Virtus Bologna looked as good as advertised while destroying Amsterdam Astronauts in the Netherlands on the opening night of the EuroCup.

Undefeated in Italy and looking like the Virtus of old that captured 15 league titles in their famous history, Virtus began their EuroCup  campaign with a 104-51 triumph.

Ilian Evtimov led the scoring parade with 20 points. All 10 players in the Bologna side that travelled to Holland registered points.

Amsterdam are the defending champions in their domestic league but they have struggled so far this season in the Netherlands.

They were completely overmatched against Virtus, a club which in the past decade boasted the amazing talents of players like Manu Ginobili, Sasha Danilovic and Antoine Rigaudeau.

Travis Best started the onslaught from the off, burying a three-pointer, before Kris Lang added two free throws and Christian Drejer drove in for a lay-up.

It was then Amsterdam's turn who, much to the relief of their fans, scored seven consecutive points to level the scores  at 7-7.

Jovo Glavinic accounted for four of those points.

That was it for the Amsterdam highlight reel because Virtus then ran away with the easy win.

Lang made a couple of baskets and Best knocked down another three and before the hosts knew it, they were behind 16-7.

When Evtimov scored his first two points with 7:09 to play in the half, Virtus had extended their advantage to 31-15.

With eight seconds to go in the half, Drejer drained a three-pointer to take the lead to 51-27 and the game was all about damage limitation for Amsterdam the rest of the way.

Virtus excelled in nearly every category, making 12 of 22 (54.5%) from three-point range compared to just one of 10 (10%) for the Astronauts.

Inside the arc, the Italian giants made 25 of 35 (71.4%) while Amsterdam were 18 of 38 (47.3%).

Virtus also forced 21 turnovers while committing just 11 themselves.

"Bologna is one of the best teams of Europe. There is a big difference between the two teams. The Astronauts played the best they could," said Amsterdam coach Joe Spinks.

"We played a good game, but there was a difference between the teams," said Virtus head coach Zara Markovski.

There will be tougher games down the road for Virtus in their quest for
EuroCup glory but on this evidence, they may just be the team to beat.