A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| Euroleague | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Season | 2008–09 | ||||||||||||
| Duration | 22 October 2008 – 3 May 2009 | ||||||||||||
| Number of games | 188 | ||||||||||||
| Number of teams | 24 | ||||||||||||
| Regular season | |||||||||||||
| Season MVP |  Juan Carlos Navarro | ||||||||||||
| Finals | |||||||||||||
| Champions |  Panathinaikos 5th title | ||||||||||||
| Runners-up |  CSKA Moscow | ||||||||||||
| Third place |  FC Barcelona | ||||||||||||
| Fourth place | Olympiacos | ||||||||||||
| Final Four MVP |  Vassilis Spanoulis | ||||||||||||
| Awards | |||||||||||||
| Rising Star |  Novica Veličković | ||||||||||||
| Best Defender | Dimitris Diamantidis | ||||||||||||
| Coach of the Year | Duško Vujošević | ||||||||||||
| Statistical leaders | |||||||||||||
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← 2007–08 2009–10 → | |||||||||||||
The 2008–09 Euroleague was the 9th season of the professional basketball competition for elite clubs throughout Europe, organised by Euroleague Basketball Company, and it was the 52nd season of the premier competition for European men's clubs overall. The season, which featured 24 teams from 13 countries, culminated in the 2008–09 Euroleague Final Four at the new O2 World arena in Berlin, Germany.[1] It was won by Panathinaikos, who defeated in the final, the defending champions, CSKA Moscow.
While the general structure of the competition was identical to that used in recent seasons, changes were made to the format for two of its phases, the Regular Season and Quarterfinals.
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Teams of the 2008–09 Euroleague
| Champion | |
| Runner-up | |
| Third place | |
| Fourth place | |
| Eliminated in Quarterfinals | |
| Eliminated in Last 16 | |
| Eliminated in the regular season |
| Country (League) | Teams | Teams (ranking in 2007-08 national championship) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spain (ACB) |
5 [2] | Tau Cerámica (1) | FC Barcelona (2) | DKV Joventut (SF) | Unicaja Málaga (SF) | Real Madrid (QF) |
 Italy (Lega A) |
4 | Montepaschi Siena (1) | Lottomatica Roma (2) | Air Avellino (SF) | Armani Jeans Milano (SF) | |
| Greece (ESAKE A1) |
3 | Panathinaikos (1) | Olympiacos (2) | Panionios Forthnet (3) | ||
 Turkey (TBL) |
2 | Fenerbahçe Ülker (1) | Efes Pilsen (SF) | |||
 France (LNB Pro A) |
2 | Nancy (1) | Le Mans (SF) | |||
 Lithuania (LKL) |
1 | Žalgiris (1) | ||||
 Germany (BBL) |
1 | Alba Berlin (1) | ||||
 Croatia (A1 Liga) |
1 | Cibona (SF) | ||||
| Russia (Superleague A) |
1 | CSKA Moscow (1) | ||||
 Israel (BSL) |
1 | Maccabi Electra (2) | ||||
 Slovenia (SKL) |
1 | Union Olimpija (1) | ||||
 Serbia (KLS) |
1 | Partizan (1) | ||||
 Poland (PLK) |
1 | Asseco Prokom Sopot (1) | ||||
- DKV Joventut qualified as ULEB Cup winners.
Team rosters
Format
Regular Season
The first phase was a regular season, in which the competing teams were drawn into four groups, each containing six teams. Each team played every other team in its group at home and away, resulting in 10 games for each team in the first stage. The top 4 teams in each group advanced to the next round. This was the first year for this particular format; previously, the competing teams were split into three groups of eight teams each, with the top five teams in each group plus the best sixth-place team advancing.
If two or more clubs finished level on won-lost record, tiebreakers were applied in the following order:[3]
- Head-to-head record in matches between the tied clubs
- Overall point difference in games between the tied clubs
- Overall point difference in all group matches
- Points scored in all group matches
- Sum of quotients of points scored and points allowed in each group match
Games were played from October 22, 2008 to January 15, 2009.[4]
Top 16
The surviving teams were then divided into four groups of four teams each, and again a round-robin system was adopted resulting in 6 games each, with the top 2 teams advancing to the quarterfinals. Tiebreakers are identical to those used in the Regular Season. Games began on January 28 and ended March 12.
Quarterfinals
In the quarterfinals, the top placed teams from each Top 16 group played second placed teams from a different group in a best-of-five playoff series, with the winners of those series advancing to the Final Four. This was the first season in which the quarterfinals were best-of-five; previously, they had been best-of-three. The quarterfinal matches were played from March 24 until April 9.
Final Four format
The culminating stage of the Euroleague in which the four remaining teams played a semifinal match and the winners of those advance to the final. The losers played in a third-place playoff. The team which was victorious in the Final (Panathinaikos) would be Euroleague champion. The Final Four semifinals were played May 1, with the third-place game and final on May 3.
Regular season
The regular season began on October 20, 2008 and concluded on January 15, 2009.
| Top four places in each group advanced to Top 16 |
Group A
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Group B
|