Spanish champion Real Madrid won the first game of the new Euroleague 75-73 over Olympiakos Piraeus after a dramatic finish at Raimundo Saporta Pavillion in the capital of Spain. Alberto Angulo paced the winners with 14 points, Eric Struelens added 13 and Marko Milic scored 10 points and grabbed 7 rebounds off the bench. The hosts lost star point guard Sasa Djordjevic to injury in the opening minutes and Raul Lopez ably filled in with 7 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Stephane Risacher led the visitors with 18 points, Nikos Ekonomou scored 15, Dino Radja dominated inside with 13 points, 17 rebounds and 4 blocked shots and Dusan Vukcevic contributed 12 for the Reds. Despite Radja's showing, Los Blancos outrebounded Olympiakos 40-29 in one of the keys to the game.

  Radja put his name in the history books when he scored the first basket in the competition some 20 seconds after the opening tip. The game was close throughout with neither team ever leading by more than 5 points. Olympiakos led 53-55 after three quarters, but Real Madrid stayed close and took the lead through Eric Struelens with 6 minutes remaining. The hosts nursed that slim lead and with 2 minutes remaining, the scoreboard showed 68-65. After Olympiakos playmaker David Rivers missed a pair of free throws, Lopez teamed with the Angulo brothers – Alberto and Lucio – to pad the lead and Real remained in control the rest of the way as a three-pointer in the closing seconds by Vukcevic could only narrow the final margin.