Monaco, which qualified for the Eurocup final three days ago, is guaranteed to play in the Euroleague, the premier competition of European basketball, next season, thanks to the victory of Zenit Saint Petersburg against the Panathinaikos (112-83) Monday evening in C1.
The success of the Russians validates the place of Zenit in the Euroleague play-offs, to the chagrin of the Spaniards of Valencia, present for two seasons in C1 thanks to their success in the Eurocup (C2) in 2019 and who finish in 9th place of the regular season.
The #RocaTeam will play the @ EuroLeague❗️
The #RocaTeam is qualified for the @ EuroLeague A great first in its history ⚪️ pic.twitter.com/mdUnP2Yar7
- AS Monaco Basket (@ASMonaco_Basket) April 12, 2021
Valencia missing the play-offs to a victory, the two finalists of the Eurocup 2020/21 will therefore be qualified for the next Euroleague.
The second ticket via C2 will go to the winner of the second semi-final between Italians Virtus Bologna and Russians Kazan, whose decisive match 3 is scheduled for Wednesday in Italy.
Two French clubs involved
There will be two French clubs entered in the Euroleague for the 2021/22 season: Asvel, which ended the regular season with 13 wins for 21 losses and which will benefit from a permanent license for the next ten seasons, and Monaco, guaranteed to play at least one season in the European queen competition.
For the Roca Team, this is a meteoric rise for a club which only competed in the men's Nationale 1, the third level in France, there are still seven seasons.
The club was taken over in 2013 by Ukrainian businessman Sergei Dyadechko, who achieved massive recruitment.
In the space of three seasons, Monaco reached Pro A, then won for the first year in the elite the Leaders Cup, a competition which brings together the eight best teams from the first leg of the championship and which the club won in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Monaco have never won the national title, but have finished in the lead three of their four regular seasons at the highest level (2016, 2017 and 2019), however always failing in the play-offs.
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