Bayern fights for the last Playoff spot in Madrid

Final in Madrid: On Friday evening at 8:45 p.m., the eighth and final spot for the 2025 EuroLeague Playoffs will be decided—it will go to either last year’s finalist Real Madrid or Bayern Basketball. The German champions earned their spot in the much-anticipated Play-In Final with an overtime win against Crvena Zvezda Belgrade. The Spanish titleholders, on the other hand, surprisingly missed their first chance on Tuesday, losing 73–81 at home to Paris Basketball. MagentaSport will broadcast the showdown live and free for everyone.

In Madrid, Bayern goes in as the clear underdog—not just because they’ll be without the support of the 11,200 fans from the SAP Garden. The royal star-studded team hasn’t missed the playoff quarterfinals in 13 years and holds the record for the most titles in Europe’s top competition, with eleven championships.

“We are the underdog”

"We are the underdog in Madrid, but we will try everything to stay in the game until the end. We want to have an open game in the final quarter," said head coach Gordon Herbert before departure on Thursday afternoon. "To do that, we need to take away their second-chance opportunities, force them into half-court play, and then rebound the ball. They are very big and physical, and we have to stand our ground. Of course, the guys are tired after five games in ten days, but since Tuesday we’ve been able to approach things a bit more freely. After the Fenerbahce game, we were under a lot of pressure to prove something. We overcame that and won, and I’m glad we were able to give that victory to our amazing fans. That was very important—but at the same time, I had the feeling in the locker room after the game that we’re not satisfied yet. The players know we’re only halfway there. We’ve still got more to accomplish."

At the beginning of the year, Real Madrid found themselves back on track for the playoffs after an unusually challenging season. Head coach Chus Mateo’s team won seven of their last ten games. However, they narrowly missed direct qualification for the quarterfinals, finishing seventh, and were then caught off guard by Paris on Tuesday: In front of 11,000 spectators, the Madrid team trailed throughout the game and couldn’t turn things around in the final three minutes (68:71). The top scorer was Argentine playmaker Facundo Campazzo (17 points), followed by his compatriot Gabriel Deck (10 points).

Not just Campazzo/Tavares need to be stopped

Together with March MVP Walter Tavares (2.20 m, 10.5 points per game, 7 rebounds per game), Campazzo (12.4 points, 6.3 assists per game) forms the most dangerous pick-and-roll duo in the EuroLeague. Keeping the agile playmaker from getting going beyond the three-point line will be a major task. Tavares’ backup is now once again Serge Ibaka (6.4 points per game), who recently returned to coach Mateo’s rotation.

Other key assignments include containing the strong post-up forward Gabriel Deck (8.5), who returned a few weeks ago after a long injury break, as well as making sure that other big names like Mario Hezonja (14.4 points, 5.2 rebounds per game) or Dzanan Musa (12.4) don’t catch fire. Just like in the second meeting in early January (76:88), while the first matchup at the beginning of the season—six and a half months ago—had gone to Bayern, 97:89.

"We're expecting a tough game, everything is on the line. Real remains a great championship team, with very experienced players who have already won every title," emphasized captain Vladimir Lucic. "After the loss to Paris, we’ll definitely see a response from them. They have the best duo in Campazzo/Tavares, but the entire team unquestionably has outstanding quality. We have to approach the game possession by possession and simply give it everything to beat them."