Club Baloncesto Breogán, S.A.D., also known as Río Breogán for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Lugo, Spain. The team was founded in 1966 and plays in the Liga ACB.
Their home arena is the Pazo dos Deportes, an arena with a seating capacity of 5,310 people. The current president of the team is Carmen Lence.
History Founded in 1966, CB Breogán only needed five years to promote for the first time in its history to the Liga Nacional. It played in it from 1971 to 1977, except in the 1974–75 season, before dropping down again to lower divisions. Alfredo Pérez was the league's top scorer in both 1970–71 and 1972–73 seasons. Breogán coexisted with another team from Lugo called La Casera for a while, and even though La Casera had more local players, Breogán was the whole city's preferred team because Lugo's population felt a lot more identified with the club. La Casera disappeared and a few of their players signed for Breogán afterwards.
Breogán had a bit of a rollercoaster journey between the top division and the lower leagues, and got promoted back to the now named Liga ACB in the 1983–84 season, and qualified for the Korać Cup after finishing in the sixth position in 1984–85, playing against Red Star Belgrade, Pallacanestro Varese and ASVEL Basket. Manel Sánchez, from Lugo, was the star of this team. The club got relegated in the 1986–87 season after the referees allowed Oximesa Granada to score the winning free throws despite the clock having run out of time before the foul. The incidents caused the closure of Breogán's arena and Breo had to play the remaining games in A Coruña, where it got relegated despite Lugo population's massive support filling up an arena 100 km away from home and Manel Sánchez being the league's top scorer. Season 1988–89 saw the club's return to Liga ACB once again, where they stayed until 1995, when it lost to against Valvi Girona and became relegated to Liga EBA. During this time, Manel Sánchez left the club for good, and Olympic medallist Velimir Perasović was brought as his substitute for the 1992–93 season, its first in the new arena, Pazo dos Deportes.
In 1999 the club returned once again to Liga ACB, an era which would last seven years. Great players like Anthony Bonner, former EuroLeague champion Nikola Lončar or Devin Davis played for the club during that time. They earned a European spot in the 2003–04 season, but ULEB Cup organisers decided to invite Real Madrid instead, even though they finished in a lower position than Breogán. 2004–05 season was defined by the arrival of one of Liga ACB's most talented players in the 21st century, Charlie Bell. His impressive performances for Breo earned him a move to the NBA for the following season. In the 2005–06 season, Breogán was the last qualified in the table despite having players such as Pete Mickeal or Alfonso Reyes and was relegated to LEB Oro in which would become the club's biggest absence from the top tier – 12 years -.
The club got in a very bad financial state, and was close to disappearing in the early 2010s. This became aggravated by the exit of former chairman Raúl López to become chairman at Obradoiro CAB, a move which kickstarted the rivalry between the two Galician sides. Obradoiro had only been at the Liga ACB for two season in their entire history when that happened. After failing to get promotion for many years, a playoff final loss against Club Ourense Baloncesto in 2015 the club went up by winning the LEB Oro in 2017–18. Breogán signing Ray McCallum Jr. mid-season wasn't enough to secure safety and were relegated with only 9 games out of 34 games. In 2021, Breogán were promoted to the top tier of Spanish basketball once again after beating Granada in the final. Breogán lost away from home in the first game but managed to win the second one at home and the final one in the Andalusian city.
Breogán made a brilliant start to the 2021/22 season. After winning the Galician Cup against rivals Obradoiro CAB, they won their first two Liga ACB games and visited FC Barcelona Bàsquet as leaders. Although a defeat there would mean they were no longer at the top of the table, they completed a tremendous first half of the league, qualifying for the Copa del Rey de Baloncesto for the first time in over 30 years, in which they suffered a narrow defeat against finalists Real Madrid Baloncesto. In January, head coach Paco Olmos decided to leave the club following an offer from relegation-bound CB San Pablo Burgos and was substituted by Veljko Mršić. Breogán's push to make it to the play-offs was hampered by star-man Džanan Musa's injury against Bàsquet Manresa. Trae Bell-Haynes got injured one week later as well, which resulted in Breogán being out of Play-off contention, although they were always far from being involved in a relegation battle. Džanan Musa became one of Breogán's most legendary players in the 2021–22 season and won Liga ACB's MVP award for the season, earning a move to Real Madrid.
Despite not being able to win the Basketball Champions League qualifiers at the beginning of the 2022–23 season, the Galicians managed to have another successful season, led by coach Veljko Mršić, despite maintaining only three players from the successful 2021–22 season, Erik Quintela, Sergi Quintela and Marko Luković. Key additions like Ethan Happ, Scott Bamforth, Toni Nakić and Justus Hollatz, who would later become a World Champion with Germany helped them to achieve a 10th-place finish in the Liga ACB and direct qualification to the 2023–24 edition of the Basketball Champions League, including a sweep against Galician rivals Obradoiro CAB and a 96–72 win against Real Madrid, led by former Breogán player Džanan Musa.
Breogán has had to face a massive rebuild again for the 2023–24 season, even though this time it was the club who chose not to offer some players a new deal. Veljko Mršić extended his contract as head coach, and club captains and local players Erik Quintela and Sergi Quintela stayed, alongside Sergi García, Toni Nakić and Stefan Momirov. New signings included former Bayern players Zan Mark Sisko and Matej Rudan, former ASVEL player Anthony Polite, the Italian rising star Mouhamet Diouf, Lithuanian Matas Jogėla and Martynas Sajus, the Argentinian center Juan Fernández and former Joventut captain Albert Ventura, but a lot of setbacks quickly started to happen. Toni Nakić got seriously injured in pre-season, and his replacement Dimitrios Agravanis left the club injured having played just two games, Zan Mark Sisko decided to leave for personal reasons after the first Liga ACB game against Baskonia and got replaced by Conner Frankamp and Anthony Polite suffered an adductor injury which also got him sidelined for a few weeks. Their ACB League struggles kept going for the rest of 2023 despite the improvement given by Justin Anderson's two-month stint in Lugo before leaving for Valencia Basket. On 22 December 2023, the club announced the signing of 9-year NBA veteran Ben McLemore, who had left Greek side AEK B.C. a few days before.
Bursaspor Basketbol, Hapoel Holon B.C. and current Champions Telekom Baskets Bonn were Breogán's rivals in Group F of the Basketball Champions League, in which the Galician club won all three home games and lost their three away games, finishing the group in 3rd place after all the teams finished with a 3–3 record, advancing to the play-in stage, in which they will face Turkish outfit Pinar Karsiyaka. On May 10, 2024, they secured safety in the Liga ACB by defeating MoraBanc Andorra.
Sponsorship naming Club Baloncesto Breogán has several denominations through the years due to its sponsorship: Breogán Lugo 1966–69 Breogán Fontecelta 1969–73 Breogán Lugo 1973–75 Breogán La Casera 1975–76 Breogán Lugo 1976–79 Breogán Deportes Bourio 1979–80 Breogán Stilton 1980–81 Breogán Internacional de Seguros 1981–82 Breogán Caixa Galicia 1982–86 Leche Río Breogán 1986–89 DYC Breogán 1989–94 DYC Lugo 1994–95 Leche Río Breogán 1995–98 Breogán Universidade 1998–2001 Leche Río Breogán 2001–12 CB Breogán Lugo 2011–13 Ribeira Sacra Breogán 2014–2015 Cafés Candelas Breogán 2015–2019 Leche Río Breogán 2019–21 Río Breogán 2021–present
Rivalries Breogán has had different rivals throughout its history. Breogán's biggest rival during its first decades of existence was CB OAR Ferrol, which disappeared in 1996. Club Ourense Baloncesto was a rival as well, especially during the 2014–15 season in which they eliminated Breogán in the playoff finals to go back to the Liga ACB – although they couldn't materialise their promotion due to – as well as Básquet Coruña, a team they faced quite a lot of times during Breogán's tenures in the 2nd tier during the 2010s.
Obradoiro CAB, in Santiago de Compostela, brought to the Liga ACB after a long judicial process, have opposed Breogán since the early 2010s. I n 2009, Raúl López, former Breogán chairman, left the club in a very bad financial state, becoming Obradoiro's chairman in 2010. This action offended Breogán fans, initiating the rivalry. Now, Breogán and Obradoiro both are in Liga ACB and face each other in the Galician Derby.
Former Breogán's head coach Paco Olmos' departure to San Pablo Burgos in January 2022 also kicked off a bit of a rivalry between both fanbases, although it soon went away after San Pablo Burgos' relegation in May 2022 and Paco Olmos being sacked later that year.
Players
Current roster
Depth chart
Season by season SeasonTierDivisionPos.Copa del ReyOther cupsEuropean competitions1968–69 2 2ª División 15–71969–70 2 2ª División 15–51970–71 1 1ª División 9th 9–151971–72 1 1ª División 11th 5–1–181972–73 1 1ª División 13th 12–1–19Round of 161973–74 1 1ª División15th 6–221974–75 2 2ª División 24–81975–76 1 1ª División 10th 14–181976–77 1 1ª División12th 2–20First round1977–78 2 2ª División 9th 13–2–151978–79 3 2ª División1979–80 4 3ª División12th1980–81 3 2ª División 12–101981–82 3 2ª División1982–83 3 2ª División1983–84 2 1ª División B2nd 18–81984–85 1 Liga ACB 6th 12–20Copa Príncipe 1985–86 1 Liga ACB 7th 11–21Copa Príncipe QF3 Korać Cup 0–61986–87 1 Liga ACB15th 13–19Copa Príncipe SF1987–88 2 1ª División B 5th 29–151988–89 1 Liga ACB21st 20–25First round1989–90 1 Liga ACB 17th 22–18Quarter-finalist1990–91 1 Liga ACB 16th 17–23First round1991–92 1 Liga ACB20th 15–22First round1992–93 1 Liga ACB 17th 12–19Third round1993–94 1 Liga ACB 16th 10–20Third round1994–95 1 Liga ACB20th 12–31First round1995–96 3 Liga EBA 24-121996–97 2 LEB 3rd 22–13Copa Príncipe 4th1997–98 2 LEB 3rd 19–12Copa Príncipe QF1998–99 2 LEB1st 26–10Copa Príncipe QF1999–00 1 Liga ACB 13th 15–192000–01 1 Liga ACB 11th 13–212001–02 1 Liga ACB 13th 13–212002–03 1 Liga ACB 9th 17–172003–04 1 Liga ACB 15th 14–202004–05 1 Liga ACB 11th 13–212005–06 1 Liga ACB18th 11–232006–07 2 LEB 9th 17–172007–08 2 LEB Oro 4th 26–11Copa Príncipe C2008–09 2 LEB Oro 6th 23–132009–10 2 LEB Oro 8th 20–182010–11 2 LEB Oro 5th 21–202011–12 2 LEB Oro 8th 20–182012–13 2 LEB Oro 6th 16–152013–14 2 LEB Oro 4th 20–122014–15 2 LEB Oro 3rd 27–13Copa Príncipe RU2015–16 2 LEB Oro 7th 19–162016–17 2 LEB Oro 4th 27–152017–18 2 LEB Oro1st 28–6Copa Princesa C2018–19 1Liga ACB18th 9–252019–20 2 LEB Oro 8th 15–92020–21 2 LEB Oro2nd 25–10Copa Princesa C2021–22 1 Liga ACB 11th 16–18Quarter-finalist2022–23 1 Liga ACB 10th 14–203 Champions League 0–12023–24 1 Liga ACB 16th 11–233 Champions League 4–52024–25 1 Liga ACB 13th 13–212025–26 1 Liga ACB 11th 15–192026–27 1 Liga ACB 3 Champions League 2–1
Trophies and awards
Trophies LEB Oro: (2) 1999, 2018 Copa Princesa: (3) 2008, 2018, 2021
Records 23 seasons in the top division 6 in Primera División 17 in Liga ACB 1 participation in Korać Cup 1985–86 season: eliminated in quarterfinals group stage 2 participations in Basketball Champions League 2022–23 season: eliminated in the qualifying rounds 2023–24 season: group stages.
Individual awards ACB MVP Džanan Musa – 2021–22 All-ACB Team