Real Madrid - Partizan
International - Euroleague, Playoffs, Quarterfinal
It is clear that Real Madrid, the Euroleague's most trophy-winning club, is not a strong favorite against Partizan to advance to the final four of the elite European competition, far from it.
A big problem for Real is the injury of the famous center Walter Tavares, who did not play in the end of the dramatic first match of the quarter-finals (Partizan's victory away from home on Tuesday 89:87, with a three-pointer by guard Punter in the last second of the duel). Tavares is not only statistically the most useful player of Real this season in the Euroleague (16.3 index points on average), but according to the basketball public, he is a key player in the Spanish team's game system. Both in defense (he has even 2.2 blocks on average per match), as well as in attack through numerous pick-and-roll variants, although he is not the team's first scorer.
All this adds additional uncertainty to the game of the Madrid team, which is also significantly burdened by fatigue in the previous days and weeks. It seems that a part of the basketball public, by inertia, perceived Real Madrid as a clear favorite for this, the second match of the quarter-final series, which is played for three wins. In reality, first of all, we should expect a new uncertain duel, which will certainly be decided by small details.
In addition, Real will not count on the French center Poirier, so the fight under the hoop will be at least equal, if not on the side of Partizan's tall players.
In the last six matches, Real Madrid has lost as many as four times, of which the away defeats to Barcelona 97:82 and especially to Breogan 96:72 were embarrassing for a team that receives too many easy points against their shooting-dominant rivals.
On the other hand, the Belgrade team won eight in a row, starting with the triumph over - Real Madrid, on their home field in the Euroleague, 104:90 in a match played on March 31. In that game, the team of the famous coach Željko Obradović got a clear insight into the great attacking quality they have - and that's when they believed, that they can really compete for the final four of the Euroleague this season.
In head-to-head matches, Real Madrid leads as much as 15:4 since the establishment of the modern Euroleague in 1999. In the first part of the season in Madrid, it was 105:97 for Real, so even there it was a match that was decided only in the last minute - and Partizan was in significantly worse shape then (November 24), than now.
These teams in the Euroleague this season score practically the same number of points (85.7 points per match for Real Madrid, 85.3 on average for Partizan). The advantage that the Spanish giant has in rebounds (36.7 on average, against 29.9 rivals) is not valid now - because Tavares will almost certainly not play... There is practically no reason left to believe in a convincing victory for the hosts in this game.