KK Crvena zvezda-Real Madrid: first of four games on the road
Chus Mateo play Euroleague matchday 18 in Belgrade (7:00pm CET).
Real Madrid head to Belgrade to begin a run of four successive encounters away from home inside 10 days. It will of course be another challenge for our boys, who sit joint-top of the Euroleague and will hope to clinch a twelfth win in the competition so far this evening. Up the other end, a KK Crvena zvezda team who have been lifted by the arrival of Dusko Ivanovic and Vildoza. Chus Mateo has got Hezonja back, and he'll travel alongside the 12 who played last Sunday.
The fixture list shows little let-up, with the team set to depart Belgrade straight for Berlin where they face Alba on Thursday, before returning to domestic competition on Sunday against Granada, on matchday 16 in the league. The team's demanding road-trip will then come to an end on Friday 20th, with a visit to Olympiacos. But Madrid are more than up to the task, as they showed with last week's double exhibition inside 48 hours against Maccabi 98-65 and Gran Canaria 105-85.
The fixture list shows little let-up, with the team set to depart Belgrade straight for Berlin where they face Alba on Thursday, before returning to domestic competition on Sunday against Granada, on matchday 16 in the league. The team's demanding road-trip will then come to an end on Friday 20th, with a visit to Olympiacos. But Madrid are more than up to the task, as they showed with last week's double exhibition inside 48 hours against Maccabi 98-65 and Gran Canaria 105-85.
The first Euroleague away day of the new year, will surely be one of the season's toughest. Chus Mateo's team sit second on basket average 11-6, topped only by Olympiacos, while KK Crvena zvezda lie tenth 9-8. That said, we're in for a completely different proposition to the first round, when our boys won 72-56 at the WiZink Center. The Serbs have won eight of their last ten games, and it's no coincidence that their fine form has coincided with the arrival of Vildoza, the growth of Petrusev at center and Bentil's solidity. They also boast several quality players besides, including Nedovic, Dobric and former madridista Kuzmic.
Capitalizing on fine form
Real Madrid will hope to show why they're leading on almost every statistic and extend the impressive form of last week, where they averaged over 100 points per game - in the Euroleague, they're posting almost 9 more than the Belgrade team 84.8 to 75.9. This will be the fifteenth time the two rivals go head-to-head in the Euroleague, and the numbers make happy reading for the madridistas at 9 wins to 5.
Capitalizing on fine form
Real Madrid will hope to show why they're leading on almost every statistic and extend the impressive form of last week, where they averaged over 100 points per game - in the Euroleague, they're posting almost 9 more than the Belgrade team 84.8 to 75.9. This will be the fifteenth time the two rivals go head-to-head in the Euroleague, and the numbers make happy reading for the madridistas at 9 wins to 5.