Having already received from the first match at the “Palau Blaugrana” what they wanted, i.e. back home advantage in the Euroleague playoffs, Olympiacos faces Barcelona with less pressure, in Game 2 of the series, again on Catalan soil, on the night of Friday (26/4, 22:00).
With the… metal of the finalist of the competition in the two seasons, Giorgos Bartzokas and his players proved to be superior to the “blaugrana” and with Filip Petrusef and Isaiah Kanaan as leaders they made it 1-0 in the series, winning 77-75. Their goal is no other than 2-0 in Barcelona, but even in case of defeat, they will have two matches in SEF on Maundy Tuesday (30/4, 21:30) and Maundy Thursday (2/5, 19: 45) in the effort to reach 3 wins and qualify for the final four in Berlin (24-26/5).
This does not mean, of course, that the “red and whites” will go into the second match … relaxed, since at this level the competition is such that anything can happen and ideally they want to avoid, after the first step, returning to Barcelona for Game 5 on Easter Wednesday (8/5).
“Key” Petrusev
Filip Petrusev’s knee injury towards the end of the first game… fortunately for the Serbian center and Olympiakos, it didn’t turn out to be too serious. He suffered a groin strain and as Giorgos Bartzokas pointed out at Media Day on Wednesday (25/4) it will be decided on the day of Game 2 whether he will play or not. Petrusev, who was Olympiakos’ leading player in Game 1 with 12 points, 5 rebounds and 5 fouls, did not practice Wednesday to avoid straining the injured knee.
Sreten Radovic (Croatia), Carmelo Paternico (Italy) and Uros Nikolic (Serbia) were appointed referees for Game 2, Barcelona-Olympic.
After the break in Monaco (91-95 in overtime), Fenerbahce will try to make it 2-0 against the Monegasques, on Friday night (26/4, 20:00) at the Salle Gaston Medecin.
