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Virtus was founded in 1879 as a gymnastics club, and fielded its first professional basketball teams in the 1920s. The club has won 15 national league titles in Italy's top division and 8 Italian Cups. It has also been a frequent participant in the Euroleague, the basketball equivalent to football's Champions League. Virtus' best season, as measured by trophies won, was 2000- 01, when it won the Italian league, Italian Cup, and Euroleague titles. It also won the Euroleague in 1998.
However, several key members of Virtus' treble-winners left immediately after that accomplishment. After the 2001- 02 season, Manu Ginobili, the Euroleague Final Four MVP in 2001, left for the NBA. At the end of the 2002- 032003 is a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar), and also: The International Year of Freshwater The European Disability Year Summary Perhaps the defining global event of the year 2003 was the Invasion of Iraq launched by the U season, Virtus suffered relegation from Italy's top flight.
The local derbyIn many countries the term derby is used (often in the form "local derby") to mean a sports (often Association football (soccer), rugby union, rugby league or Australian Rules Football) match between local rival teams. To name two examples, the "North Lon between Virtus and Fortitudo BolognaFortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna is a prominent Italian basketball club based in Bologna. It is now also known as Climamio Bologna after its sponsor, a major dealer in home climate-control systems; it was previously called Skipper Bologna after a former sp is one of the most intense in the entire world of sports.