Rīgas Zeļļi vs Le Mans Sarthe Basket (BKT EuroCup)

French basketball tradition returns to Riga.

On November 4 at 19: 00, Rīgas Zeļļi will host one of the most tradition-rich clubs in French basketball, Le Mans Sarthe Basket, at Xiaomi Arena.

Le Mans will return to Riga after an almost 14-year break. The last time the French club visited the Latvian capital was in 2012, when it also played a EuroCup game. Now, after nearly a decade and a half, Le Mans is coming back to Riga to once again fight for victory in a European club competition.

Le Mans basketball history goes back more than six decades. The club is a five-time French champion, a four-time winner of the French Cup and the Leaders Cup, and in its time played in the EuroLeague for three seasons in a row.

But Le Mans is not only about trophies. It is also a basketball school that has produced players for the French national team and the NBA. One of the brightest examples is Nicolas Batum, who joined the Le Mans system at the age of 13 and later played 18 seasons in the NBA. This September, Batum ended his professional basketball career.

Meanwhile, Rīgas Zeļļi are only just beginning their European story. Three years after being founded, Riga's strongest club is playing in European competition for the first time, hosting a club with a rich history and an important place in French basketball.

Le Mans vs Riga. French basketball tradition vs a new Latvian ambition.