Real Madrid will try to take revenge on Valencia Basket
On Sunday, we have a big match in Spain, as Valencia will host Real Madrid for a Round 9 game. It will be a tough clash, especially because Valencia already beat once Real this season in Euroleague by a big margin, 93-77. Currently, Los Blancos are in the first place in ACB with 7 wins from 7 games, while Valencia is on 8th position with a 4-3 record. Both teams had games in Euroleague this week, so let’s see who is more prepared for this game.
For Valencia, their away game in Moscow, against CSKA, didn’t go as they planned because they lost the game 84-75. At the halftime, the Russian team took a 44-35 lead and everything seemed decided. But, in the next quarter, Valencia forced a comeback and managed to reduce the deficit to only 4 points, scoring 10 out of 18 attempts they had. In the last quarter, CSKA took the control of the game and never had any doubts regarding the winner of the game. For Valencia their main contributors were: Nikola Kalinic with 15 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists and Louis Labeyrie with 10 points and 4 rebounds.
After a slow start in the Euroleague, Real Madrid managed to bounce back and win against Bayern Munchen at home 100-82 after a very good offensive display. They managed to score 77% of their shots inside the arc (24 out of 31) and 11 out of 31 attempts from the 3-point line. They were heavily outscored in rebounds, where Bayern completed 36 to Real’s 20, but won the assists and turnovers battles, forcing the German team to 10 turnovers. This game might be a cornerstone for Real’s Euroleague season, as they force to come back in the first places after a 1-4 record in the first 5 rounds. The main scorers for them were: Jaycee Carroll with 19 points in 19 minutes, Trey Thompkins with 16 points and 7 rebounds and Sergio Llull with 14 points in 11 minutes.
Real Madrid’s morale is very good before this game, so we should expect a win from them to continue the momentum. Also, Valencia had a long travel to Moscow, while their opponents are more rested. Valencia absentees for this game are Fernando San Emeterio and Joan Sastre while Real Madrid will miss Fabien Causeur and Gabriel Deck.
Image: Euroleague
Bogdan Vasile Tirc
