The Serbian team dished a club-record 34 assists and held the in-form German side to 77 points
Defense and selflessness fueled Crvena Zvezda against Bayern
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Regular Season
Round 12 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Having reached triple figures in each of its last two games (225 points overall), FC Bayern Munich arrived in Belgrade trying to extend its two-game winning streak against Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade. But the hosts, who came to this game in the opposite mood after losing two in a row – the last coming against Partizan in the local derby the previous week – were conjured to avoid that thing to happen.
From the very beginning, Zvezda played high-tempo basketball, putting a lot of pressure on both ends. But the hosts needed to push hard and wait for the right moment to soar, as Bayern took a short 26-28 lead early in the second quarter. A 12-0 run led by Milos Teodosic and Yago Dos Santos at that moment fueled the home team, which later used a 29-10 score in the third period to definitely pull away.
“It was a great victory, we really needed this," Filip Petrusev recognized right after the game. “We needed this win to get our confidence back, get our game back, get our swag back on and I'm really happy. You know, we played the whole 40 minutes, whoever got on the court played good defense and good offense, so we're really happy about this win."
The Serbian center, who tied his career high in scoring with 25 points – 15 came in the first period – was the first one to stress the completeness of his team’s game, who held the competition’s best scoring team to 77 points and the league’s top scorer, Carsen Edwards, to just 3 points. On the other side, Zvezda played an impressive game on offense, scoring 101 points and dishing 34 assists.
“Today, we want a good game and a good win. And this is exactly what happened,” Zvezda head coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos celebrated in the press conference. “We played against the best offense of the league [...] and as you saw, we kept them very low. But also offensively, we moved the ball, we served the ball and we had very good movement to find the best option to shoot.
Talking about offense, the 34 assists recorded by his team overcame the previous best mark that occurred last season on March 22, 2024, when the team registered 30 in a 94-79 win against Virtus Segafredo Bologna. On that occasion, Teodosic got 9 and Adam Hanga 6, while on Friday, Codi Miller-McIntyre got 12 all by himself.
“We had time to work because there was a break after a lot of games,” Sfairopoulos revealed. “We refreshed the team, we worked on our problems, details defensively, and [...] we had a great team game. Not only offensively with 34 assists, but also defensively. In general, we are a team that passes really well. These 34 assists are, to me, the meaning of the team. It shows how good we are."
On the other side, focusing on defense, Zvezda's work was also excellent, and one of the keys was to include Ognjen Dobric in the starting five for the first time of the season. He not only stopped Edwards, but also scored 13 of his total 15 points in the third quarter, helping his team seal the outcome plenty of minutes before the final whistle.
“He did a great job. We know the quality he has and that showed today. He was dominant in both ends of the game”. Sfairopoulos praised. “Defensively and offensively, he made really good decisions on whatever he did. He did [everything] the right way and he showed character, but also why we brought him."
“From the first to the last minute we came out prepared and we showed how tough we can be when we play our games”, Dobric said. “I hope we're gonna continue like that and get some more wins. [...] It's a great reaction after some losses in the EuroLeague.”