Virtus Bologna lost its season opener; Alex Mumbrù watched two games
Alex Mumbrù tips his hat to Fenerbahce, which defeated his Virtus Bologna team in the EuroLeague with a score of 78-68. The loss came mainly in the final stretch of the game, as the Catalan coach admitted immediately after the game: “We knew how difficult this game would be. I think there were almost two distinct phases: one in the first three quarters where we held our own, and then another where they played very physically and stepped up their intensity. They scored 7 straight points at a crucial moment and kept the pace high throughout. We, on the other hand, didn’t handle that moment well; we turned the ball over too many times and didn’t make the best decisions. Congratulations to them on the win.”
After all, Fenerbahçe had been tipped on the eve of the game as one of the top contenders for the 2026–27 EuroLeague title, alongside Panathinaikos, Olympiacos, Real Madrid, and Hapoel. An away opener against one of the tournament’s powerhouses was therefore an extremely tough test for the V Nere, who were called upon to measure themselves against the best in European basketball right from the start.
The game in Istanbul was also Mumbrù’s first European outing on the Bologna bench—a role the coach, born in Barcelona on June 12, 1979, assumed last summer following a coaching career that saw him lead Bilbao Berri, Valencia Basket, and, most notably, at the helm of the German national team, with which he won a historic gold medal at the 2025 European Championships in Latvia. A figure of the highest international caliber, therefore, to lead a team that has been thoroughly revamped compared to the previous season.
Virtus has, in fact, undergone significant changes this summer, building a new roster with additions such as Canadian point guard Marcus Carr, who arrived from Würzburg after a season in which he averaged 17.3 points and 5.7 assists in the Bundesliga, and the young Angolan center Kevin Kokila, born in 2004, who has been brought in to round out the frontcourt alongside Momo Diouf and Aliou Diarra. Leading the team as captain is Daniel Hackett: the veteran, who will turn 39 on December 19, has already stated that he intends to approach this season with the utmost dedication, hoping to lift a trophy before hanging up his sneakers.
The depth and cohesion of this new squad will be the key factors in determining just how far this Virtus team can go in the EuroLeague. As Italian national team head coach Luca Banchi pointed out on the eve of the season, Bologna “has many new players and a new coach,” and for many of them, this will above all be “a way to grow.” It’s a journey that, inevitably, also involves defeats like tonight’s on Fenerbahce’s home court—valuable experience for a team that has yet to find its definitive identity.
