It may not be a traditional opponent of hers Euroleaguehowever the couple Olympiacos-Monaco already has a “hot” past.
The two face off in the first semi-final of the Final Four (19/5, 18:00, www.sportfm.gr, News Bulletin 247, Novasports Prime), in Kaunas, against the background of qualifying for the grand final. On the one hand, the “red and white” are for the 12th time in their history in F4, while on the other hand for the Monegasques it is the maiden their presence.
From here on, the matches between them, which started from last season with the first appearance of the Principality’s team in the Euroleague, hide great emotions, culminating in the “battle” that happened in last year’s playoffs. The series ended in a fifth match, which took place inside in a “burning” SEF and before his eyes Kevin Durantwhere the Piraeus team prevailed 94-88 and qualified for the Final Four in Belgrade.
She will be the 10th meeting of the two teams, with Monaco having the lion’s share with five wins, compared to Olympiakos’ four. This year, the Monegasques they have done 2/2 against the “red and white” in the regular season, prevailing 81-76 in SEFin the first round match and after a game with poor attacks on both sides, they had win 64-60in the second round in the Principality.
For the qualification of both of them in Kaunas, their home played a role. Both they had the advantage in the playoffs and as it turned out he played a catalytic role in their series, to get the ticket to “Zalgirio Arena”. Olympiakos finished atop the regular season with a 24-10 record. Rival of his team Giorgos Bartzokas in the playoffs it was 8th Fenerbahce. The series reached the fifth and final match, where the Piraeus won 84-72 and they qualified.
Monaco, for its part, completed the regular season in fourth place with 21-13. In the playoffs he faced Maccabi Tel Aviv. The Monegasques entered the series…wrongly, as the “people’s team” defeated them 79-67, in the premier and in the Principality. However, his team Sasha Obradovic he recovered quickly, took the next two games, lost the fourth and so the series returned to its… home, for the fifth and final game. There, Monaco won 97-86 and got the ticket to Kaunas, making history.
Finally, as far as the competitive part is concerned, the two teams they face no problems and so both traveled full to Lithuania.
The referees of the match will be Boris Ryzyk (Ukraine), Olegs Latishevs (Latvia) and Ane Pander (Germany).
Source: Sport Fm
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