Favourite to win the 2019/2020 Euroleague

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With the FIBA Basketball World Cup recently concluded, players are no longer training with national teams, but with clubs. Next week sees the start of the much strengthened 2019/2020 Euroleague season, which should be very interesting given how much stronger most of the teams have become. In this preview, we'll assess the teams with the best chances of triumphing in the tournament and give our predictions for the Euroleague season.

While this Euroleague season should be as tough as ever, there are still a few teams that are "on paper" at the next level. Most of the teams have been strengthened, but these teams have always had one of the strongest organisations in Europe, and they will face this season with a much stronger line-up. Istanbul Fenerbahce Ulker, Barcelona Barcelona and Real Madrid are named as the main candidates to triumph in this season's EuroLeague, leaving behind CSKA Moscow and last year's runners-up Istanbul Anadolu Efes, who will surely try to challenge the first three teams and overturn the early predictions.

Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul is the favourite

Fenerbahce has added players like N. De Colo (CSKA) and D. Williams to its already strong and championship-winning roster this off-season. The names of L. Westermann and V. Stimac are also worth mentioning. With the core of K. Sloukas, J. Vesely, L. Datome and A. Muhammed, Ulker will be looking for top positions in the regular season.

Predicted starting five:

PG: K. Sloukas - The Greek, who has become an integral part of Ulker's team, was linked to other European giants and even NBA clubs this off-season, but remained loyal to the Turkish club and extended his contract. Undoubtedly one of the most important players in the team, given the level of experience he has gained and how reliable a player Sloukas is in crucial moments of the game.

SG: N. De Colo - The Frenchman, who was on a rampage in the World Basketball Championship, has decided to leave CSKA and join Istanbul this offseason. A great one-on-one player, a chance creator and a very versatile defender, he will undoubtedly become an important part of Ulker's success.

SF: Datome is a versatile forward who plays well both offensively and defensively and is one of Ulker's core players. The Italian forward has shown good form in the tournament and is likely to take the lead at the start of the season.

PF: Williams, a former NBA No.2 overall pick, represented Bayern Munich last season and had a great season. Before coming to Germany, there was a lot of speculation about Williams' chances of playing in Europe, possible disappointments, etc., but nothing of the sort happened and the versatile forward simply dominated the Euroleague. It might take a bit more time for the American to get into the game under Obradovic's tighter system, but there is a lot of potential.

C: Jan Vesely - there are no questions about this player. The Czech national team's point guard is one of the best centres in the Euroleague, proving his worth both in the regular season and in the playoffs. This year, nothing changes - Vesely will continue to be one of Ulker's core players and a very important piece of the puzzle.

A friendly match:

Fenerbahce Ulker has played 5 friendlies in the run-up to the season. 66-67 against Cluj Capoca, 64-69 against Partizan and 71-58 against Treviso. This was followed by a crushing 68-94 defeat against Virtus and a 75-79 loss to Milan.

Ulker didn't really shine in the friendlies, but that's forgivable, as many of the players had recently returned from national team camps and didn't have much time to prepare properly for the club matches.

This season, Ulker is the favourite to win the 2019/2020 Euroleague title, according to both experts and bookmakers. A stable Euroleague Final Four participant with a good coach and team players, Ulker is likely to improve its game as the season progresses. It will be very interesting to see how D. Williams and N. De Colo will fit into the team, and if they are properly integrated into the team, Ulker can achieve very good results,