Panathinaikos and Olympiacos fall into the deep end with an eye on Berlin, while Peristeri dreams of a European title.
The top three Greek basketball teams line up side by side at the start of the European week, along with almost every player (and coach) of the men’s national team. If everything goes right (with sympathy), next Sunday night we may find ourselves with two tickets to the final four in Berlin, but also with the trophy of the second inter-club event in our arms.
For our basketball, the big week dawns in three of the temples of the orange ball: Beogradska Arena, Palau Blaugrana and of course OAKA. Soon and CHEF. The biggest one, until the next one…
In the shadow of war
THE Panathinaikos opens the curtain on Tuesday (and Thursday) night against war-deprived Maccabi. The Israeli champion is using Belgrade as a temporary home base – after the Athens solution was rejected without much fanfare – and is playing without her world, so the “sixth player” in this series will only speak Greek. It takes searching to find Panathinaikos’ last home loss and counting on the fingers of two hands to calculate the streak: nine straight wins dating back to Dec. 7, when then-unstoppable Real defeated OAKA 78-90.
Even if the “clover” withers in some of the matches in Athens with Maccabi, it will have the opportunity to take its blood and juices back to an empty, cold, neutral stadium. Those who experienced the atmosphere at Yad Eliau in that unforgettable 2012 series (Panathinaikos – Maccabi 3-2 from 1-2, with Obradovic’s rhapsody in the fourth match in Tel Aviv) understand how striking the difference in decibels is.
Trapped in the basement of the standings the previous two years, Panathinaikos soared this year to 14,749 tickets, registering a 140% increase from last year’s 6,161. If Wade Baldwin and Lorenzo Brown’s run with Maccabi runs to a fifth game, 2023-24 green tickets from European matches alone will exceed 300,000, with a total turnover close to €10-12m.
Essentially, the team’s budget was financed by its people, with an increasing trend. The hot platform gave the home advantage not only in the Euroleague (where Panathinaikos was fourth in tickets behind the two Serbian teams and Zalgiris), but also in the domestic league, the title of which will be decided in June at OAKA.
Guided in 2015
The sixth in the European list also shows a similar explosion in attendance at the stadium Olympic, except that his own bar was already set high, and the stadium with a smaller capacity. Last year’s average, which was a record in the team’s history, increased this year from 10,210 tickets to 11,452 and SEF was packed to the brim for most matches. In fact, our two teams were… equal in terms of the tickets they bought as guests in foreign stadiums, with 11,010 and enough people campaigning to support both from Athens and the surrounding area.
However, Olympiacos starts the sprint to Berlin on Wednesday from a disadvantageous position. Last year and the year before, they entered the playoffs with home advantage (which they quickly lost) and needed the power of SEF in the fifth match to eliminate Monaco and Fenerbahce respectively. His fifth place this season sends him into the clutches of the fourth Barcelona with the many experienced players and the special special weight.
Yes, like in 2015, when Yannis Sfeiropoulos’ Olympiacos “broke” the home of the Spaniards in the second match (63-76, with Spanoulis, Printezis, Mantzaris) and sealed the qualification to Faliro, 3-1, with a three-pointer by Giorgos Printezis at the end of the fourth match.
Olympiacos faced Barca in the 2010 final in Paris, with the Catalans winning, with whom Ricky Rubio – who is still present today – played in Bercy, as well as the team’s current coach, Roger Grimeau. Panathinaikos and Maccabi jointly wrote important pages of European history in three finals: Thessaloniki 2000, Paris 2001, Barcelona 2007, with a score of 2-1 in favor of the “greens”. The Israeli Oded Katas coach won titles with Panathinaikos in both shorts and a suit. Willy, brother of Juancho Hernangomet, will face Olympiacos in a Barcelona shirt.
The… paella of Spanoulis
The man who connects the three Greek shirts that dream of conquering Europe will return on Friday to the stadium where he won the European title in 2005 with the blue and white team of his heart. In a final four (of the Basketball Champions League) with a triple – strongest – Spanish representation the Dove is the uninvited guest and Vassilis Spanoulis is the central figure of the event.
In Friday afternoon’s semi-final in Belgrade, the Athens team will face Tenerife with wild dreams of the maiden trophy in their history. Málaga and Murcia complete the scenery and it is possible that paella will be served to the small number of spectators during the breaks.
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Panathinaikos – Peristeri 93-88: Victory without Lesor, Ataman
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