Home EuroLeague Neptunas on verge of their own history, Euroleague preview

Neptunas on verge of their own history, Euroleague preview

Neptunas travel to Valencia on Thursday knowing a win will seal their progression to the Euroleague Top 16 in their debut season.

The omens are with Neptunas as well, facing a Valencia side who lost to basement side Bruixa d’Or in the league last weekend and a team running short of confidence.

Neptunas though have not won a Euroleague game on the road this season.

The Lithuanian side are currently 4-5 in Group D and a win against the Spanish side, who have been eliminated from the Euroleague and will compete in the Eurocup Last 32 in the new year will be an incredible achievement.

“Valencia is a serious team and doesn’t allow for mistakes,” said Neptunas coach Kazys Maksvytis. “So we have a very difficult game in front of us and we have to give the 100 percent of our energy to take the victory. We have to worry about what we can control and think of how to win the match.”

One team that will be supporting Valencia will be Galatasaray as they host Olympiacos hoping to beat the Greek side and hope that the Spaniards can beat Neptunas in order to qualify.

The Turkish side are currently 3-6 and do not need a repeat of the last time the two sides met – a 93-66 hammering by the Reds – something that Olympiacos coach Giannis Sfairopoulos would like to see happen again.

“We are in the first place in the group but that doesn’t mean anything,” he said. ”We are going to Turkey to play well and win the game. We want to continue the good appearances we have had so far and give everything to win.”

The Barclaycard Center will be the site for the game to determine top spot in Group A as Real Madrid host Anadolu Efes on Thursday.

Last season’s Euroleague runners-up have not found this group as straightforward as most people were expecting. They still have a 7-2 record as they prepare for a physical battle with Dusan Ivkovic’s Istanbul outfit who could have Serbian big man Nenad Krstic back from injury.

We want to play a good game,” Ivkovic said. “As good news, Nenad Krstic started practicing with the team again. From the other side, Cenk Akyol started with the team but unfortunately his injury extended.

“Also Furkan Korkmaz is sick and questionable for the game. After the Nizhny Novgorod game, for sure I expect a better performance from my team. We have one good experience against them and scored more transition points than Real Madrid in our first game in Istanbul.”

“For us, the game against Anadolu Efes is important because we want to win the group,” Real Madrid’s Felipe Reyes said. “We play at home and we count on our fans to support us.”

Thursday: 

Real Madrid vs Anadolu Efes

CSKA Moscow vs Limoges

Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv vs Unicaja Malaga

PGE Turow vs EA7 Milano

Valencia vs Neptunas

Galatasaray vs Olympiacos

Friday: 

Nizhny Novgorod vs Unics Kazan

Zalgiris vs Dinamo Sassari

ALBA Berlin vs Cedevita Zagreb

Fenerbahce vs Bayern Munich

Panathinaikos vs Barcelona

Red Star vs Laboral Kutxa

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