The FC Bayern basketball players are preparing for a Spanish week in the EuroLeague: On Wednesday (30.10.) Spain's champion and co-favourite Real Madrid will visit the Audi Dome with tip-off at 20:30 CET. The following morning, the German champion will travel via Bilbao to Vítoria-Gasteiz for an away game on Friday evening (1.11., 21:00) at Baskonia.
As of Tuesday morning there were only approximately 100 tickets left for the huge matchup against Read Madrid. The box office will be open on Wednesday evening starting at 19:00 for the remaining tickets.
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Still undefeated leaders of the ACB
As usual, the star ensemble at Real, the EuroLeague winners of 2018, presents itself as a highly decorated team. The reigning Spanish champions (10 EL titles, 35 championship titles, 27 cup wins) arrive with five players who reached the World Cup final in mid-September. Captain Sergio Llull and Rudy Fernandez triumphed with Spain at the final in Beijing (95-75) against the Argentinians with teammates Facundo Campazzo, Nicolas Laprovittola and Gabriel Deck.
"Everyone was disappointed after our home loss to Khimki, but now we want to try to get back to winning at home against Real," said FCBB-Guard Petteri Koponen, who knows about the challenging task. "They also had some problems in the EuroLeague recently and will now be highly motivated. What's certain is that we'll have to improve and all of us together need to get into a better rhythm, especially on offense. Real has one of the best teams in Europe and it will be important to start well this time. We have to show up with energy and show that it's not easy to win here against us."
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The difficult preparation for the season due to the World Cup explains Reals' comparatively bumpy entry into the EuroLeague, who, like the Bavarians, have two wins in four games. Two close home victories at the beginning over Fenerbahce Istanbul (81-77) and Maccabi Tel Aviv (86-85) were followed by road losses at Zalgiris Kaunas in Lithuania (86-73) and at last year's finalist Efes Istanbul (76-60).
In the domestic ACB, on the other hand, they are the only undefeated team with a 6-0 record. Rivals, FC Barcelona (4-2) lost 89-83 on Sunday evening against Zaragoza.
Real won against Manresa with ease with a final score of 94-74 in front of 7,600 spectators. Deck (18), Llull (17) and center Walter Tavarez (16) all scored in double digits.
"Physicality from the beginning"
"Real simply has a lot of experience and quality, they basically have no weakness and are the better team," said FCBB coach Dejan Radonjic. "But if we prepare ourselves for a physical game right from the start, we always have a chance of winning in front of our fans". Paul Zipser also relies on the audience in the full Audi Dome: "Real is of course incredibly talented and also very well-trained. We have to go into the game with intensity and I think it will be a very special atmosphere in the hall".
In the EuroLeague, the scoring for the Madrilenians has been very evenly distributed so far: US Forward Anthony Randolph (11.8 ppg) is ahead of compatriot Jordan Mickey (10.3), acquired from Khimki Moscow. The lively point guard Campazzo (9.5/5.3 apg), sniper Jaycee Carroll (9.0), Jeffery Taylor (8.0), Llull (7.8), Deck (7.3) and Fernandez (6.8).
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