ANKARA

The 2021 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague playoffs in basketball start on Tuesday.

Turkey's Anadolu Efes on Tuesday set to host Spanish opponents Real Madrid in Game 1 in Istanbul's Sinan Erdem Sports Hall.

Anadolu Efes came third in the regular season to be in the playoffs. They won 22 games but lost 12 others.

Meanwhile, the 2018 EuroLeague champions, Real Madrid, finished the regular season in the sixth spot with a 20-14 record to pair with Anadolu Efes in the playoffs.

Game 1 in Istanbul will start at 8 p.m. local time (1700GMT).

Anadolu Efes and Real Madrid previously met in the 2015 postseason as "Los Blancos" (The Whites) beat the Turkish team 3-1 in the playoff series to qualify for the final four. Real Madrid were crowned the 2015 champions then.

The EuroLeague playoffs are featuring eight clubs as the victors will be in the Final Four.

This phase will be played by the best-of-five series, meaning the first team in the matchups to bag three wins will march to Final Four, which will be held in Germany's Cologne.

Lanxess Arena will host the final four in late May.

Fenerbahce Beko to visit CSKA Moscow

Another Turkish club, Fenerbahce Beko, will play against CSKA Moscow in the playoffs.

The CSKA Moscow-Fenerbahce Beko series is a rematch of the 2016 EuroLeague final that the Russian giants secured the title after a 101-96 overtime win in Berlin.

CSKA Moscow are still the defending EuroLeague Champions, beating Anadolu Efes 91-83 in the 2019 final in Spain's Vitoria-Gasteiz.

The 2020 EuroLeague Final Four was not held as the last season was canceled in May 2020 for the coronavirus pandemic. So there was not a winning club in the 2020 campaign.

Fenerbahce Beko on Wednesday will visit CSKA Moscow in the Russian capital's Megasport Arena.

The match will tip-off at 8 p.m. local time (1700GMT).

Playoff pairings:

Playoff A: Barcelona (Spain) - Zenit St Petersburg (Russia)

Playoff B: AX Armani Exchange Milan (Italy) - Bayern Munich (Germany)

Playoff C: Anadolu Efes (Turkey) - Real Madrid (Spain)

Playoff D: CSKA Moscow (Russia) - Fenerbahce Beko (Turkey)

Game 1

Tuesday:

Anadolu Efes - Real Madrid

AX Armani Exchange Milan - Bayern Munich

Wednesday:

CSKA Moscow - Fenerbahce Beko

Barcelona - Zenit