Maccabi-Real Madrid: second EuroLeague outing of the week
The Whites visit another long-standing rival this evening at the Aleksandar Nikolic Hall in Belgrade (8:05 pm CET).
Real Madrid have travelled from Athens to Belgrade to take on Maccabi this evening on matchday seven of the EuroLeague. Chus Mateo's charges, who will be playing away again two days after facing Olympiacos, will be looking for their fourth win in the competition against a side eager to break their poor run of form.
This is another classic match in Europe. Real Madrid and Maccabi will contest a new chapter in this historic rivalry that stretches back to the 1980s with the European Cup clashes between Corbalan, Brabender, Szczerbiak and company on one side and the Berkowitz, Perry and Williams on the other. Under the name of the EuroLeague, they have gone head-to-head 38 times, with a 25-13 record in the Whites' favour. Last season, Madrid prevailed in both meetings, both at the WiZink Center (106-101) and at the Nikolic Hall (70-99), the temporary home of the Tel Aviv team owing to the ongoing conflict.
The Israelis go into the game on the back of three defeats on the bounce, the most recent of which was a two-point loss to Fenerbahçe last week. This season, they have been without the individual talents of Lorenzo Brown, Baldwin IV and Colson. Tamir Blatt leads 6 players in double digits in PIR. Together with Lee, Jokubaitis and Randolph, they comprise a dangerous outside line. On the inside, Sorkin and Rivero are their biggest threats.
Small details
Real Madrid will be vying to start winning away from home. On Tuesday, they had the game in their hands. They competed and were in the lead for long periods, but ran out of steam in the final quarter. To win today, it will be important to secure the defensive rebound, keep running and stay focused against a strong offensive rebounding opponent.