Five years later the streets of Milan and Bologna intertwine again. Simac has recently obtained its second star thanks to the success on VL Pesaro exactly a decade after the 19th Scudetto; Granarolo, on the other hand, is hunting for its first star after failing to attack it in the 1980-81 season with the defeat in the series against Cantù. Milan ends the regular season in first place with 50 points, followed behind by Bologna (winner of the Italian Cup) and Turin with 44 points. The Lombards are a machine in the playoffs: 2-0 against Caserta in a series with almost no history and 2-0 in the derby with Cantù. The Bolognese, on the other hand, are struggling in the series with Febal Napoli (2-1) and have to face a rather fierce Berloni Torino in the semifinal before accessing the final. Although the values on the pitch seem to be equivalent, Granarolo Bologna eliminates the Piedmontese in two games and wins access to the final against their bitter rivals. The series is very tight and the field factor never prevails: the black and whites beat the Lombards 82-86 in Milan, while the red and white beat their opponents 71-75 in Bologna; however, the drive from the home fans isn’t enough and the team coached by coach Alberto Bucci wins once again in Lombardy for 74-77, conquering the 10th title and the coveted star.
The penultimate clash in the final between Virtus and Olimpia dates back to the 2021/22 season. Both teams came out scorched by the two European competitions in which they participated: Bologna was eliminated in the semifinals of the Eurocup by Unics Kazan and Milan lost against Barcelona in the Euroleague Final Four due to a Corey Higgins basket in the closing stages of the match. match. The common goal is to win the Scudetto, a title that would bring the Lombards one step away from the third star and the Bolognese to equalize the calculation of finals won and finals lost in the championship (15-16 before the 2021 Finals). The team coached by coach Ettore Messina has already won the Italian Super Cup and the Italian Cup and wants to win the ‘treble’ after a regular season finished in first place with the best defense in the league; the one led by head coach Sasha Djordjevic placed third with the best attack. Olimpia won all three matches played against Virtus between the Super Cup (75-68) and the regular season (94-84 and 68-73) but in any case the series to assign the national title promises to be full of tension, after both teams – as happened this season – have made a clear path between the quarter-finals and the semi-finals. Driven by those who will be awarded respectively MVP (Milos Teodosic) and Best ITA (Alessandro Pajola) of the Scudetto final, Virtus Segafredo Bologna prevails 4-0 against A|X Armani Exchange Milano and conquers its sixteenth championship, the ninth since the playoff formula was established.
A series with no history by reading the final outcome, but which in reality saw the winning team prevail only in the second half. With the exception of one Game-1 in which the Bolognese had total control of the game, the following three games gave us a thrilling and not at all obvious series: in the second game Milan was ahead for the entire first half hour of the game except then capitulate in the last period; Game-3 was in some ways the watershed of the series with the result tied at 52-52 after 30′, but which underwent an unexpected turnaround thanks to the 24-6 break with which the hosts took the victory. Finally, in what was the match that awarded the Scudetto number 16 to Virtus Segafredo Bologna, the first twenty minutes were in favor of the visiting team (up 41-43 at halftime), followed by a turnaround in the remaining twenty in which the boys coached by coach Djordjevic managed to sign a winning partial of 32-19 useful for bringing the whole city into triumph.
The two teams with the most successes in the history of the Italian league then met again last season, this time with reversed pitches and results. After not having suffered defeats either in the quarterfinals or in the semifinals, Virtus Segafredo Bologna and A|X Armani Exchange Milano faced each other in a hot Segafredo Arena in Game 1, when Datome and above all Shields’ 18 points allowed Olimpia to sign a 0-11 run in the second period and to manage the black and white comeback in the final, conquering the victory 62-66. The second act of the 2021/22 final was instead more balanced, with Segafredo able to get the upper hand thanks to the presence under the basket of Jaiteh (11 points and 10 rebounds) and a wild Shengelia (22 points and 8 rebounds), bending the resistance of A|X Armani Exchange and Rodriguez (75-68 at the final siren). In the third game, Milan shifts into high gear at the start of the second half with an irrepressible Melli from every distance (22 points and 5 rebounds) and a surprising Grant (14 points) to give even more support to the red and white stretch for the final 94-82 . In the wake of this success and a stellar second and fourth period (24-10 and 22-7), Milan moved up 3-1 in the series by extinguishing the initial flurries of Pajola, Weems and Shengelia; to support Olimpia there is always a super Shields, author of 21 points, 4 assists and 5 steals, as well as a solid Devon Hall (14 points and 4 assists). After this red and white success 77-62, Virtus returns home and still keeps the series alive thanks to a super triple by Shengelia and his assist for the dunk by Cordinier which seals the point of 3-2 for 84-78 in a very balanced heart-pounding match. With the return to the Assago Forum, however, the A|X Armani Exchange definitively closes the contest with the clear success 81-64 and Gigi Datome as top scorer with 23 points. At the end of the series, Shavon Shields was awarded UnipolSai MVP.
Historical photos from the Superbasket archive