At lunchtime on the first day of the new year, head coach Andrea Trinchieri gathered his men back in the Audi Dome, with best wishes for 2021. The game schedule does not allow for any longer periods of rest for the Bayern basketball team at the turn of the year and as in December, they have eleven games to play in January. The start of the new year is already a tough one, with the Munich team taking on defending champions Alba Berlin on Sunday evening (Jan. 3rd).
The BBL top game starts at 18:00 and MagentaSport will broadcast live as usual.
It is the second clash of the two best German teams this season. The EuroLeague duel on the second gameday was won clearly by the FCBB (90-72). While the Bavarians in the EuroLeague after the coup over FC Barcelona (90-77) are a surprise fourth-place team and the Berliners sit at 14th (6-10) the two will meet in the BBL for the goal to sit atop the BBL. The Munich team is currently in fourth place with a 14-2 record with the hosts right behind (12-2). The FCBB lost for the first time in Oldenburg and Berlin to league leader Ludwigsburg, which was only defeated by the FCBB.
Coach Trinchieri: "Alba is still the favorite".
Both teams are plagued by injury worries including Corona issues for Berlin. The FCBB was missing top-scorer Lucic against Barcelona and early on in the game also lost Zan Mark Sisko (adductors). Alba has been forced to sit Markus Eriksson and Ben Lammers and Peyton Siva while Luke Sikma was injured in the 74-71 loss against Zalgiris Kaunas.
"It's the second part of our saga and Alba, as the defending champions, continues to be the favorite," feels coach Trinchieri. "Both teams will probably have some players out, so again a lot will be about who plays with the most energy."
Alba's best scorers in the EuroLeague so far have been new additions Simone Fontecchio (from Reggio Emilia/9.5) and Maodo Lo (9ppg), who arrived from Munich, in addition to Eriksson (10 ppg), Siva (9.9), captain Niels Giffey and Sikma (9.8 each). In the BBL, Giffey and center Johannes Thiemann (12.6) are tied for the lead in the internal ranking. In team statistics, Berlin leads the league in assists (23.3 apg; FCBB: 20.5).