkap, Dorsey, Papanikolaou, Vezenkov and Milutinov. Cabacho, Abalde, Okiki, Hezonja and Liles started in Real Madrid’s starting five. Real Madrid’s tough defense, which was expected, short-circuited Olympiacos, after the jump ball and before they knew it, the reds were down 8 (1-9), thanks to 7 points from Liles and 2 from Hezonja. Milutinov, after Dorsey’s shot, cut the lead to 3-9, but Olympiacos would get two more 3-pointers to make it 3-15 (-12 for the reds) from Liles (2/3) and Abalte. Milutinov was collecting rebounds and was a mainstay for Olympiacos and Walkap hit the Piraeus team’s first three-pointer for a 9-15 lead. Scariolo put Felith and Deke on the floor instead of Abalde and Okeke. Olympiacos closed the gap to -3 (12-15) when Vezenkov took the lead. The reds’ superstar scored 6 straight points, but Liles kept shooting and made it 12-18 with his 3rd straight 3-pointer (13 points). And after 13-18 with 1 shot by Milutinov, the Serbian center gave way to Hall. The American immediately earned a foul to make it 15-20. Fournier came in for Dorsey, but Hezonja, Felith and Malenton kept Real in the lead (19-26 at the end of the 1st quarter), as Olympiacos was trapped in Real’s defense, counted 5 turnovers and had only 2 assists (Real had 2 turnovers for 7 assists) and had a low shooting percentage (45% on 2-pointers with 5/11 and 33% on 3-pointers with 1/3). Real shot 63% on 2-pointers (7/11) and 66% on 3-pointers (4/6).
Joseph, Fournier, Ward, Peters and Hall were the five Olympiacos players to start the second quarter. Abaldé’s three-pointer brought Real back to +10 (19-29). Ward, Joseph and Peters “signed” a 6-0 “red” run to make it 25-29. Scariolo withdrew Malenton and Deke, who had started in the 2nd quarter, for the return to the court of the “queen’s” top player Liles (13p. in the 1st quarter) and Hezonja. Liles increased his points to 15 (25-31), but Tyson Ward would open the… dance of three-pointers in the 2nd quarter (28-31), while also giving his team offensive rebounds. And after Felith made it 28-33, Evan Fournier… engaged in a personal show… scoring 11 points by halftime on 2/5 threes, 2/3 2-pointers and 1/1 free throws. The Frenchman got things started from outside the 6.75 mark, cutting the deficit to one (31-33). Yule answered with a three-pointer (31-36) and Fournier made it 34-36 with a foul shot. Yule missed a 3-pointer and Peters tied the game for the first time, 36-36, with 2:52 left in the first half. Fournier gave the Piraeus team a 2-point lead (38-36), and they also led 44-39 on a three-pointer by Peters. However, Liles would not stop and scored 21 points to keep Real alive (44-42). Cabacho and Peters set the halftime score (46-44 in favor of Olympiacos). The Piraeus team had grabbed 6 offensive rebounds in the 2nd quarter (7 offensive rebounds to Real’s 0).
Wocap, Dorsey, McKisick, Vezenkov and Milutinov were the five Olympiacos players at the start of the second half. Real came in with Cabazzo, Abalde, Okiki, Hezonja and Liles. Olympiacos got away with +5 again, with a three-pointer by Shaquille McKisick (49-44) at the beginning of the 3rd quarter. Hezonja and Abaldé quickly tied the game (49-49). Walkup hit his first three-pointer at a crucial point (52-49). And after a 54-50 run by Milutinov, McCisick and Cabazzo got into a scuffle, in an incident that cost each a technical penalty. Cabacho collided with McCisick fell to the floor, the Olympiacos guard was over the Argentine’s feet, who lifted his foot and hit the American of the reds, and when he tried to get up, Cabacho spanked McCisick, nearly getting caught in the hands. A devastating 10-0 run by Olympiacos followed, with three-pointers by Hezonja and Felith (54-60), Dorsey was out of position, made turnovers, only to have a furious Bartzokas put Fournier in his place. McKisick, Walkap and Milutinov led Olympiacos to a point (59-60), but Piraeus team’s own turnovers saw the “queen” respond with a 5-0 run of their own, to make it 59-65 (Hezonja and Malenton), while Milutinov closed the gap to 61-65 (3rd quarter score).
And Tyrick Jones entered the game for the first time, at the start of the 4th quarter, along with Joseph, Fournier, Peters and Vezenkov. Fournier hit a 3-pointer (64-65), and so did Kor Joseph (67-65), but Malenton answered from outside the 6.75 (67-68). Vezenkov picked up Malenton’s second foul but had 1/2 free throws (68-68). Malenton made a shot to allow Real to get ahead (68-69), Jones picked up Liles’ 4th foul on Real’s bench (passed by Okeke) to make it 70-69 from Sasha Vezenkov (just 3 points after he had 6 in the 1st quarter). With Peters glued to him, Hezonja took the lane and scored (70-71) with 5:38 left. And Vezenkov would score a big 3-pointer (73-71). Peters picked up Okeke’s 4th foul (74-71) with a 1 shot. Felith and Fournier scored to make it 76-73, and Gabriel Deke had 2/2 from the foul line (76-75) picking up Vezenkov’s 3rd foul. Jones took Deck’s 3rd foul in turn for a 78-75 lead on the American’s 2/2. Sasha Vezenkov couldn’t follow Gabriel who left, penetrating the ball to the basket for Olympiacos (78-77). Peters gave the Piraeus team some breathing room (80-77), but Hezonja hit a dagger three for Bartzokas’ team (80-80) with 2:12 left to play. With a magical assist from Fournier, Tyrick Jones made an impressive dunk (82-80). Campazzo committed a 4th foul on Walkup, and the Olympiacos American had 2/2 free throws (84-80). Hezonja missed a 3-pointer with 1:11 left. Fournier would take Felith’s 3rd foul and hit the free throw (86-80). And Hezonja was off the mark again from 6.75 at 42 seconds. The ball ended up out of the hands of Liles, who immediately sat on the bench and Okeke came in. Hezonja fouled Fournier to stop Fournier for an 88-80 lead from the steady hands of the French NBAer at 36 minutes. Liles scored (88-82), Real stole the ball and Liles earned a foul. They missed the 2nd (88-83) and Cabazzo got the rebound and earned a foul on a 3-point attempt by Walkap at 26. The Argentine made the first and second (88-85) and intentionally missed the 3rd, with Liles getting the offensive rebound. Felith missed a 3-pointer, Peters got the rebound and Liles stopped him with his 5th foul, at 11. Peters was 2/2 for the (90-83). Cabazzo missed a 3 attempt at the 5΄΄, Deke fouled Peters and the American made 2/2 free throws again to set the final score (92-85), and while the fans were already cheering for Olympiacos to win the 4th European trophy in their history.
