Pablo Laso facing Real Madrid in Munich
Bayern Munich will host Real Madrid tonight at the BMW Park arena in a game that counts for Round 20 of the current EuroLeague season.
Pablo Laso is a Real Madrid legend and he received a warm welcome in Madrid when the two teams met in December, but for sure the 15-point Madrid win displeased him and he would like to take revenge tonight. Laso does a good job in his first season at the helm of the club from Bavaria, however, Bayern is in a difficult situation right now as they are on a two-game losing streak and with these defeats, they fell two wins behind the 8-10th ranked teams in the standings, which qualifies teams to the play-in. To make things worse, they host Real, the best team in the EuroLeague this season. Still, there are 15 rounds left to play and Bayern has 9 home games in this stretch so there is a chance for the German team to reach the playoffs with a strong finish.
The statistical leader of Bayern is former Real Madrid player Serge Ibaka. While some fans doubted if he could still play at the highest level when he was signed, Serge Ibaka impressed this season for Bayern, the 34-year-old power forward leading the team in points (12.7 ppg), rebounds (7 rpg) and PIR (15.4).
Real Madrid visitors arrive in Munich after one of the best games in EuroLeague history, a four-overtime 130-126 win against Efes Istanbul at the WiZink Center on Friday. It showed once again the mental strength of Real who has the quality and experience to beat anyone. Some consider that this Real Madrid team is one of the best in EuroLeague history and their 17-2 record so far is historic. But as we all know, the EuroLeague format can be cruel for some great teams who play well all season long only to lose a game in the Final Four in May. Real has a balanced roster, the leading scorers being Mario Hezonja and Dzanan Musa, while Facundo Campazzo and Walter Tavares lead the team in PIR.
Imre Halasz
Image credit: EuroLeague
