In order to reach the main tournament of the basketball Champions League, Heroes Den Bosch has to overcome three big hurdles in qualifying. That was revealed by the draw on Thursday. Manager Stefan Wessels is sober about the qualification. “We want to be among the best teams in Europe, so you have to play against the best.”
Heroes must survive three knockout rounds to reach the group stage:
- The team from Den Bosch starts against Siauliai from Lithuania.
- With a win, the Spanish sub-topper Malaga awaits.
- In the ‘final’ the champion of Finland or the number two of Hungary will probably wait.
Wessels calls it a challenge to be the first Dutch team ever to reach the group stage of the Champions League. “There was no easy draw for us anyway, but our opponents will also take us into account.”
The qualifiers are at the end of September and will be played in a few days. Heroes is going to apply to organize the qualifying tournament in its own Maaspoort. The main tournament will start at the beginning of October.
Should Heroes reach the group stage, it will come in a group with:
- Dijon from France
- Paok Saloniki from Greece
- Sassari from Italy
Reaching the group stage would earn the club 50,000 euros. Champions League win means one million euros.
Heroes Den Bosch became champion of the Netherlands for the 17th time in May. In the 1980s, the team played under the name Nashua in the European Cup 1 and Den Bosch belonged to the sub-top of Europe
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