Pesic: “They will qualify for the Final Four of the Euroleague”

Everything is ready for the start of her playoffs Euroleaguestarting on Tuesday (25/4).

THE Svetislav Pesicone of the top coaches in the history of the competition but currently not working in a Euroleague team, spoke to a Serbian media outlet, where he gave his predictions for the teams that will manage to qualify for the Final Four.

In detail what he said:

For Olympiacos-Fener: “The Piraeus team showed the most consistency and played at the highest level. It was no accident that they finished first in the regular season. Meanwhile, Fenerbahce have not been playing well lately, which cost them a place in the standings, finishing eighth and forcing them to play Olympiakos. They have quality players but I don’t think they can go further than the top eight. It will be a tough battle in this quarter-final, but Olympiacos will advance.”

For Barcelona-Zalgiris: “Barcelona is the absolute favorite but Zalgiris is an extremely pleasant surprise. Unlike the majority of other EuroLeague teams, they play with a majority of domestic basketball players and only three or four foreigners. I commend them for that and we should respect them as much as possible. They also have their stadium in Kaunas, which may not be as wild as Belgrade, but the fans know how to get the team pumped up. Barcelona, ​​on the other hand, have improved their form, stabilized their game and are the favorites against the Lithuanians.”

For Real Madrid-Partizan: “The Madrid squad is old, a lot of first-team players are not physically fit or are injured, so they had a mediocre season. If they were in top form, they would have a better chance against the “black and whites”, who look exactly as they should before such games. Unlike Real, Partizan’s players are in shape and know their roles very well. They may not have an advantage over their first line opponent but they can be equals in the next matches.

In this regard, it is difficult for Real Madrid to win three games, just as it is difficult for Partizan to lose the same number of games. In the case of this quarter-final pairing, the Spanish club’s home advantage will not be decisive. Black and white have an incredible stadium, Stark Arena. They have to win an away game, in Madrid, because those are the rules of the game.”

For Monaco-Maccabi: “Monaco are not one hundred percent favourites, but they are a team that can face anyone. In contrast to the “yellows”, together with Olympiakos and Zalgiris, they are the three best teams in the competition, which is not insignificant even in a long series”.