Basketball: EuroLeague semis begin Friday in Belgrade

Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four action starts Friday in Belgrade's Stark Arena as Fenerbahce Dogus face Zalgiris Kaunas and Real Madrid take on CSKA Moscow.

The Fenerbahce Dogus-Zalgiris Kaunas match is to start at 6 p.m. local time (1600GMT).

Defending champions Fenerbahce Dogus managed to qualify for the Final Four after eliminating Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz 3-1 in the quarterfinal series.

Fenerbahce participate for the 12th time in Europe's most prestigious club competition. This is the fourth consecutive time they are in the Final Four.

The Istanbul team will look to repeat last year's success, when they beat Olympiakos 80-64 to claim the title, becoming the first Turkish club to do so.

The team is coached by legendary Serbian coach Zeljko Obradovic.

Their opponent Zalgiris Kaunas managed to beat Olympiakos 3-1 in the quarterfinal series. This is the Lithuanian club's first Final Four appearance since 1999.

Zalgiris Kaunas are coached by a Lithuanian basketball legend, Sarunas Jasikevicius. Nicknamed "Saras", the coach played for Obradovic in Panathinaikos, when they won the Euroleague title in 2009.

Real Madrid have claimed the most championships in EuroLeague history with nine trophies. CSKA Moscow have claimed seven EuroLeague trophies while Lithuania's Zalgiris Kaunas and Turkey's Fenerbahce Dogus each have one title.

The winners of Friday's matches will square off on Sunday for the title.

The Real Madrid-CSKA Moscow is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. (1800GMT).

Here are all the winners of Euroleague:

Year City Final Result

1958 Riga/Sofia ASK RIGA- Academic Sofia 86-81 / 84-71

1959 Riga/Sofia ASK RIGA- Academic Sofia 79-58 / 69-67

1960 Tbilisi/Riga ASK RIGA- Dinamo Tbilisi 61-51 / 69-62

1961 Riga/Moscow CSKA MOSCOW - ASK Riga 61-66 / 87-62

1962 Geneva DINAMO TBILISI - Real Madrid 90-83

1963 Madrid/Moscow CSKA MOSCOW - Real Madrid 69-86 / 99-80

1964 Brno/Madrid REAL MADRID - Spartak Brno 99-110 / 84-64

1965 Moscow/Madrid REAL MADRID - CSKA Moscow 81-88 / 76-62

1966 Bologna MILANO - Slavia Prag 77-72

1967 Madrid REAL MADRID - Simmenthal Milano 91-83

1968 Lyon REAL MADRID - Spartak Brno 98-95

1969 Barcelona CSKA MOSCOW - Real Madrid 103-99

1970 Sarajevo IGNIS VARESE - CSKA Moscow 79-74

1971 Antwerp CSKA MOSCOW - Ignis Varese 67-53

1972 Tel Aviv IGNIS VARESE - Jugoplastica Split 70-69

1973 Liege IGNIS VARESE-CSKA Moskova 71-66

1974 Nantes REAL MADRID - Ignis Varese 84-82

1975 Antwerp IGNIS VARESE - Real Madrid 79-66

1976 Geneva M. VARESE - Real Madrid 81-74

1977 Belgrade MACCABI TEL AVIV - M. Varese 78-77

1978 Munich REAL MADRID - M. Varese 75-67

1979 Grenoble BOSNA SARAJEVO - Emerson Varese 96-93

1980 Berlin REAL MADRID - Maccabi Tel Aviv 89-85

1981 Strasbourg MACCABI TEL AVIV - S.Bologna 80-79

1982 Cologne SQUIBB CANTU - Maccabi Tel Aviv 86-80

1983 Grenoble FORD CANTU - Billy Milano 69-68

1984 Geneva BANCO DI ROMA - FC Barcelona 79-73

1985 Athens CIBONA ZAGREB - Real Madrid 87-78

1986 Budapest CIBONA ZAGREB - Zalgiris Kaunas 94-82

1987 Lausanne TRACER MILANO - Maccabi Tel Aviv 71-69

1988 Gent PHİLİPS MİLANO - Maccabi Tel Aviv 90-84

1989 Munich JUGOPLASTIKA SPLIT - Maccabi Tel Aviv 75-69

1990 Zaragoza JUGOPLASTIKA SPLIT - FC Barcelona 72-67

1991 Paris POP 84 SPLIT - FC Barcelona 70-65

1992 Istanbul PARTIZAN - Joventut Badalona 71-70

1993 Athens CSP LIMOGES - Benetton Treviso 59-55

1994 Tel Aviv JOVENTUT BADALONA - Olympiakos 59-57

1995 Zaragoza REAL MADRID - Olympiakos 73-61

1996 Paris PANATHINAIKOS - FC Barcelona 67-66

1997 Roma OLYMPIAKOS - FC Barcelona 73-58

1998 Barcelona KINDER BOLOGNA - AEK Athens 58-44

1999 Munich ZALGIRIS KAUNAS - Kinder Bologna 82-74

2000 Thessaloniki PANATHINAIKOS - Maccabi Tel Aviv 73-67

2001 Paris(Suprolig) MACCABI TEL AVIV - Panathinaikos 81-67

2001 Bologna/Vitoria KINDER BOLOGNA - Tau Ceramica 65-78,94-73,80-60,79-96,82-74

2002 Bologna PANATHINAIKOS - Kinder Bologna 89-83

2003 Barcelona FC BARCELONA - Benetton Treviso 76-65

2004 Tel Aviv MACCABİ TEL AVIV - Skipper Bologna 118-74

2005 Moscow MACCABI TEL AVIV - Tau Ceramica 90-78

2006 Prague CSKA MOSKOVA - Maccabi Tel Aviv 73-69

2007 Athens PANATHINAIKOS - CSKA Moskova 93-91

2008 Madrid CSKA MOSCOW - Maccabi Tel Aviv 91-77

2009 Berlin PANATHINAIKOS - CSKA Moskova 73-71

2010 Paris BARCELONA - Olympiakos 86-68

2011 Barcelona PANATHINAIKOS - Maccabi Tel Aviv 78-70

2012 Istanbul OLYMPIAKOS - CSKA Moskova 62-61

2013 London OLYMPIAKOS - Real Madrid 100-88

2014 Milano MACCABI ELECTRA - Real Madrid 98-86

2015 Madrid REAL MADRID - Olympiakos 78-59

2016 Berlin CSKA MOSCOW - Fenerbahce 101-96

2017 Istanbul FENERBAHCE DOGUS - Olympiakos 80-64