Barcelona and Fenerbahce are certainly no strangers to each other. They were paired together last season in both the Euroleague regular season and Top 16, plus they met in the second stages in the 2012-13 season.
Their paths cross again tomorrow night.
Fenerbahce coach Zeljko Obradovic knows a thing or two about big games, regardless of what stage the Euroleague season is in. The veteran though wants his side to paint a different image to the one that lost 91-73 to Obradovic’s old side Panathinaikos last week.
“For us it is a very important game to play here at home,” he said. “First of all, we must change to offer a different image and behaviour from the last game. I hope our fans will come to help the team and that we will have a good game.”
Coaches and players rely a lot on their home supporters as a true sixth man. Barcelona have their last three Euroleague road games that spans this and last season and thus far, they have been impressive, en route to their current 3-0 record.
Fenerbahce’s Jan Vesely, who knows all about home atmosphere having had a spell with Partizan Belgrade before his move to the NBA. But now, the Czech Republic international is back in the Euroleague and he knows of the threat that Barcelona possesses.
“We are expecting a tough game with Barcelona,” said Vesely. “They are a great team, one of the favorites for the Euroleague title. We have to play hard all 40 minutes and never fall asleep on little things. They have a lot of key players, and we must stop them. I hope our fans support us for this game because we need it.”
Zalgiris looks to continue their good start to the Euroleague season when they host Unics Kazan in Group D.
Tomorrow’s clash though will not take place at the Zalgirio Arena as it is unavailable, so the game will be staged at the Kaunas Sports Hall, Zalgiris’ old venue.
Regardless, the Lithuanian champions are currently 2-1, but have been playing with a sense of confidence that will make them a tough opponent for anyone in the league.
Qualifying champions Unics Kazan though are 1-2 and have been unlucky in their two losses that included a heartbreaking loss to Real Madrid, where Sergio Llull scored at the buzzer.
A comfortable 85-62 win over Dinamo Sassari though will give the Russian side confidence heading into tomorrow’s clash in Kaunas.
“We are playing against a good team, which plays tough and strong defence, tries to control the rhythm of the game,” Unics coach Argiris Pedoulakis said. “We will have to play with much energy and control the rebounds, and, of course, be concentrated for 40 minutes.”
“Unics made it to the Euroleague only from the qualification round, but nobody should be fooled by this fact – we will be facing a team of the highest Euroleague quality,” said Zalgiris coach Gintaras Krapikas.
“They have a single victory so far ant it also doesn’t mean anything. If you saw the game at Anadolu Efes, they were fighting till the last minute and in the game against Real only a buzzer-beater from Llull stopped Unics. Last week Kazan won with confidence, so we will have a very tough match-up on Thursday.”
Wednesday:
Real Madrid vs Dinamo Sassari
Thursday:
Nizhny Novgorod vs Anadolu Efes
Zalgiris vs Unics Kazan
Maccabi Electra vs Cedevita Zagreb
PGE Turow vs Bayern Munich
Fenerbahce vs Barcelona
Friday:
CSKA Moscow vs Unicaja Malaga
ALBA Berlin vs Limoges
Panathinaikos vs EA7 Milano
Red Star vs Olympiacos
Valencia vs Laboral Kutxa
Galatasaray vs Neptunas
