Belgrade will host the SuperCup 2025 Semifinal games on Wednesday.
Semifinal 1: Crvena Zvezda (Serbia) vs. CSKA (Russia)
Time: 16:00 (17:00 Moscow time)
Place: Belgrade Arena
Broadcast: VK Video on the VK Sport channel
Crvena Zvezda: The Serbian powerhouse underwent a major roster changes during the offseason. Only 6 players from last year’s SuperCup roster will be represented. The new roster is already beginning to develop chemistry and demonstrate its potential. In the semifinals of the prestigious tournament in Crete, Ioannis Sfairopoulos team defeated Euroleague champions Fenerbahce, despite Devonte Graham’s injury in the opening minutes, and lost to Olympiacos by only 3 points in the final. Tyson Carter missed a three-pointer in overtime. In addition to Graham, Nikola Kalinic and Dejan Davidovac also missed Sunday’s game. Despite the absence of some key players, Belgrade is eagerly awaiting the new team’s debut in conditions as close to competitive as possible. Zvezda will have the traditional enthusiastic support of local fans during the SuperCup, which is a significant factor.
CSKA: The reigning United League champion and SuperCup winner has managed to retain the core of their championship squad. Preparations for the season have been business as usual. The Moscow team has played five friendly games, winning four of them.
CSKA arrived to defend the title with a full squad, including Nikita Kurbanov, who has recovered from a hand injury and has already played in one friendly game. The coaching staff took 13 players to Belgrade, leaving young Ivan Zaitsev and Daniil Klyuchenkov at home. CSKA arrived in the Serbian capital later than their rivals, on Tuesday after a slight flight delay. However, they still managed to hold a training session on the day of their arrival and get a feel for the familiar local courts again, as Andreas Pistolis’ team will play at the Belgrade Arena for the first time in 4 years. The absence of major personnel changes makes the team the favorites.
Semifinal 2: Zenit (Russia) vs. Dubai (UAE)
Time: 19;00 (20;00 Moscow time)
Place: Belgrade Arena
Broadcast: VK Video on the VK Sport channel
Zenit: The St. Petersburg club underwent a major changes last summer, with changes affecting not only the leading players in all positions, but also the coaching staff, where Xavier Pascual was replaced by Aleksandar Sekulic. The team played for the first time only in mid-September, as the specialist was coaching the Slovenian national team at EuroBasket.
The renewed team had a busy preseason: three test games at a training camp in Turkey, another triumph at the Kondrashin and Belov Cup at home, and a game against Maccabi Tel Aviv in Belgrade, which ended in a heavy loss but provided the new coaching staff with a lot of useful information. The last game before the SuperCup was a confident win over Uralmash. Now Zenit is returning to the capital from Serbia and will once again play against the most serious opponents – the SuperCup will show how productive the work on mistakes has been.
Dubai: Making its debut in the Euroleague and SuperCup, Dubai has seriously strengthened its roster during the offseason. Jurica Golemac’s team signed Dwayne Bacon (the reigning League MVP will face his former team in the offseason!), Dzanan Musa, McKinley Wright, Justin Anderson, Muhammad Jaiti, and Filip Petrusev, among others. Now Dubai can boast depth at every position, but the ambitious club from the UAE—like its Russian rival—still has a lot of work to do on team chemistry and role distribution. Dubai enters the tournament as a dark horse.
