What can the last round of the EuroLeague bring?
The final round of the EuroLeague regular season will be played on Thursday and Friday and there are still many questions to be answered regarding the final standings and even the names of the teams that will qualify for the playoffs and play-in games.
1st placed Olympiacos Piraeus will host Olimpia Milan in the Peace and Friendship Stadium. The Greek team is on a three-game winning streak, and they play great basketball at the moment. They are huge favourites to get the win against the already eliminated Milan so the Reds will probably win the regular season.
In the 2nd place, we have probably the biggest (positive) surprise of the season, Valencia Basket. The Spanish team entered the EuroLeague after winning the EuroCup last season, and even though they don’t have a huge budget compared to other EuroLeague teams, they absolutely deserve the 2nd place. The ‘’taronja’’ will travel to Zenica, where Dubai temporarily plays its home games. Dubai just made a coaching change, and they must win to keep their play-in hopes alive, but Valencia is the favourite to win.
For the 3rd place, we currently have a three-team tie. Real Madrid will host Crvena Zvezda in a huge game for both teams. Real needs to win to secure home court advantage in the playoffs, while Zvezda is currently 7th, and a defeat could mean they will play away in the play-in stage, taking away one of the biggest advantages of the Serbian team. Hapoel Tel-Aviv, a team that was a newcomer to the EuroLeague this season, made a great impression so far, especially considering they had to play their home games in Sofia. The Israeli team will play at Monaco, a very tough game against a talented team that is currently 9th and hopes to climb up in the standings, maybe even finish 6th and avoid the play-in. Defending champions Fenerbahce are tied with Real and Hapoel, and the Turkish team has a relatively easy game against Asvel in Lyon.
Zalgiris Kaunas is another positive surprise of the season, and the Lithuanian team has a very good chance to finish in the Top 6 and qualify directly to the playoffs. The Greens will host Paris, a team that is eliminated from playoff contention.
Next up, there are three teams tied for 7th place. While Zvezda and Monaco have difficult games, Panathinaikos will host Efes Istanbul, and the Greeks have no excuses not to win. PAO is under significant pressure as the Final Four will take place at OAKA, while Efes was one of the season’s negative surprises, as they are next to last in the standings with a modest record for their standards (12-25).
Barcelona is currently 10th, and to ensure they make the play-in, the blaugrana will need to beat Bayern Munich at home on Friday. It will not be an easy game, but Bayern is already eliminated, and a very motivated Barca should be able to leave the court victorious.
Imre Halasz
Image: AS Monaco
