With a month left before the Euroleague starts Moscow is already hosting a big basketball event. Four great European clubs, including hosts CSKA, have gathered in the capital for the Alexander Gomelsky Cup.

CSKA, Panathinaikos, Maccabi and Zalgiris together hold nine Euroleague titles.

Despite the semi-final clash between the Muscovites and Lithuanian side Zalgiris being a friendly, the competition was fierce. It was a very close game – 53-53 by the end of the third quarter with former CSKA player Markus Brown leading the visitors.

And having faced well-organised defence CSKA lost 83-81 leaving the home crowd disappointed.

The army men’s head coach Ettore Messina explained that opponents were smart and turned his team's mistakes to their advantage.

In the other semi-final Panathinaikos beat Maccabi 100-96, though an overtime was needed.

Alexander Gomelsky, to whose memory the new cup is dedicated, was a legendary Russian basketball. He led the Soviet team to an Olympic gold at 1988 Seoul Olympics and two world champions titles in 1967 and 1989. Gomelsky spent two decades of his career in CSKA, leading the army men to 9 league titles and a victory in the European Champions Cup. He died in 2005.