Showed character but clearly missed the upset: On Friday evening, Bayern Basketball suffered a 76–88 (30–47) defeat against Spanish champions and last year’s finalists, Real Madrid. After a passive first half, the Munich team, playing without their regular starting point guard Nick Weiler-Babb, managed to rally in the closing minutes. However, the favorites ultimately benefited from Bayern’s poor shooting day from beyond the arc (25%) in front of 9,800 spectators.
In the extremely tight EuroLeague standings – with just three wins separating leaders Monaco (13–6) and 13th-place Milan (10–9) – the German champions now sit at 11–8. On Saturday afternoon, Bayern will travel onward to Berlin, where they are set to face Alba on Sunday at 3:00 PM.
Real Madrid - FC Bayern Basketball 88:76 (47:30)
FCBB
Carsen Edwards (18 points), Shabazz Napier (17), Devin Booker (11), Niels Giffey (8), Elias Harris (8), Johannes Voigtmann (5), Oscar da Silva (4), Andreas Obst (3), Ivan Kharchenkov (2), Onuralp Bitim, Danko Brankovic, Kevin Yebo (DNP-CD)
Top scorer Madrid
Dzanan Musa (15 points)
Referee
Damir Javor, Olegs Latisevs, Maxime Boubert
Attendance
9,800
FCBB Wins the Second Half
Head coach Gordon Herbert had to do without Lucic as well as Weiler-Babb in Madrid, with the latter sidelined due to a thumb injury. Without their outstanding all-rounder (26:11 minutes per game, 7.7 points per game, 4.9 assists per game, 4.6 rebounds per game), Napier started in the first five, while youngster Kharchenkov and Obst also had to step in at the point guard position. The lack of depth was noticeable, with ten turnovers in the first half.
Real Madrid quickly exploited this advantage at the guard position (16:27/12th minute), while 2.20-meter center Tavares dominated in the paint. Initially, the Bayern players seemed overly respectful. However, after Giffey, top scorer Edwards (18 points) also shook off this hesitation, hitting from outside and setting up Da Silva with some fine assists – narrowing the gap to just 28:33 (15th minute).
Nevertheless, the visitors struggled in the paint on both ends of the court. A better three-point percentage (4/15 at halftime, 8/32 by the end) and overall greater aggressiveness would have been helpful. "We missed open threes and had trouble against their defensive pressure in the second quarter," Herbert summarized during the break.
In the third quarter (20:15), FCBB managed to chip away at the deficit slightly, but their three-point shooting didn’t improve, and Real continued to control the boards (38:28). Six and a half minutes before the end, Napier broke the double-digit deficit with a three-point play (60:69). However, Madrid frequently succeeded in one-on-one situations, even after Bayern's small run that cut the score to 71:78 (37th minute).
Quotes:
Gordon Herbert, Head Coach FC Bayern Basketball: "I didn’t like our fight and intensity in the first half. Over the last 15 minutes, we got better and picked up the pace. But we simply missed too many layups in this game. (...) We were late on too many plays, and trying to play catch-up against such a top EuroLeague team on the road is very difficult. On the positive side, I liked how hard we played and fought in the second half. In the first, we lost the battles and rebounds and had turnovers."
Andreas Obst: "We didn’t find our rhythm defensively in the first half, we were too passive and not aggressive enough. Offensively, we had good looks but missed a few. Then we let our struggles affect us defensively, which cannot happen. In the second half, we played quite well at times and defended better, but in the crucial moments, we didn’t get stops and were unlucky on one or two finishes. Against a team like Real, with so much talent, you simply have to step up your game. We fought harder, but there are definitely things we could have done better."