Up till now, the “yellows” have played 31 times against French clubs, with a total of 19 victories and 12 defeats. Six of these previous encounters have been against Le Mans and tradition has been on Aris’s side (4 wins - 2 losses).
The two rivals faced each other for the first time in season 1977-78, in the 1st round of Korac Cup. The French side celebrated a triumph by 52 points (98-46) in the 1st leg, which was held on 15/11/1977 at “Salle Rotonde”. This was the heaviest defeat in the history of Aris in the European competitions. Le Mans also won in Thessaloniki, one week later (71-82, on 22/11/1977).
Ever since, though, the Greek team has had four victories out of four games. It all started in season 1984-85, at the group stage of Korac Cup, when the “yellows won 103-90 at the Neapoli sports hall (12/12/1984) and enjoyed an even bigger victory in France (91-115, on 23/01/1985). The ending was no different 23 years later, when the two teams faced each other at the Euroleague regular season, in 2007-08. Aris beat Le Mans 66-69 in “Antares” (01/11/2007) and 93-74 in Alexandrio Melathro (20/12/2007).
In addition, the “yellows” have played against six more French clubs, in the course of the time: Their traditional rivals in the Champions’ Cup, Limoges, against which they have 7 wins - 6 losses, and also Cholet (3 wins - 1 loss), Pau-Orthez (2 wins - 2 losses), ASVEL Villeurbanne (2 wins) and Strasbourg (1 win - 1 loss).
On the other hand, Le Mans has played a total of 20 games against Greek clubs and has got a total of 7 victories and 13 defeats.
PREVIOUS GAMES OF ARIS AGAINST FRENCH CLUBS
SEASON OPPONENT COMPETITION HOME RESULT AWAY RESULT
1977-78 Le Mans Korac Cup 71-82 46-98
1981-82 Limoges Korac Cup 88-77 77-106
1984-85 Le Mans Korac Cup 103-90 115-91
1985-86 Limoges Champions’ Cup 89-81 87-105
1987-88 Pau-Orthez Champions’ Cup 92-86 81-97
1988-89 Limoges Champions’ Cup 80-77 106-115
1989-90 Limoges Champions’ Cup 89-79* 84-94*
1990-91 Limoges Champions’ Cup 108-88 106-98
1992-93 Cholet Cup Winners’ Cup 104-72 70-60
1993-94 Cholet Cup Winners’ Cup 92-83 87-91
1998-99 Limoges Saporta Cup 55-57 79-73
2002-03 Strasbourg FIBA Champions Cup 93-87 83-103
2005-06 ASVEL Villeurbanne ULEB Cup 77-67 67-60
2006-07 Pau-Orthez Euroleague 74-72 62-77
2007-08 Le Mans Euroleague 93-74 69-66
*Also: Limoges - Aris 103-91, at the 3rd place game of the 1989-90 Final Four, in Zaragoza
PREVIOUS GAMES OF LE MANS AGAINST GREEK CLUBS
SEASON OPPONENT COMPETITION HOME RESULT AWAY RESULT
1975-76 P.A.O.K. Korac Cup 112-73 67-69
1977-78 Aris Korac Cup 98-46 82-71
1978-79 Olympiacos Champions’ Cup 76-56 62-79
1982-83 Panathinaikos Champions’ Cup 112-67 55-58
1984-85 Aris Korac Cup 91-115 90-103
2001-02 Panionios Saporta Cup 88-75 83-108
2003-04 Makedonikos Kozanis ULEB Cup 69-73 97-99
2006-07 Olympiacos Euroleague 81-88 76-80
2007-08 Aris Euroleague 66-69 74-93
2008-09 Olympiacos Euroleague 93-98 78-68
