The cup winner at the league leader: Bayern in Berlin
Two weeks after the TOP4 semifinals, there is already a reunion with Berlin: On Saturday evening, the Bayern basketball team will take on Alba Berlin for the Bundesliga rivalry game- this time as freshly crowned cup winners after dethroning the hosts in Oldenburg (83-77). The 71st duel of the two German EuroLeague teams sees Berlin as the clear BBL standings leader (18:1) against the third-placed Munich team (14:6). Goettingen (13:7) and Ludwigsburg (12:7) trail closely behind Munich.
France's champion visits on Tuesday
The game kicks off at 20:30 on Saturday, with Magenta Sport broadcasting live. Bayern's next home game is the EuroLeague matchup against French champions Asvel Lyon-Villeurbanne on Tuesday (21:00). Only 48 hours later, they have to play EuroLeague leader Olympiakos Piraeus and on Sunday (15:00) at BBL-finalist Bayreuth.
While Berlin continues to rank last in the top league with six wins, only one game has been lost in the BBL so far (in Goettingen). In terms of scheduling both teams were on the road on Friday as Alba back from Belgrade after a 88-74 loss at Partizan while the FCBB return to Germany following an 87-80 final victory over Red Star.
Maodo Lo is back in form
Compared to the cup duel, they will have to do without Augustine Rubit who suffered a season-ending injury in Oldenburg (Achilles tendon); Elias Harris is also still out with an injury. Berlin reported the Israeli Yovel Zoosman injured in addition to Marcus Eriksson who has been out some time and they also rested several players in Belgrade. The extent to which FCBB coach Andrea Trinchieri will rotate players after Thursday night's show of strength will be decided in the near future.
Former Bayern guard Maodo Lo, who scored a total of 41 points in the EuroLeague games against the two Belgrade teams following the cup knockout has been recently in top form.
Alba narrowly won the first BBL matchup 80-79 at the Audi Dome in early January, while the showdown in the EuroLeague went to Bayern 79-77 at the Berlin arena. The overall record is 41 wins for the FCBB, 28 for Berlin and one tie. From Munich's point of view: BBL 30-24, EuroLeague 6-0, EuroCup one win and one draw, and in the German Cup 4-4.