It was officially announced that the 59-year-old Latvian took over the Lisbon “Benfica” team.
According to 15min, the club, which has won the Portuguese championship title 31 times, was choosing between A. Bagatskis and Lithuanian Žydrūnas Urbonas, but the latter ultimately chose to continue working with Bucharest “Dinamo”.
A. Bagatskis will combine his work at the “Benfica” club with duties in the Ukrainian national team, which he returned to lead last year. Previously, the Latvian coached the Ukrainians from 2019 to 2023.
The experienced specialist was dismissed from the Wroclaw “Śląsk” club in Poland in May. Earlier, he has coached a number of teams, the most famous of which are “Žalgiris”, Tel Aviv “Maccabi”, Bamberg “Brose”, Kyiv “Budivelnyk” and the Latvian national team.
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The Latvian played for “Žalgiris” during 2004-2005 and ended his basketball career at the Kaunas club. He briefly coached the Kaunas team in 2006.
The multiple national champion “Benfica” last season gave up the Portuguese championship throne to the “Porto” club.
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