This weekend, the 2018 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four will take place. Real Madrid of Spain, Zalgiris Kaunas of Lithuania, CSKA Moscow of Russia and defending champions Fenerbahçe of Turkey are headed to Belgrade to battle each other in a straight knock-out format for the title. Seven consecutive Finals Fours for CSKA, three for Fenerbahçe, four out of the last five for Real, and the first one in 20 years for Zalgiris - each team carries a story into this tournament, then, and the pressure of expectation. By any measure, the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague is the highest calibre of club basketball competition on the continent. But quite how much does winning it mean do these teams? ________________________________ In sporting parlance, Real Madrid is a byword for success. As fan Rafael Zamorano puts it, 'winning is expected; not winning everything is a failure'. That is the Real Madrid way - with nine Turkish Airlines EuroLeague titles to their name, the most of any team all time, the Real Madrid basketball product flies the flag just as much as the football product does. Just over ten years ago, though, that success was merely relative. Following their FIBA European League victory in 1995, Los Blancos entered something of a cold streak and fell out of the top tier continental competition altogether, relegated to playing in the second-level ULEB Cup in the 2006/07 season (this coming before the licencing system, guaranteeing greater security to certain storied franchises, was devised in 2008). Nonetheless, winning was still expected. And it was still found. Real did indeed win the ULEB Cup that season, and have been back in the top level competition ever since. Three more trips to the title game have followed in that time, including winning their record-setting ninth title in 2015. The second tier days are long since behind them, and they are firmly back among the continent's very best, just as they always should have been. And they have the star power to back it up. Throughout the entire journey from ULEB Cup to here, Felipe Reyes has been a mainstay. The Spanish national team mainstay is into his fourteenth season with the team, and is still a key part of the current team's offensive set-up despite being at the basketball-advanced age of 38. Alongside Reyes are fellow Spanish legends Sergio Llull and Rudy Fernandez. One has many years of NBA experience under his belt, while the other could do if he wanted. Between the three, Real Madrid sport a very strong domestic and local identity - as Zamorano puts it, 'homegrown players are especially relevant, and the icons behind which the Real fanbase 'takes it up a notch in playoff games'.