Everything you need to know about today’s Euroleague games
Everything you need to know about today’s Euroleague games
Thursday schedules 4 Euroleague games and all of them have a clear favourite.
In Moscow, CSKA will host Bayern in a clash of two teams that impressed in Round 1, CSKA winning by a comfortable margin in Valencia, while Bayern beat AX Armani Milan. The Megasport Arena in Moscow is always a fortress very hard to conquer for the visiting teams and even if Bayern seems to have a good form, it would be a huge surprise if the German champions would win in Moscow.
Another place where it’s very difficult to win for the visitors is Stark Arena in Belgrade. However, the team that visits Crvena Zvezda is a very motivated Fenerbahce Istanbul. Fener lost in Round 1 in Madrid, but they showed their strength even with some missing players. Now, the team coached by Zeljko Obradovic will have Jan Vesely back in action. The Czech center will be very useful in the paint, exactly where Fenerbahce was suffering the last games. Zvezda also played a good game in Round 1, losing only by 5 points against Panathinaikos. The Zvezda fans will surely create an amazing atmosphere, but Fener has the experience and quality to win, so I would go with the Turkish team in this one.
After defeating Olympiacos, Asvel Lyon will host the other Greek superpower, Panathinaikos. The French team surprised everyone with how well they played in their first Euroleague game after many years, but however, it will be very hard for them to win again. Coach Pedoulakis for sure made his homework after seeing the arch-rivals Olympiacos lose, and Panathinaikos is favourite in my opinion to win.
In the last game of the day, Real Madrid will host Maccabi Tel Aviv. The Israeli team couldn’t take advantage of Khimki’s injuries in Round 1 and suffered a disappointing loss. Now they will have an even harder task, as the WiZink Center is another arena where very few teams can win. Maccabi has a good roster that has a chance to reach the playoffs if the team jells, but I don’t see them making a surprise in Madrid today.
Photo: Euroleague.net
Imre Halasz
