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Real Madrid, Zalgiris headline adidas NextGen EuroLeague in Abu Dhabi

The finals in May will be staged alongside the EuroLeague Final Four in the Greek capital. Supplied
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Updated 26 February 2026
Arab News
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Real Madrid, Zalgiris headline adidas NextGen EuroLeague in Abu Dhabi

  • 8 top under-18 teams compete for place in Athens final in May
  • Tournament is at city’s Space42 Arena from Feb. 27 to March 1
Updated 26 February 2026
Arab News

RIYADH: Abu Dhabi will have Europe’s brightest young basketball talent this week at the adidas NextGen EuroLeague tournament. 

Eight of the continent’s leading under-18 teams will compete from Feb. 27 to March 1 at Space42 Arena, with a place at the finals in Athens on the line. The finals in May will be staged alongside the EuroLeague Final Four in the Greek capital.

Defending continental champions Zalgiris Kaunas and five-time title holders Real Madrid headline the Abu Dhabi qualifier, which forms part of the 2025–26 adidas NextGen EuroLeague season.

The eight teams have been divided into two groups of four and will play in a round-robin format. The winners of each group will advance to Sunday’s championship game, while placement fixtures will determine the remaining standings.

The Abu Dhabi event follows the Ulm qualifier, won by U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, who have already secured their place in Athens. The winners of upcoming tournaments in Bologna (March 13–15) and Belgrade (March 20–22) will complete the finals lineup.

Group A features Real Madrid alongside U18 Aris Thessaloniki, U18 Dubai Basketball and U18 AS Monaco.

Aris enter their third season in the competition, having finished seventh at the Munich qualifier last year with a 2–2 record after placing sixth in Abu Dhabi the previous campaign.

Dubai Basketball are also competing in their third NextGen season. The UAE side finished eighth in Ulm last year with a 0–4 record but claimed a notable win over U18 Mega Super Belgrade at the NextGen Finals. 

However, they missed another victory against U18 EA7 Emporio Armani Milan to finish 1–2 overall. Dubai previously hosted a 2024 qualifier, ending with a 1–3 record.

Monaco make their second appearance after an eighth-place finish in Paris in 2024. 

Real Madrid, meanwhile, will be aiming to reassert their dominance after an uncharacteristic third-place finish at last season’s Munich qualifier ended a streak of 11 consecutive qualifying tournament victories. 

The Spanish powerhouse had also won 19 straight NextGen games dating back to the 2022 finals in Belgrade before falling to Zalgiris in the group stage last year.

Real are the competition’s most successful club with five continental titles (2015, 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2024) and are competing in their 19th consecutive season since 2007–08.

Group B has reigning champions Zalgiris Kaunas take on U18 London Lions, U18 Next Gen Team Abu Dhabi and U18 Valencia Basket. London Lions make their tournament debut as the club continues to expand their European presence.

The Next Gen Team Abu Dhabi compete in their fifth season and second under head coach Dogus Balbay, a two-time EuroLeague champion. He is assisted by former Italian international Massimo Bulleri and Kheeryoung Rhee.

Valencia Basket are making their 10th appearance in the competition and their eighth in succession. The Spanish side have twice reached the finals, in Vitoria-Gasteiz in 2019 and as hosts in 2021, and finished runners-up in Munich last season after three consecutive fifth-place finishes. 

Zalgiris, one of the most storied names in the tournament’s history, are appearing in their 24th edition — having featured in every NextGen season since its inception.

The Lithuanian club won the inaugural event in 2003, added another title in 2007 and lifted the trophy again last summer in Abu Dhabi. They also reached the championship game in 2005, 2006 and 2011, underlining their pedigree at youth level.

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Russell, Antonelli lead Mercedes in one-two qualifying positions for F1’s Australian GP

Updated 07 March 2026
AP
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Russell, Antonelli lead Mercedes in one-two qualifying positions for F1’s Australian GP

  • Russell topped all three sessions in F1’s knockout qualifying format, finally casting aside questions of where Mercedes team was in the new-era pecking order
Updated 07 March 2026
AP

MELBOURNE: Mercedes has revealed its dominant hand during qualifying for Sunday’s Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.
George Russell earned his ninth-career pole position Saturday ahead of his teammate Kimi Antonelli for the team’s 83rd front-row lockout and its first since the 2024 British Grand Prix.
Russell topped all three sessions in F1’s knockout qualifying format, finally casting aside questions of where Mercedes team was in the new-era pecking order. His pole time, at 1 minute, 18.518 seconds, was almost eight-tenths faster than the nearest non-Mercedes challenger, Red Bull rookie Isack Hadjar, who completed the top three.
“It was a great day, we knew there was a lot of potential in the car, but until we get to this first Saturday of the season, you never know,” Russell said. “But it really came alive this afternoon, especially when the track temperatures cooled, we know we tend to favor those conditions.”
Antonelli was relieved to have made it onto the front row alongside his teammate after a crash in final practice at the exit of turn two meant it was a race in the Mercedes garage to get him out for qualifying.
“It’s been a very stressful day. Unfortunately, I went into the wall (in FP3),” he said. “But the guys (in the garage) were the heroes today to put the car back on track.”
Hadjar was impressive by qualifying third on debut for Red Bull, his highest-ever grid position.
“The only thing I can do is take them at the start, but they’re just too fast at the moment,” Hadjar said of Mercedes. “I want to keep my position and a second podium would be cool.”
Ferrari showed it’s neck-and-neck with McLaren on pace, with just one and a half tenths seconds covering the four drivers just beyond the top-three — with Charles Leclerc qualifying fourth, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in fifth and sixth respectively, and Lewis Hamilton in seventh.
Racing Bulls showed they’ve taken a step forward over the winter, with New Zealander Liam Lawson eighth ahead of his highly-rated rookie teammate Arvid Lindblad.
The big surprise of the session came from four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen, who triggered red flags at Melbourne’s Albert Park after he lost control of his Red Bull car in braking for turn one in the first half of Q1 and ended in the barriers.
The Dutchman, who was unhurt from the crash, though upset that his brakes locked up, will now start from the back of the grid.
F1 heads into a new era this year, with unprecedented changes across the chassis (car) and power unit, which now feature an almost 50:50 output split between the turbo 1.6-liter V6 engine and electrical energy harvested from the brakes, one that requires a new, often counterintuitive driving style from the drivers.

Topics: F1

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