Match Preview
London Lions face U-BT Cluj-Napoca of Romania at the Copper Box Arena on 23 December 2026 in a pre-Christmas EuroCup group-stage fixture — one of the more unusual items on the London winter sports calendar. U-BT Cluj-Napoca are the dominant force in Romanian basketball, with multiple national championship titles and an increasingly significant EuroCup presence built on a strong academy system and ambitious recruitment. This fixture takes place just before Christmas, making it a genuinely distinctive end-of-year event at the Copper Box: the combination of Continental basketball at one of London’s best indoor arenas, in the week before Christmas, is an evening out that combines genuine sporting quality with a festive east London occasion. Cluj travel with a compact, well-drilled squad that has consistently made life difficult for more established EuroCup clubs, and the Lions’ ability to win this home fixture will be an important part of managing their group-stage position heading into the new year. The Copper Box is exceptionally easy to reach in the pre-Christmas period — Stratford’s transport connections are as reliable in December as any other time of year, and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park setting is attractively lit over the winter period. Tickets via Ticketmaster; StubHub and Viagogo for resale. An uncommon and excellent midweek sporting occasion in London before the festive break.
