EuroLeague
Photo: EuroLeague

After a run of three straight defeats, something that they haven’t done since 2010, CSKA Moscow looks to get back to winning ways when they host EuroLeague strugglers EA7 Milano on Friday.

The current league leaders and reigning EuroLeague champions enjoyed a sizeable cushion on top of the table but losses to Fenerbahce, Crvena Zvezda and Real Madrid have shrunk CSKA’s advantage at the summit to just one game on a 12-4 mark.

“Milan is a talented team that can score in many ways and played some good games lately,” CSKA coach Dimitris Itoudis said. “But with all due respect to our opponents, it’s all on us. After three straight defeats this game becomes extra important for us. And we definitely should not do the many things that led to bad results in previous games.”

Despite the talent the Italian giants have on board, CSKA face the EuroLeague’s worst form team though, as EA7 Milano are stumped on a nine-game losing streak, with a 4-12 record heading into their trip to Moscow.

Milano lost the first fixture against the Muscovites back in round 11 and coach Jasmin Repesa doesn’t want to lose sight of them on Friday.

“CSKA lost the last three games so they are coming in highly motivated and with the homeport advantage,” he said. “The key for us will be consistency. In Istanbul, for example, we had a letdown at the end of the third quarter and it cost us the game. This is what we want to avoid in Moscow. Stay close, never lose sight of them.”

∞∞∞ REPLAY OF 2014 FINAL IN THE SPANISH CAPITAL ∞∞∞

Real Madrid host Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv on Friday in a rematch of the thrilling 2014 championship game in Milan.

And Maccabi, who won the title that year with a 98-86 win will hope for more of the same in Madrid. They ended a six-game losing streak with a narrow win over Darussafaka Dogus last week in its second game under new head coach Ainars Bagatskis and are looking to turn the corner even further.

They face a Real Madrid side though who have only lost once at home this season and have seven wins under their belt. They also made up for their loss in 2014 with a EuroLeague title a year later in their home arena.

“It looks like they are struggling to gel as a team, but they are strong and if you let yourguard down, they can punish you easily,” said Real Madrid’s Rudy Fernandez, who featured in both the 2014 and 2015 EuroLeague title games.

“Maccabi always makes things difficult. We will try to do our job as we did in the last games to try to get another win.”

∞∞∞ ISTANBUL SIDES LOOKING TO MAKE THEIR MARK ∞∞∞

Two of the four Istanbul-based sides will square off on Friday as struggling Galatasaray [4-12] host Zalgiris at the Abdi Ipecki, while Anadolu Efes travel to Athens to face Panathinaikos.

For both Galatasaray and Zalgiris, Friday’s clash is a must-win with the Turkish side desperate to end their four-game slide. And despite Zalgiris’ position at 6-10 – they have won their last two games on the road – for a team that usually doesn’t travel well outside of Kaunas, they will do their upmost to maintain that run.

“We are going to one more road game,” Zalgiris coach Sarunas Jasikevicius said. “Galatasaray is a very talented team. They can score 80 or more points against any opponent. We will need to break their rhythm. They also play much better at home and are more aggressive in Istanbul.”

Over in Athens, Anadolu Efes will look to break a four-game winning run that Panathinaikos holds at the OAKA and at the same time, will look to go over .500.

“They have great players and coach and also great fans,” Anadolu Efes coach Velimir Perasovic said. “It is always difficult to win at OAKA Arena in EuroLeague. Every single game is a big opportunity to make one important step. We know it will be difficult but we will go to Athens with the confidence that we can win.”