Reds crumble in the end at Real Madrid

The new Euroleague tipped off on Wednesday with Olympiakos's loss at Real Madrid (83-65), in what promises to be Europe's answer to the NBA.

The round-robin system for the 16 participating clubs means a long regular season of 30 rounds of games, plus quarterfinal play-offs and a Final Four at the end.

The season's opener brought Olympiakos in Spain, in one of its most demanding matches and despite a decent performance for most of the game the Reds crumbled in the end to lose by 18.

Led by an impressive Sergio Llull (22 points), the Spaniards imposed their game and dominated the first quarter (24-17). Olympiakos recovered in the second to cut the arrears to just two points at half-time (42-40) but it could not get any closer in the second half.

In the last five minutes the Reds gave up trying and the margin grew considerably to peak right at the end.